‘One-derful’ Once Bloomers

‘One-derful’ Once Bloomers

by Joan Goff, Consulting Rosarian, Marin Rose Society

All photos submitted by Joan Goff

This is a 2006 Award of Merit article.

Now that I have been seriously growing roses for over 10 years I can say that I am hooked. Hooked on singles, hooked on old roses and really hooked on those once bloomers. I know a lot of you will say, “Oh, why grow a rose that only blooms once?” Well, I will tell you, when a once blooming rose blooms, it blooms! (LEFT: ‘The Alchemist’)

 

Once blooming roses are different from repeat bloomers in more ways than one. They will throw more buds which of course mean more blooms. They bloom longer than repeat bloomers and for the most part, their blooms last longer. A big exception is Alain Blanchard which the blooms only last about 3 days. Once bloomers also don’t all bloom at the same time. Some start as early as late April here in Marin County, but others start in May and some even don’t start until June. So here in Marin, you can have blooms from April to July with a once blooming rose.

 

Why are we so hard on a rose that only blooms once? Most other perennials also only bloom once and we don’t mind that a bit! Many of my favorite garden plants only bloom once. Daphne odora (winter daphne), night blooming jasmine, tulips, daffodils and most bulbs and so many other trees and perennials only bloom one time a year.

 

I now have seven varieties and nine plants of once bloomers: Alain Blanchard, Alchymist, Complicata, Duchesse de Montebello, La Belle Sultane, Leda and Rosa Glauca. (LEFT: ‘Yolande D’Aragon’)

 

Alain Blanchard, a hybrid gallica (1839) is a mauve semi double that is one of the most famous spotted roses. It is one of the most intensely spotted of all, with light crimson spots on a deep crimson-purple background. It has an ARS rating of 8.5. It is a knockout in every sense of the word. I fell in love with it from an article written by Linda and Ted Burg in the Criterion. I had to have it. I bought it bareroot in January 2001 and each year it gives me a few more blooms. It doesn’t grow very fast and its habit doesn’t lend itself to an upright…it forms a thicket of canes about 4 feet high and five feet wide. I have it against a fence and have tried to get it to grow upward and to tie it to the fence. The blooms only last about 3 days at best but oh what a sight!

Alchymist, A shrub introduced by Kordes in 1956. Although listed as a shrub, it makes a tall climber and can grow over 12 feet. The color is an apricot blend, very double and very fragrant. Parentage is ‘Golden Glow’ x Rosa elglanteria hybrid. ARS rating is 7.9.

 

Complicata, also a hybrid gallica with no certain date is probably the most famous of a once blooming single. ARS rating is 8.8. Nanette Londeree, in our society, has one plant that is about 12 feet wide and 8 feet tall and in bloom has literally thousands of blooms. It is a spectacular sight for about six weeks. The bloom is light pink with 5 petals and the stamens are bright yellow. I now have two plants, just having bought my second plant a few months ago. The first plant has only been in the ground for a year and a half and hopefully one of these years can match up to Nanette’s.

 

Duchess de Montebello, also a hybrid gallica was introduced by Laffay in 1824-25. The bloom is a double light pink with good fragrance. No ARS rating is given. I just bought this plant in 2005 at Heirloom in Oregon.

 

BELOW: Belle Portugaise

La Belle Sultane, also known as R.gallica violacea. It is supposed to have originated in Holland in the 1700’s or earlier. The bloom is a dark red crimson purple, almost single with 12 or so petals and bright yellow stamens. It has an ARS rating of 8.3. I planted my plant a year ago as a bare root and even though it has grown tremendously and now tops out at about 6 feet, it has not bloomed in my garden. I have high hopes for the blooms in 2006.

Addendum: In 2006, La Belle Sultane was the big winner in my garden: Not only did she put out over 150 blooms but she won Best of Show in the Marin Rose Society annual rose show. This rose is a super winner in every way. She also has NO disease in my organic garden.

Leda, damask, before 1867, is listed as a double white but it has a slight line of red crimson on the edges. Truly a unique looking rose. Its ARS rating is 8.3 but in my garden it does get some mildew. It doesn’t bother me as the mildew comes after the blooms are spent. So I just remove all of the leaves so the mildew doesn’t spread.

