Roses for the holidays and beyond
Fall is a good time to look back on your rose garden and think about the roses that did well and those that didn’t, and as Christmas nears, a rose also makes a perfect gift.
Wholesale rose nurseries begin stocking local plant nurseries in December. Most of these roses arrive bare root or in small containers. Usually new hybrids are included as well as other best sellers from previous years. Another source of buying roses are mail order catalogs or online shopping. The third option is supermarkets and discount stores. I do not recommend purchasing from this source because the roses are not No. 1 grade, having fewer canes and may have been packaged for a long period of time.
There are many roses in commerce now, but some may have been taken off the market. The best way to get one of these roses is from someone who grows that variety and get a cutting to start. This method is not always successful and will take longer to mature into a blooming stage. To decide what type or variety to purchase, ask a local member of the rose society for advice and also consider how the rose thrives and the size it becomes. There are many types of roses and all have different growing habits and blooming times. Descriptions of roses are:
Species roses: Fragrant, vigorous, usually once blooming and very hardy. They are often referred to as “wild roses.” Some do have the potential to send out underground runners and spread. They need space. Bush sizes range up to 20 feet and most have four to eight petals. Some varieties of these are Rosa rubra and Rosa alba rugosa, Rosa eglanteria, Rosa foetida bicolor, Rosa laevigata, Rosa harisonii, Rosa hugonis, Rosa moyesii, Rosa rubrifolia and Rosa virginiana.
Old garden roses: Most are very fragrant and have many flower forms. Some only bloom once a year. Types are: Alba — white or pink, upright and climbing; Ayrshire — once blooming climbing and sprawling; Bourbon — up to 15 feet and repeat bloomers; Boursault — thornless rambling and once blooming; Centifolia — usually more than 100 petals, once blooming and up to eight feet tall; China — repeat bloom, few thorns and vary in height; Damask — grow three to six feet, intense fragrance and some repeat bloom; Hybrid China — height is two to three feet, weak stems, repeat bloomers, spicy fragrance; Hybrid Gallica — three to four feet tall, fragrant, brilliant colors and once blooming; Hybrid Perpetual — tall and upright, repeat bloom and fragrant; Moss — mossy thorn growth, grows up to six feet, some are repeat blooming; Noisette — up to 20 feet tall, sprawling, bloom in fragrant clusters; Portland — usually four feet tall and repeat bloomers; and Tea — some are climbing, large blooms on weak stems and are ancestors of modern hybrid tea roses.
Modern roses: La France, the first hybrid tea introduced in 1867, was the beginning of the era of recognizing that planned parenthood could evolve new flower forms, size, growth habit and colors. Types are: Hybrid Tea — grown on long stems either singly or with side buds with large shapely blooms; Grandiflora — taller than hybrid tea some up to six feet tall with trusses or clusters with the larger bloom and on long stems; Florabunda — ability to bear flowers in large clusters with more than one bloom flowering at the same time, each cluster has one bud that is larger and if removed early, the other buds will all open at the same time; Polyanthas — generally smaller with large clusters of smaller one-inch diameter blooms; Miniature — average height is 15 to 30 inches, flower form and foliage are miniature versions of hybrid teas and floribundas; Miniflora — new classification adopted by the American Rose Society in 1999 “to recognize another step in the evolution of the rose,” intermediate bloom size and foliage falling between miniatures and floribundas; Shrubs — some are classic and some are modern with five different subdivisions within the class: hybrid korsesii, hybrid moyesii, hybrid musk, hybrid rugosa and shrub. They are vigorous, hardy, up to 15 feet in height and produce large quantities of clusters and flowers. David Austin roses, or English roses, are in this class. They resemble old garden roses in shape and form but are recurrent bloomers and often have fragrance. Large Flowered Climber, Hybrid Gigantea, Hybrid Wichurana — these roses have large arching canes with the ability to climb structures if trained and tied. Some can be grown as pillars.
The descriptions of the many types of roses were taken from the American Rose Society Handbook for Selecting Roses, which is given to ARS members annually. It also has descriptions of many roses in commerce with names, color, class, petal count, year hybridized and by whom and a rating compiled by information received every year by rose growers in the Roses in Review survey. A benefit of membership in the ARS are many online sources of purchasing roses which offer discounts to members. It also produces a magazine with lots of color photos and information on rose horticulture. Looking for that gift that will give all year? Consider a membership in either the Humboldt Rose Society or the American Rose Society. For more information on membership, go to www. humboldtrose.org or call 707764-5578.