Week 19 > You are reading Week 20 - May 13th, 2024 > Week 21

Something Old

When I brought this Gourmet Popcorn rose home, eighteen years ago, it was one of four miniature Chinas I was planning to use at the front of the border.

I don't understand why plants prefer certain spots over others, even when they look identical to me. However, out of the four, only this one grew bigger each year, until it became a little rose tree.

Miniature roses, just like bonsai trees, can grow to their full size when given adequate space and resources.

Chinas delight gardeners with the bonus feature of apple scented foliage, which complements the strong citrus fragrance of their flowers and gets particularly intense during sweltering summer afternoons, right before the rain.

This old rose family was chosen for the parentage of many modern landscaping roses, because it's healthy, winter hardy and has good repeat bloom, qualities which its sport, Gourmet Popcorn, inherited in abundance.

The latter blooms throughout the summer, taking long pauses between flowering flushes, because, like all cold hardy roses, it doesn't like it when it's too hot.

Something Borrowed

Every gardener who is serious about growing roses made this red beauty's acquaintance at some point.

Say hello to Dr. Huey, the charming floriferous rambler whose fast growth, resilience and cold hardiness made it the choice rootstock for professional rose breeders.

I'm pretty sure the pillar roses you see in most gardens, with their charming cascades of red blossoms, marked in the middle by the characteristic yellow stamens, didn't start out as such. For example, I have two. One started out as a white Lily Pons tea rose and the other as an unnamed coral red shrub with poppy like flowers.

When Mother Nature brings about sub-zero temperatures, the grafts can't survive the cold, but the resilient roots sprout healthy new canes in spring, faithful to their original genes.

Nobody plants Dr. Huey on purpose, which is a pity, because its qualities challenge those of its nobler brethren: it's not fussy, blooms with abandon, and can survive the harshest winters.

Unfortunately, it's once blooming, not fragrant, and sensitive to black spot.

I didn't realize until the shrubs got established that these roses are climbers. Left to their own devices, they'll grow up trees, or sprawl on the ground, pushing out endlessly long canes.

They look enchanting when trained on pillars and trellises, where their sea of blooms gets to be on display.

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