Med roses

There are a number of roses that are native to the Mediterranean area, and as Mr. Seals said, some of them are really only for the collectors. Here is the list that I have compiled on those that are from that region:
R. pimpinellifolia   R. hemisphaerica   R. gallica   R. villosa  R. tomentosa
R. rubiginosa   R. inodora   R. sicula   R. glutinosa   R. micrantha  R. agrestis
R. serafinii   R. corymbifera    R. pendulina  R. sempervirens 
 
For California, we have the following:
R. californica (one bush on the road here just finished blooming again)
R. spithamea   R. gymnocarpa    R. minutifolia 
 
Some go under several names and there has always been the problem of the lumpers creating scores of roses that have slight differences.
 
There are several roses from the Med region that are hybrids that do extremely well in the warmer regions of California: 'La Mortola' , which can reach 80 ft, is from R. gigantea and originated in the Med garden with that name. 'La Follette' is another one. Both are very healthy but need room.
 
Of the 50-60 species roses I grow, all are healthy, never need any care, rarely get any fertilizer, and I rely on the rain mostly to water them, though on drought years I do supplement the water. So many have beautiful hips and sometimes nice foliage in the autumn. They give so much for so little care.
 
Bill Grant, central coast California
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