Species Roses

I’ve had so much great help on this forum lately that I thought I’d try to give back and tell you all about something that I know something about. Now, I also realize that there’s a whole forum about roses but I think that species roses are often over looked by people who are interested in flowering shrubs so I thought I might get up on a soap box for a second to sing their praise.

First off, as most of you know, a species rose is one that could be found in the wild. In my neck of the woods, we have Rosa carolina and R. palustris all around. R. rugosa (perhaps the most popular species rose) is also everywhere but it is an introduction from Asia.

I find the positive qualities of species roses to be: their ease of maintenance, their fragrance, their hips, and their “architecture”. Since most of them bloom in early summer, they rarely require the type of pest management that most hybrids do. They avoid the onslaught of Japanese beetle by blooming before the beetles become adults, they don’t push new growth all season so aren’t as attractive to aphids, and they’re not bred to death so that their leaves are prone to black spot and powdery mildew. They also don’t require pruning any more than any other woody plant. Well sited in a sunny position, they do just fine with benign neglect.

Troubles in maintenance are often, as with any plant, do to a poor choice of the species or poor siting. I would say that the most substantial problem would occur if one selects a suckering rose that moves out of bounds or one that gets too tall for its location. Being faced with the prospect of having to dig out runners or prune heavily prickled branches will turn just about anyone off.

Blooms run from pink, to white and yellow and many of the color combinations therein. There in even a red one streaked with white in a swell candy cane sort of way, R. gallica versicolor (Rosa Mundi). Most of them are quite pleasant in their fragrance but I am often more of a fan of the hips that follow the flowers than I am of the bloom itself. II think that most of us can conjure up an image of the big, fat hips of a Rugosa. Some might have even tasted one to find an appley tasting fruit. The hips of other species can be quite different, though. R. roxburghii has a hip that looks like a fat little yellow pineapple. (It also has exfoliating bark for all you Acer griseum fans.) R. pimpinellifolia has a lustrous black cherry shaped hip. And R. pendulina has a Rubinesque sort of Coke bottle shaped hip (it also has a nice ruddy bark reminiscent of Cornus stolonifera). All these hips make swell food for wildlife and also look great in the centerpiece on the Thanksgiving table.

As winter interest plants, they far exceed their hybrid relatives in beauty. I hate to admit it and you’ll absolutely understand the depth of my bias, but I find R. multiflora (a pernicious invasive exotic) to be an absolutely lovely plant in the winter. Grown on its own, it’ll have a fantastic ruddy brown tumble weed quality. It’s usually set off with thousands of little hips that give it a sort of winter berry quality too. (If you like this sort of thing, go with R. setigera, an American native instead) R. pimpinellifolia is covered with small little hay colored prickles on fine upright brown stems and looks great in a “wild “ winter planting..

Some of my favorite species roses are:

R. spinosisima - a 3-4’ suckering shrub with white flowers, black fruit, and very small fine foliage that has a very delicate quality. The variety, altaica is taller with a primrose yellow flower.

R. pendulina - already described.

R. primula - Yes, there is a primrose and it has yellow flowers with the same delicate foliage as spinosisima. I can’t remember its fruiting quality but I do know that its about 6’ tall, freely suckering and lovely in the winter.

R. rugosa - okay, so it’s ubiquitous but dead headed until August will often give you repeat blooming. By stopping at the beginning of August, you’ll still get some fruiting on it too. And you really can’t do too much better on fragrance (though David Austin has).

R. eglanteria - the Sweet Briar of English poetry. Now, I am not a huge fan of this plant’s flower, form, or hip. But the reason it’s called Sweet Briar is because it has scented foliage which smell like fresh young apples. To walk in the garden on a moist and warm spring day and chance upon this fresh, sweet smell is one of the toe curling treats of spring for me. It always seems to come out of no where but it’s been a constant friend.

R. alba - a rose for some shade, white bloom, fragrant flowers, fewer prickles than most, though not great on hip production.

So that’s what I’ve got to write. Hope you liked it.

Waters, do you by any chance know what these are? http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/596265/ I have a sucker from that first one growing in a pot.

I loved it!!!

I was disappointed there were no pictures. Off to Plantfiles to have a look! ;p

Good stuff!