 

BELOW, LEFT ‘Souvenir de Victor Landeau’, RIGHT: ‘Souvenir du President Lincoln’

Rosa Glauca is my last and newest once bloomer rose. It is a species rose introduced about 1789 and also known as rosa rubrifolia with its foliage being the main attraction. In full sun the leaves take on a dusty mauve and in shade they turn a grayish mauve. Even the canes are a mauve color. The bloom is a single star shape and is dark pink on the outside with a whitish center. The blossoms are fragrant and followed by bright red hips that stay on the plant all winter. Very disease tolerant and the ARS rating is 8.8. This rose can grow to over 20 feet! Put it on the side of your house like I have or on a fence and combine with another climber that is a continuous bloomer to have a great look all season.

 

Have you noticed one of the common elements of the listed varieties? They all have ARS ratings of over 7.9! They won’t need spraying, they bloom like crazy and the bugs don’t like ‘em! I don’t know about you but in my garden this a big plus. Mix them in with your repeat bloomers and you will be as delighted as I am to have these spectacular roses in your garden and you won’t be disappointed at all that you only get blooms once a year.

Growing Roses in Pots — Winterizing Your Roses

By Jason Capote

Article from the Manhattan Rose Society Newsletter, Skyscrapers & Roses, October 2018

So now that you read about how easy and rewarding it is to grow roses in containers, I will bet that you are now all gung ho about planning out your patios, decks, driveways, balconies, and stoops with planters upon planters of roses. But most of you might be asking the obvious question, “Just how do I winterize them!” If I had to guess, some of you may have already had an unpleasant experience in the past where a rose that you just loved that was planted in a container and did not pull through the winter. Some of you may have even looked online for information on the subject matter and most likely came away empty handed. I should know, I was once in this situation myself, and until I discovered the following methods, I have lost many beautiful roses to the harshness of winter. The methods presented below are not perfect, but they tend to work in the majority of all cases provided that the instructions are followed as they are written, and as such, I would not plant a prized rose in a container because there is still a likelihood that even if the instructions are followed, a rose may still not come back after a really harsh winter. Second, the three methods presented below are provided in increasing order of difficulty.

 

Method 1: Planting the Pots

 

This first method is perhaps the simplest one. Just plant the pots in the ground. That is it. No other special instructions need to be followed. By planting the pot in the ground, you are, in effect, planting the rose in the ground, but have the added advantage of being able to dig up you rose in the Spring when weather conditions permit. This method works great for roses in small pots on patios and decks or for roses planted in hanging baskets, both of which are usually plated with Miniature and Mini-flora roses. The main problem with this method is that it is very difficult to bury, and later in the Spring, to lift out, larger roses that are planted in large containers. Also, in the case of large roses, it more or less defeats the purpose to plant the pot in the ground because if you had the space to do so, you probably would have chosen to plant your larger roses in the ground in the first place. As a result we turn to Method 2.

 

Method 2: Bring the Pots Indoors for the Winter

 

This is a more involved process then Method 1, but in some respects is easier. Simply leave your roses outdoors in their pots until they have dropped their leaves and gone dormant, which usually happens after the first real freeze. Then you remove any dead or dying leaves remaining on the bush and move them indoors to an unheated location that receives very little light. An excellent place to move these roses to are to an unheated garage or tool shed. The word here “unheated” is of critical importance. Because most garages and sheds are sheltered locations, most of the time they remain warm enough to prevent the plant from freezing. However, if the location that they are held in becomes ambiently warm, the roses may break dormancy early and start growing possibly causing them to dry from either drying out or not receiving enough light. This is to be prevented at all costs. To keep your roses from drying out, they can still dry out even if they are dormant, it is advised that you provide your large pots with a gallon of water once every two weeks. The pots do not need to be, and should also not be wet, but neither should the soil be allowed to completely dry out. In respect to this matter, use your better judgment. To help you move your roses indoors, you may want to consider placing your planters on wheeled stands to help you move them indoors. The use of a hand truck should also work, but you may risk damaging the pot. While this method is very effective, especially for protecting Hybrid Tea and Floribunda Roses as well as the more delicate Standard or “Tree” roses, it has its limitations. Some roses, such as large Shrubs and Climbers may be planted in large containers that may be too difficult to move effectively or safely for either you or the plant. Second, in the case of us urban gardeners, such as those of us that live in apartment complexes or in row style townhouses, there is simply the absence of any unheated indoor space to move any roses to for the winter. Under these conditions, we move to the most challenging and detailed method yet, Method 3.

 

Method 3: Overwintering Roses in Containers Outdoors

 

This is the trickiest method as it is the most detailed, but before I explain, let me make a few statements that add a few conditions to some of the rules normally found online about planting roses in containers.

