Re: Roses
Alessandra wrote:
>Talking about roses... I just wanted to sing the praise of R. Bracteata,
>which is a not very common, giant species, I think form China (but I should
>check). It can be a climber or a shrub: if you don't give it any support it
>will self sustain after a while. As a climber it can reach about 9 mt (30
>ft). It is reliable, totally evergreen, has single white flowers with a
>cluster of golden stamens, virtually all summer long. It makes an ideal
>hedge and a perfect screen for unsighty big objects. Bracteata is one of the
>parents of the much too praised Mermaid that in this climate is quite
>disappointing in that it makes too much growth and foliage and too scarce
>flowers.
This is odd because here, 'Mermaid' will flower almost every day of
the year - especially when planted against a sunny wall where it can
get a good toasting. It is the one climbing rose that seems to relish
a thin sandy soil and certainly appears happier when not fertilised
regularly. I raised a seedling from it some 20 years ago, with
wonderful, persistent, deep green, shiny foliage, rich copper bronze
when young and almost bell-like, crystalline textured, white flowers,
very vaguely reminiscent of its Chinese parent when opened out.
However they were only about two thirds the size, had a distinctly
sweet fragrance and were borne in clusters of up to 6 or 7. I suspect
that a quirk of nature, simultaneous with a visit from a bee that had
been feeding on a nearby Rosa moschata, was the reason for this lovely
gift. It was from the only seed to germinate out of the single hip
that the plant bore - 'Mermaid' being sterile more often than not - in
the UK at least.
As a climber for a warm sunny wall it was superb - especially when you
looked up into the flowers - they were like fragile, glistening
chalices hanging from thread-like stems. Unfortunately it was one of
the first casualties of the bitter winter in 1981-82. I still kick
myself for never having taken cuttings. At the time I consoled myself
by saying it wasn't a hardy rose and therefore had little true value.
What I wouldn't give for a plant of it now!
>Hadn't spring arrived? In three days the temps dropped about 10 degrees
>Celsius, and it started to snow on the hills once more! Most of my fruit
>trees were blooming, and they dropped all their flowers.
We were getting 20 and 21C over last weekend and up until yesterday -
now its dropped back to 14C. :-(
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK Zone 9b