Couple of nomenclatural corrections:
"Rosa spinosissima" = Rosa pimpinellifolia http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Rosa+&SPECIES_XREF=spinosissima+&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=
"Rosa eglanteria" = Rosa rubiginosa http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Rosa+&SPECIES_XREF=eglanteria&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=

Also R. gallica versicolor (Rosa Mundi) is a very old cultivar, not a species.

Resin

escambium ~ that first one looks like Rosa x 'Nearly Wild', that is my personal favorite.

edited so you'd know which one I was guessing.

This message was edited Mar 16, 2007 12:32 PM

Yeah, they're always switching those names around but I get all nostalgic for the old ones and retain them. I really never could get with R.rubrifolia being canged to R. glauca either. It does help when going off to purchse them, though. Actually, I do like pimpinellifolia for spinosisima but that could be equally as descriptive for R. primula.

escambia - I don't know what the first one is. My wildest guess is that the second one could be an alba type. The regular contributors to the Rose Forum are fantastically knowledgeable and some of them love this sort of puzzle! I'd put it over there.

Rosa macrantha is another rose species well worth planting. The blooms open a very light pink which fades to white. In the evening the flowers actually close and the individual petals are heart shaped. I played around with hybridizing roses and this is one of the species that I enjoyed working with. She is also a hardy rose with nice clean looking foliage and hips.

I have to add my love for the Sweet Briar rose, walking by this plant after a early summer rain is memorable due to it's marvelous fragrance...... but the thorns are demonic!!!

Well written, watersedge.

I haven't planted or cared for roses since turning a professional corner 14 years ago, but your words are almost tempting enough to break that drought.

While waxing eloquent, how 'bout adding your observations and opinions to their PlantFiles entries?

R. spinosisima (aka R. pimpinellifolia) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/81623/index.html

R. pendulina (aka R. alpina): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/81622/index.html

R. primula: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/145315/index.html

R. rugosa: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53977/index.html
R. rugosa var. rubra: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/79067/index.html

R. eglanteria (aka R. rubiginosa): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2426/index.html

R. alba: no entry for the straight species - care to add it?

Rosa rubrifolia: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54237/index.html

Rosa macrantha: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/72505/index.html

Rosa multiflora: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/141668/index.html

And if there are any other species also deserving of accolades (or not), here's the shortcut path to all the species in PlantFiles (Note: the "Not Given" represents all the cultivars and won't take you anywhere ;o)

This message was edited Mar 17, 2007 2:00 PM

Thanks Resin.

This message was edited Mar 17, 2007 3:58 PM

I once had the fantastic opportunity to be the gardener dedicated to the Arnold Arboretum's garden of Rosaceous plants. With their mission being the aquisition of every woody hardy to that zone, they limit the collection by focusing on species plants. That's why I came across so many of these guys. But then there were all the others, too: Spirea, Prunus, Malus, and all their relatives. It was a pretty swell opportunity.

Now I'm just clinging to the coast of Maine as a head gardener. Which is kinda swell too.

I am continuously amazed by the breadth of knowledge in this forum. It is by far the most compeling one I've come across.

I'll get to some of those Plant Files some day.

And Viburnum Valley, if eloquence can inspire you to plant a rose, I can turn it up a notch and write something that'll have miniature roses growing on your kitchen window sill by mid May. Haa!

Thanks Watersedge (and Resin)!

I have Rosa omeiensis seed to try this year.

Leftwood

Oh, now that's a scary one, the King of Prickles. He's best sited so that you can see the sunset through those blood red thorns. In winter, I always knew when it was time to pack up the tools and go back into the shop when the sun back lit them.

As with red stemmed dogwoods, you might cut it back hard every other year or so. The prickles turn brown with age so you'll want a good supply of new growth to retain that quality. And give it lots of room. It's a tall and wide one. Up to 8 feet tall if my memory serves me.

Just got my R. sericea pteracantha, or Wingthorn. The deer ate the last one to the ground. I plan to keep a closer eye on this, maybe put a fence around my roses. Now those are elegant thorns.

I want a R. clinophylla, one of the few species that could be considered tropical, and one of a few that can take wet feet. I suppose there's R. palustris if I can't get one. I'm trying to build something of a species collection and maybe I'll try breeding from them.