 

  1. Rose selection is of the utmost importance. Since plants in pots effectively have their entirety exposed to the elements, roots and all, they tend to freeze easier then plants that are planted in the ground. As such, cold hardiness of the selected rose cultivars is key. Any rose that is planted in a container that you intend to overwinter outdoors, must be at least hardy to at least 2 zones below the zone in which you live. Since our region of the country is largely in Zone 7, that means that any rose that you expect to survive outdoors for the winter must be cold hardy to Zone 5 and below with roses that are more cold hardy being able to survive better and require less protection to survive. Roses planted to 1 zone below our zone, in our case to Zone 6 may still pull though if they are very vigorous varieties, but keep in mind that doing so is a gamble. Lastly, choose large, own root roses if possible. While budded roses should pull through the cold just fine, mature, own root roses have a better chance of surviving an unusually cold winter as they can return from their roots in the event of their canes significantly dying back. This rule applies not just to roses, but to almost every other woody ornamental plant that is to be overwintered outdoors in a container.
  2. The choice of the container is important. Roses that are to never be left outside are to never be planted in ceramic or glass pots as these can shatter in below zero conditions or be damaged in the course of moving the plants. Also, choose the largest containers possible for your roses. Not only does this allow their roots more room to grow and expand to produce better quality plants, it also serves to better insulate your plant’s roots in the event of a deep freeze. Lastly, how deep you plant your roses in these containers is of critical importance. The bud union or crown (if planting own root plants) should be planted at least 6 inches below the soil level as they would be if they were planted in cold climate regions of the world. Never fill your pots with soil to be flush to the rim! Leave an addition 6” or more of space from the soil line to the top of your pots to be filled with mulch or compost for the winter to provide greater insulation from freezing and to provide the greatest possible protection of drying out from the winter. Most containers have decorative rings or bands around the pots. Use these as your guide for where your soil level should lie.
  3. The greatest risk your rose has of dying over the winter is actually not freezing, because as you might have guessed, the ground in which your other roses are planted in also freezes. The greatest threat to your roses is them desiccating (or drying out) over the winter from a lack of water from rain or melting snow and from the cold drying winds that are naturally low in relative humidity. This is true of all woody ornamental plants that are left outdoors in containers and why many evergreens, such as dwarf pines and Rhododons do not survive the winter if they are planted in pots as these plants are not completely dormant and continue to lose water from transpiration and photosynthesis. There are many different methods for preventing desiccation of your container grown roses over the Winter, all of which will be described below.

 

With that being said, this is the method that I have found to work the best for successfully overwintering roses outdoors.

 

The first thing you want to do is to pull each container aside and force your roses into dormancy. This is achieved to pruning the canes of your Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, and Floribunda Roses back to about 18 to 24 inches in length, and by cutting your Climbers and Large Shrubs in half. Then remove all remaining leaves and spray your roses with dormant oil. By the time you are done, all your roses should look like bare root roses that were just potted.

 

The second step is to insulate the pot. First, fill the pot to the brim with mulch or compost. Second, wrap your pots with black plastic. Why black plastic? This is because black plastic (easily obtainable by cutting apart large black contractor bags) serves a dual function. It not only insulates your pots, but it also draws in heat from the light of the sun’s rays. This helps to prevent desiccation as mentioned above, especially in the event of your roses breaking dormancy during a winter warm spell. What usually happens during a winter warm spell is that your roses are in dire need of water as they are attempting to grow, however, the soil and water in your roses’ container is still frozen preventing the rose from up taking the much needed water. By having your pots wrapped in dark colored materials (and by using dark colored pots for that matter) the pot defrosts at the same time as the plant allowing your plant to remain hydrated.

 

Third, once the dormant oil dries on your roses, you want to spray them with an anti-desiccant. These chemicals are made of a wax like, waterproof resin that prevents your canes from drying out and dying back from the dry winds. This resin is similar to the wax that your bare root roses are covered in when they are shipped to your home. A good product to use is Wilt Stop by Bonide. Do not worry about this wax preventing your roses from breaking dormancy in the Spring. Wilt Stop is an all-natural resin, is completely biodegradable, and is soluble in warm water. As a result, Wilt Stop and most other commercially available anti-desiccants will need to be reapplied in the winter if we experience a day of over 40 degrees with heavy rain for it to remain effective.

