Livin’ Easy—old garden rose
Livin’ Easy is an old garden floribunda, shrub rose that reaches a mature size of about 4 feet tall and up to 4 feet wide, if space allows. I sometimes call this the “sunset” rose because the newly opened blooms exhibit all the colors of a beautiful sunset!
Livin’ Easy, Aug 10, 2013
Pros and Cons observed in my garden.
There are pros and cons about this rose. My favorite parts about this rose are; easy to grow, thrives in full afternoon sun—even blooms in 100 degree heat, very disease resistant (although I have seen downy mildew on the leaves), and the bright green leaves compliment the multiple colors of the rose.
The biggest problem I have with this rose is the very dense set of thorns that reach about 1/2 inch long and completely surround the canes—-I don’t work on this one without a good pair of gloves made to shield hands from rose thorns!
Growning conditions in my garden.
Roses really like to have garden spaces that receive morning sun to dry the leaves and prevent diseases. If a rose is highly susceptible to black spot (a common fungal disease), then the morning sun rule is critically important. [Note: if a rose is susceptible to black spot leaf infections, that may be enough to kill the rose as it will quickly drop leaves to get rid of diseased tissues. ]
Livin’ Easy, Aug 10, 2013
The Livin’ Easy rose grows on the South-West side of my house, so it receives very little morning sun, and considerable amounts of evening sun. After 3 years, this rose continues to thrive and through variances in drought and extreme moisture (Spring and Summer), so my experience has been that it is hardy enough to grow anywhere. (I had one on the East side that died during the drought, but it was planted farther away from the house and received less water.) A weekly watering is enough for this hardy floribunda.
Additional Rose Care
In the spring, after the last frost, I fertilize my roses with Miracle Grow for Roses. On February 14 (+/- a few days, depending on time available to be in the garden) I remove all dead canes and stems. This rose will naturally deadhead (remove spent blooms) but will more quickly add new blossoms if it is manually deadheaded with clippers.
This one’s easy to enjoy, and well worth the thorny canes!
The Art & Science of Gardening 
With the harsh heat of summer, it sounds like you have a real winner in this rose.
Hi Karen:
Yes, I really enjoy this rose. It is a bit stressed during the heat, but survives and produces a few blooms—plus it puts on a beautiful show of color when temperatures fall a bit with highs in the low 90’s and lows in the low 70’s.