Mark., I wonder how the circumpolar roses would do here...

No, but let's see what'll happen if I do this..................BAM!!!!

It worked!......my name's Emeril now:)

Emeril Water Sedge.

Now for my next act, I think I'll whip up a little Cajun rose hip aspic.

Make it a Rosa multiflora reduction sauce over wild game - - I feel myself going over the edge...

I'll have to start contemplating the appropriate wine pairing.

Thanks for th info on my sericea type seed. I am hoping to let the sun shine through it as a dried arrangement in a west window. Kinda Adams Family like? Does anyone know if the wingthorn will hold its translucency and color when dried?

Now don't laugh too hard, everyone. An ikebana style arrangement with dried prickly ash is quite pleasing.

Watersedge, Great info here, however, I don't see a zone indication for that part of ME in which you dwell; but anyplace with a Harbor in its name has to be tempered by the ocean. Love the thorns because they bother the little deer tongues, but unsure what would be hardy here: 3b-4a with monumental snow cover. Ken
Edited to say back yard similar to yours and great idea: Bt for deer!

This message was edited Mar 18, 2007 1:36 PM

I know that older Wingthorn thorns on the plant lose translucency and some of the color, but I have never tried (or been able to, as deer ate my first Wingthorn and I only just got a new one) cutting off young branches and seeing whether the thorns keep translucent...

Mark., something to try

I'm in a sort of zone 5, kandlmidd. We are tempered by the ocean. Since R. pimpinelloifolia grows in Iceland, it might be one that would suceed with but I really don't know about the others.

I actually don't pay too much attention to hardiness zones. Well, sure, I don't go out buying palm trees with hopes of hardiness, but I do find that a lot of plants are far more adaptable than they might otherwise be thought to be.

My partner is a very new gardener. He wanted to put in some gladiolas and, not wanting to discourage his interests, I said,"Sure, why not?". Well, didn't he just insist, come fall, that he was going to leave them in the ground because they were going to come back next year (they were listed as zone 7 plants). Moreover, the temperature went down to negative twenty for about a week that winter. And the glads came back. Ughhh........!

I bet you'd have pretty good luck with any of those roses I mentioned. The snow cover would, in fact, be to your advantage. Just start slow and try, at all costs, to get plants that were established from seed or cutting. You're luckly to have bad luck with grafted plants. Forest Farm sells quite a few "own root" species roses. You might also try High Country Roses. They should have quite a few hardy ones for you. R. pimpinellifolia "Stanwell Perpetual' is a fantastic repeat bloomer that I might recommend and they grow that in Sweden.

VV, you might be going over the edge but what a delight fall:)

Emeril

Now they're in bloom for me. This is my favorite R. pimpinelifolia.

........and in context.

Well........this is more in context.

R. hugonis

R. pendulia

Not technically a hybrid, Beauty of Leifland is a fine Scotch Hybrid from R. pimpinelifolia. Fragrant and w/the same black hips.

My hedge of r. virginiana is in bloom as I type. Alas, no camera. The scent is amazing and the foliage stays clean throughout the summer. The hip set is typically quite good and much loved by birds throughout the winter.

MaryMD,
I have the Rosa virginiana also. The new stems stay red all winter.
escambiaguy does this look like the 1st rose you pictured?

Watersedge,

You are awakening my somewhat dormant interest in roses. Way back in the 80s I began an interest with hybrid teas and floribundas, which morphed into musks, which led to rugosas, a side track into heirloom roses (albas, moss, bourbons, etc.) just in time for the David Austin boom, but lately my intersest has waned just a bit. I've got a beloved "Zephyrn Droughn," one or two David Austin's left, and a really cool Rosa glauca. I'm quite enamored with the latter and have started growing them from seed.

Apart from the rugosas and R. glauca, however, I haven't grown much species types. I really like those photos of R. pimpinelifolia. I just might have to track that one down.

Scott

For all you designers looking for a rose for moist spots, don't forget Rosa palustris. Looks just like R. virginiana.

r. virginiana is a nice one to
try ! I like hansa and rosa glauca for the foliage. honeysuckle, dropmore scarlett,
goes well with the roses and the
hummingbirds approve. Jim