 

Lastly, you want to corral your pots to keep them warm and protected from the wind. Place them up against your house or a wood plank fence or brick wall if possible. If this is not possible, like would happen if a deck, porch, or chain link fence is in the way, then you must create a loose wind break. Plastic painter’s tarps tied to the lattice work of a deck, porch, or chain link fence works great for this. Huddle your pots in a circle. The largest and heaviest pots should remain on the outside, and the smallest pots should be on the inside of the circle. If you have any miniature or young rooted cuttings in small pots, these can be inserted into the gaps between where the circles of the tops of the pots touch. Don’t worry about these small roses not getting enough light. They will be just fine, they are dormant.

 

Lastly, wrap the canes of the outer rung of pots with burlap (why burlap, because it provides enough wind protection while letting the roses breathe preventing them from overheating and breaking dormancy in the winter). What you should now have looks like a holding pen of dormant roses. Do not move the roses from this pen until the last threat of freeze has passed! Prematurely moving roses out of this pen, even if they are breaking dormancy, can result in the death of the plants in the event of a late freeze. Also, do not forget to water your roses! The roses in pots cannot be allowed to have their roots dry out as the plant then runs the risk of death from desiccation. If the day temperatures are above freezing during the winter, and there is no snow cover on your pots, and it hasn’t rained in a week or more, crack out the garden hose and provide your plants with a through watering.

 

If these directions are followed to the letter, for which ever method you choose to overwinter your roses in containers, your roses should be well prepared to survive the long winter and bloom for many season ahead!

Rose Classifications

from the 2018 American Rose Society Handbook for Selecting Roses

 

Classification of Roses

The American Rose Society recently approved a new classification scheme that reflects both the botanical and evolutionary progress of the rose. There are three main groupings: Species (i.e. wild roses); Old Garden Roses (classes in existence before 1867); and Modern Roses (classes not in existence before 1867).

Classification Characteristics — No other flower has a wider range of size, color, shape and flower form than the rose for attractive and easy adaptation to any garden setting. Roses are among the most versatile of plants. They come in every shape, size and color imaginable with architectural dimensions, both in bloom and plant size, that make it possible to please everyone! They bloom constantly from early spring to late fall, providing a rich tapestry of color in the garden.

Starting out on the rose selection pathway, the architectural shape and dimensions are of prime importance. To navigate this panorama of size and space, the following explanations have been compiled to explain the range of classifications available.

Species Roses — Often referred to as “wild roses,” species roses are usually single-petaled (4-8 petals), once-blooming and have a bush size ranging from two2 to 20 feet. They are listed according to their Latin name, beginning with R. for Rosa and can have common synonyms. For example, R. foetida bicolor is also known as ‘Austrian Copper’.

Old Garden Roses — In 1966, the American Rose Society defined old garden roses as those types that existed prior to 1867, the year of introduction of the very first hybrid tea, ‘La France’. Within this generic definition, a number of popular subdivisions exist based on natural historical developments and characteristics. The flower form can be quartered, cupped, imbricated or expanded, reflexed, globular or compact. After an initial spring crop of blooms, some varieties may produce no more flowers the rest of year, but their hip production does add a different kind of beauty to the garden. The beauty of the old garden roses often lies in the heavy fragrance they can impart to the garden. The most popular classes are:

Alba — Known as “white roses,” these plants are upright, often climbing, have dense blue-green foliage and are disease resistant.

Ayrshire — This group of climbing, sprawling roses originated in Scotland and are once blooming.

Bourbon — Developed from the hybrid chinas, these were the first repeat-flowering roses. They derive their name from the location of the first members of the class, the Ile de Bourbon in the Indian Ocean. Plant size can range from 2 to 15 feet tall. Repeat blooming.

Boursault — This is a small group of thornless rambling-type, once-blooming roses developed by the French gardener who gave his name to the class.

Centifolia —These Dutch hybridized roses derive their class name from the fact that the flowers often contain more than 100 petals. Plants are 4 to 8 feet tall, winter hardy and are once blooming. They are also referred to as “cabbage roses” and are featured in Dutch flower paintings of the 17th century.

China — This group’s most important characteristic is its ability to repeat bloom. The plants are variable in height, with relatively few thorns. They are generally winter-tender, not surviving well below USDA zone 7. The flowers tend to be borne in small clusters. China roses originated in Southeast Asia and are one of the most important historical groups of roses.

Damask — These roses are best known for their intense heavy fragrance. Plants generally range in size from 3 to 6 feet. Some varieties are repeat blooming.

Hybrid China — These plants are generally small, ranging from 2 to 3 feet tall, and are repeat blooming. Stems are often too weak to support the clusters of blooms, which have a spicy fragrance. Plants are not hardy and require winter protection in cold climates.

Hybrid Gallica — These plants are small, 3 to 4 feet tall, and are winter hardy. Blooms are fragrant, come in brilliant colors, and are once blooming.

Hybrid Perpetual — Popular during the 19th century, these roses are characterized by their repeat bloom, plant size (about six feet tall, upright), fragrance and color range (mostly pinks and reds).

Moss — Named for the mossy thorn growth on the peduncle just below the bloom and sepals, this group releases a pine-scented oleoresin when the moss is rubbed between the fingers. Plants are generally winter hardy and 3 to 6 feet tall. Some varieties are repeat blooming.

Noisette — This classification originated in the United States by Philippe Noisette of Charleston, SC, who later introduced them in France when he moved there in 1817. Plants are large and sprawling, often reaching up to 20 feet tall. Blooms are produced in fragrant clusters.

Portland — This small group of roses was derived from crosses involving hybrid gallica, damask, centifolia and hybrid china. They are small in stature, usually 4 feet tall, repeat blooming and have very short peduncles. This class was named in honor of the Duchess of Portland.

Tea — Characterized as variable in height, with some of the best cultivars being Climbing Teas. Teas have large blooms on weak stems, resulting in drooping, or nodding, flowers. This group is one of the immediate ancestors of the modern Hybrid Tea. Tea roses are relatively winter-tender. They grow best when only lightly pruned.

Modern Roses

The era of modern roses was established in 1867 with the introduction of the first hybrid tea, ‘La France’, by the French breeder Guillot. This variety was considered unique for a number of important horticultural reasons. First, it possessed the general habit of a hybrid perpetual as well as the elegant shaped buds and free-flowering character of a tea rose. By the late 20th century, more than 10,000 hybrid teas had been bred with great success. The introduction of ‘La France’ heralded the era of modern roses. Breeders were quick to recognize that planned parenthood could evolve new flower forms, size, growth habit and colors. Therefore, the following new classifications based on growth habit evolved.

Hybrid Tea & Grandiflora — Perhaps the most popular class of modern roses is the hybrid tea, easily recognized by the large shapely blooms containing 30 to 50 petals. Flowers are borne on long stems either singly or with several sidebuds. In 1945, the ‘Peace’ rose heralded the modern era of the elegantly formed hybrid teas. So dramatic was the overwhelming public acceptance and praise accorded this variety that its place in history was instantaneous. Since 1945, many thousands of new hybrid teas have been bred and introduced.

In 1954, the introduction of a rose bred from crossing the hybrid tea ‘Charlotte Armstrong’ with the floribunda ‘Floradora’ resulted in a carmine‑rose and dawn pink variety. It displayed not only the characteristics of a hybrid tea but also the ability to bear clusters or trusses and grow to a commanding height of 6 to 8 feet or more. To accommodate this variety, the class of grandiflora was born. ‘Queen Elizabeth’ had the distinction of being the very first member of this class.

Floribunda & Polyantha — Second only to the hybrid tea and grandiflora in popularity, the floribunda is characterized by its profuse ability to bear flowers in large clusters or trusses with more than one bloom in flower at any one time. This class is unrivaled for providing massive, colorful, long-lasting garden displays. The distinct advantage of the floribunda is its ability to bloom continually whereas the hybrid tea exhibits a bloom cycle every six to seven weeks. Floribundas as a class are hardier, easier to care for and more reliable in wet weather than their hybrid tea counterparts.

Polyanthas are generally smaller but sturdy plants with large clusters of small 1-inch diameter blooms often used for massing, edging and hedges.

Miniature & Miniflora — These classes have increased in popularity due to their novelty and versatility. They can be used for edging beds, growing in containers and rockeries or even for taking indoors as temporary pot plants for decoration. The height of the average plant is about 15 to 30 inches, and flower form and foliage are indeed miniature versions of both hybrid teas and floribundas.

Miniflora roses are a new classification adopted by the ARS in 1999 to recognize another step in the evolution of the rose, intermediate bloom size and foliage falling between miniatures and floribundas.

Shrub (Classic & Modern) — Shrubs are easily characterized by their sprawling habit. There are five popular subdivisions within the class: hybrid kordesii, hybrid moyesii, hybrid musk, hybrid rugosa and shrub. They can grow from 5 to 15 feet or more in every direction given the correct climate and growing conditions. Noted for their hardiness, they are usually vigorous and produce large quantities of clusters of flowers.

The unique group of roses hybridized by David Austin (often called English Roses) belong to 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 varieties are dominated by their growth habit, long arching canes with the ability to climb up fences, over walls, and through trellises, arbors and pergolas if properly trained and tied. These varieties offer a wide range of flower forms, shapes and colors.

Petals, Form & Substance

One of the wonderful aspects of growing roses is the range of wide choices offered — petals, flower form and foliage. Over the last two centuries, a large selection of pleasing shapes has evolved.

For instance, roses can have a petal count stretching from the simplicity of five petals all the way to 50 petals or more. Petals even have their own architecture whether it be plain, reflexed, ruffled or frilled similar to a carnation.

Roses offer a very wide selection of flower colors — single, bi-color, multi-color, blend, striped and hand-painted. Overall shape of the blooms comes in an equally diverse selection — globular, open-cupped, quartered, flat, rosette, pompon and high centered (often called exhibition form).

Foliage surfaces can be glossy, semi-glossy or matte with a range of color from light green to dark green including even bronze-tinted. All these factors add up to a versatile flower with an appearance to please everyone.

In the late 19th century, old garden roses dominated the scene, bringing the grace and elegance of such forms as globular, quartered, flat, rosette and pompon. With the advent of hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas and miniature roses in the 20th century, the high-centered, symmetrical floret became a popular addition to flower form — petals arranged symmetrically in a circular outline with a high center or point to the bloom.

Another criterion for selecting roses is referred to as “substance of the petals.” This quality is extremely important in warm climates where temperatures may soar into the 90° Fahrenheit range. Essentially, substance depends on the amount of starch in the petals capable of holding moisture. The more starch, the better the variety can sustain exposure to high temperatures. Otherwise, moisture is lost, and the blooms begin to droop.

Finally, some roses that are only once blooming in the spring have the added value of putting on an autumn display of rose hips. Most shrubs and old garden roses have the edge here. They produce that extra bonus of massive clusters of rose hips of various shapes and sizes — round to elongated and prickly. For instance, ‘Dagmar Hastrup’ has one of the largest, tomato-like, red hips you can find in roses.

Can I get you a Bourbon?

 

Rest assured that despite my leading title I am not trying to drive you to liquor, but rather want to interest you in a popular class of 19th century roses. Originating on the volcanic Île de Bourbon (now known as Réunion) in the Indian Ocean, these beauties started as the love children of damask and china roses planted in hedgerows in the early 1800s. Some of these hips were sent to the French royal gardener, who produced a seedling named ‘Rosier de l’Île de Bourbon’. Fragrant and blooming in flushes, a whole new class of roses was born.

Bourbons are intensely romantic and overwhelmingly fragrant. Draped over arbors or climbing up pillars, they will bring French charm to any garden and evoke a bygone era with a gentler pace of life, when there was time to smell the roses and revel in their sensual scent.

 

Many Bourbons can get quite large and require support such as fences or trellises. They are excellent candidates for pegging to the ground for maximum flower production. One of my absolute favorites, ‘Zéphirine Drouhin’ (pictured below) is a large, deliciously fragrant climber with the added benefit of being thornless! It is planted on the north side of my house and is almost never watered because my hosepipe doesn’t reach easily. Nonetheless, it rewards me for my horrible treatment with a spectacular display early in the season and then intermittently throughout the summer.

Many Bourbons are widely available from the usual sources and I know that they are appreciated by several CT rose society members like the Longs, who grow Mme. Isaac Pereire and Louise Odier with great success.

‘Mme. Issac Pereire’ (Above and right) ranks amongst the most fragrant roses in existence and produces very large, pinkish magenta flowers that start off cupped and reflex into quartered blooms with a button eye. Mature blossoms fade at the edges and create a two-tone effect. Bright pink ‘Louise Odier’ (See Below) can easily reach 6 or 7 feet and benefits from some support or training on an espalier against a wall. Deeply cupped and quartered blooms appear almost continuously and are rich in fragrance. ‘Mme. Ernest Calvat’ is the pale, bushier sport of ‘Mme. Isaac Pereire’. You can grow it as a pillar rose or prune it into a luxurious shrub that will produce fragrant blooms for cutting.

‘Boule de Neige’ produces clusters of blushpink buds on fairly upright canes that open to reveal creamy white blooms, with the occasional green eye in the center. If you are fond of striped roses, try growing ‘Honorine de Brabant’. This modest climber has pale pink blooms streaked with delicate shades of mauve. The silvery blush pink of ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ is almost unsurpassed, and blooms, produced in clusters, are sweetly scented and have a mass of quartered petals. Despite its large flowers, it is one of the smallest in this class at about 3-4 feet in height and spread, but also comes in a climbing form. Marci has told me how she still pines for her ‘Mme. Pierre Oger’ that had to be left behind when she moved to Windsor from her previous home. This sport of ‘La Reine Victoria’ has dainty blooms of shell pink that make this a delicate and refined looking shrub.

Before you rush out and buy a garden full of Bourbons, I feel that I ought to mention the small matter of disease. Of all the Bourbons I grow, ‘La Reine Victoria’ can attract a fungal spore a mile off and is the best indicator that it is time to spray! Not all Bourbons are this susceptible, but I suggest you plant them in areas with good air circulation, water and fertilize them well, and keep up a spray program.

 

We are not talking ‘Knock Outs’ here, but maybe not quite Hybrid Teas in terms of maintenance. I have found these roses to be quite hardy in my garden, but remember to plant them deeply and, if you live in a very cold microclimate, hill them up for the winter.

Old Garden Roses have a lot of beauty and variety to offer the modern garden. They are living history and a wonderful link to the great and ordinary folk who grew them: from Napoléon’s Joséphine at Malmaison to our great grandparents and their country gardens. I feel passionately that they should to be preserved for future generations to love and appreciate. On that note, let’s raise a glass and toast these old ladies! Long may they flourish!

 

Here Comes Winter

We have a tendency to baby our roses, and sometimes we forget that Mother Nature has her own processes for preparing for winter, in spite of all the preparations we may feel we have to make. The purpose of this article is not to give you pointers on what to do, but rather to give you a better picture of what your roses are already doing for you.

 

A Bit of Botany

 

First, a little botany background. During the growing season, leaves are actively converting water and carbon dioxide to carbohydrates through photosynthesis (6CO2 + 12H2O ? C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O). These carbohydrates are the building blocks for all other structures in the plant, whether they simply combine with each other to form sugars, or whether they combine with other nutrients to form hormones, cell walls, nuclei, whatever. The plant’s vascular system, a series of tube-like cells, moves the carbohydrates, diluted in water, to various parts of the plant, where they are incorporated into the processes occurring there, whether it be new growth, flowering, or root development.

Of all the different chemicals manufactured by the plant out of these carbohydrates, hormones are the ones that direct and regulate activity in the plant. These hormones include auxins, gibberellins, abscisic acid, ethylene, and cytokinins. Some of these hormones accelerate growth, some discourage it. For now, it is enough to understand that the plant manufactures different amounts of these hormones, depending on certain environmental signals, and the change in hormone balance triggers changes in plant processes.

 

The Effect of Fall

 

In the fall, a number of conditions set off changes within plants that slow growth. Decreasing temperatures and shortening day-length (or increasing night-length) are two major conditions that start these changes, although reductions in water and nitrogen will also stimulate changes. These events trigger the production of abscisic acid, which is a general growth inhibitor. Abscisic acid also affects the stomatal guard cells; an increase in production causes guard cells to collapse and close the stomata, slowing the expiration of water. Times of drought tend to stimulate production of abscisic acid, reducing expiration and increasing root development. (That’s why we recommend stopping supplementary watering in the fall; it helps trigger the production of abscisic acid. And since abscisic acid also promotes root growth, we recommend moving or planting dormant bushes in the fall.)

 

In roses, as in other woody, deciduous plants, the carbohydrates produced in photosynthesis are no longer needed for growth, so they begin to move from the leaves to the canes, usually in the form of sugars, leaving behind various waste products. Ethylene and abscisic acid (at least so some scientists believe) then affect a section of specialized cells at the point where the leaf attaches to the cane.

These cells are sensitive to the hormones, and as the concentration grows, the walls of the cells disintegrate, releasing the leaf, and leaving behind a protective layer on the plant where the leaf was attached. (This same process causes petal drop; if you store a rose in a refrigerator with apples, which give off ethylene, the petals will fall.)

 

Preparing for the Freeze

 

The next stage of preparation involves getting ready for freezing temperatures. If the plant did nothing, ice crystals would form within the plant cells, bursting cell walls or dehydrating plasma membranes. When spring arrives, the cell tissues would begin to rot, resulting in the brown pith we often find when we prune.

To prepare for freezing temperatures, plant cells have developed a structure that compensates. In a normal winter, the exterior of a cane would freeze first, with a thin layer of ice forming from water in the air. Then the water between cells would freeze. As more water between the cells freezes, water within the cells is drawn out through the cells’ permeable walls. But those walls allow water to pass much more easily than the sugars and other solutes, so what remains within the cells becomes much more concentrated, with a lower freezing point, and acts like antifreeze. The sugars that moved to the canes were taken up by the cells, increasing the initial solute concentration. Without the extra sugars, the freezing process would remove too much solution, resulting in cell dehydration and injury.

If the exterior of the cane should warm up, either under winter sun or during a brief warming period, the water between the cells would normally remain frozen, the concentration of the solution within the cells stay the same, and the cells would survive the temporary thaw. If the warm period lasts long enough for the water between the cells to thaw, water seeps back into the cells, diluting the solution and raising its freezing point. Then, if a sudden cold freeze hits, the diluted solution might form ice crystals, destroying the cell. So, the plant cell faces two dangers from freezing temperatures: dehydration if enough sugars are not present to retain a liquid “antifreeze”; and ice crystal damage if water dilutes the “antifreeze” enough to raise its freezing temperature.

When spring returns, the plant begins to manufacture auxins, stimulating new growth. The new growth taps the store of carbohydrates in the canes until leaves develop and the vascular system can deliver water from the roots to the leaves. If the cells have been damaged, the carbohydrates are still available in the nearby shattered cells, but with the vascular system destroyed, no water can be pulled from the roots to the new leaves to feed photosynthesis, so the new shoot withers and dies.

 

Winter Protection

 

When we look at the purpose of winter protection, it is not to keep the bush “warm,” but to moderate the rate at which the bush freezes and thaws. A winter cover that allows water to seep through and freeze causes no danger to the bush, nor does frozen soil. (Frozen soil is more a problem when ice crystals freeze out of surface soil, causing frost heaves, snapping roots; since this occurs only where there is room for the ice to expand (i.e., the surface), mulch or winter cover would move this heave zone to the surface of the mulch or mound, well out of reach of the roots.) Should the water in the winter cover freeze, it would do so slowly, and as warm temperature or sun returns, it would thaw slowly, giving the bush time to adjust.

Water in soil (and on cane surfaces) will freeze at 32 to 23ºF (depending on what is dissolved in the water). Water between the cells (called intercellular water) freezes at 23 to 14ºF. The concentrated solute within the cells freezes at -4 to -40ºF. If a plant has time to prepare, it can withstand quite cold temperatures.

 

Special Situations

 

What about roses in containers? Roots are generally not subjected to the harsh temperature changes that the above-ground bush needs to withstand. Although roots do cold harden somewhat, they do not do so as dramatically as the rest of the bush. I found no hard figures for roses, but other species of woody plants suffer root kill at temperatures as wide as 23 to -9ºF. From my own experience, I have had little loss of miniature roses in unprotected containers (one- and three-gallon pots) in a “cold house” with temperatures down to 20ºF, but more significant loss of 1-gallon plants when night temperatures dipped to 15º F for an extended period.

All this discussion about moving gracefully into winter assumes your bushes have been healthy and vigorous all summer. If your plants have been under stress – lack of water during August and September, or leaf drop from blackspot or spider mites – the plants have not been producing normal amounts of carbohydrates. As winter approaches, the bushes will not mysteriously manufacture more. The concentrations of sugars in the canes will be lower than normal, and the potential for freeze damage higher. If such is the case for your bushes, get your winter protection onto your rose beds soon after the first couple of heavy frosts…and pray.

Otherwise, take your time with winter cover. Let the bush adapt naturally. Give the bush time to give up its leaves on its own, with a little assistance only if needed. Then give your bushes the extra measure of protection, especially the crown and roots, as winter progresses and really cold weather threatens. For bushes in the ground, I generally wait until temperatures threaten to drop below 20ºF, and then protect those bushes that are exposed to winter winds, covering the crown and about 6″ of cane. Many of my bushes, especially those on their own roots, I give no extra protection at all. And they usually do a fine job of winter protection all on their own.

 

From Rose Petals, the website of the Seattle Rose Society. Originally published in the November 1998 newsletter.

American Rose Society