ROSA. Rose. Widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. We are assembling a diverse collection of roses, including a few common favorites, some of the best of the old roses, modern extensions of the same themes, and species from California and elsewhere. Most of them have the typical spiny stems and leaf stalks which make being a rose enthusiast such a bloody business. Their classic five-petalled (or ten to hundreds in the double-flowered selections) flowers are borne in clusters at the shoot tips. Many are wonderfully fragrant (oddly enough, their intensity and specific variations in scent often go undescribed in rose texts, as if all were alike). The “hips”, or fleshy seed capsules, which follow can be quite decorative, usually more so in the species and the hybrids closest to them. Most of the following prefer sun but tolerate a wide variety of soils and watering regimes. Hardy to 0^oF or less, except as noted.

‘Altissimo’. A stout, climbing floribunda rose, with stems 8-12’ high. The leaves are large, very dark and shiny. Single broad-petalled blossoms up to 5" broad are carried in small clusters over a long season. They are deep, velvety red overall, with small yellow centers. The 1" hips which follow are shaped and colored like tiny pumpkins.

‘Ballerina’. A compact, spreading shrub with bright, shiny leaves. Many-flowered clusters of single, widely opening 1½" blossoms appear in waves at the shoot tips, throughout the growing season. Coloring is a cheery bright pink at the petal tips, shading to white in the centers.

banksiae. Lady Banks' rose. A slender stemmed climber, rising to 15' or more if supported. The stems have few thorns and are bright green, as are the shiny leaves with narrow 2" leaflets. The flowers are small but borne in large, open sprays during late spring and early summer. ‘Alba Plena’ (actually multiple clones) has double pure white flowers, 1" across in the common form, 2" in the better form, and sweetly fragrant. ‘Lutea’ has light yellow 1" flowers, also double. Evergreen in mild climates.

‘Betty Prior’. A single floribunda from the ‘30s, still one of the best bush roses for our climate. The plants are sturdy and well-branched, with dark, clean leaves. The flowers are borne in generous clusters, in waves from late spring to fall. Each is up to 3" wide, deep pink fading lighter, with light centers. They are powerfully fragrant.

‘Blanc Double de Coubert’. A hybrid first introduced in 1892, showing strong R. rugosa background. It grows about 6' high and has stout, densely spiny stems and dark, deeply veined leaves. Semidouble, pure white flowers are clustered at the shoot tips for several weeks in summer.

californica. A native species, quite common here along the Central Coast. It forms broad thickets from underground shoots—a useful feature for revegetation and ground cover, as well as a potentially serious problem for the smaller garden. Individual stems are 4-6' tall and closely set with pale green to bluish green leaves. Single pink flowers up to 2" broad decorate the plants most of the summer. We hope to offer a superior selection or two in the future, as well as the current seedling material.

chinensis ‘Mutabilis’. China rose. This is my recent favorite. It is bushy in growth, with rather slender, arching stems, eventually making a rounded bush around 8' tall. The stems are purplish and the few-parted leaves, dark and shiny, giving a very clean impression. The single blossoms are close to 3" across and uniquely colored: they open buff to salmon, then shift gradually to rose.

‘Danae’. A shrubby hybrid made early in the last century. It usually grows 5-8’ high and is well branched. The leaves are large, dark and shiny. It flowers for many weeks in summer and fall, carrying clusters of lightly scented yellow flowers which fade nearly to white.

‘Flamingo’. An unusual hybrid tea from the ‘70s. The plant is large–to at least 8’–and openly branched. Both leaves and stems are unusually blue, with a dull surface. The flowers are single, up to 5" across, and painted bright pink with a silvery sheen. They are quite fragrant, with an element of cinnamon thrown into the usual blend of scents.

foliolosa. The plant received under this name only roughly fits the textbook description. It is moderate in growth, with flexible stems up to 4' high (it will need some support for best appearance). The leaflets are dark and noticeably narrower than those of most roses. It bears beautiful deep pink, fragrant flowers, about 2" across in this form, in late summer. The leaves color beautifully in late fall.

‘Francis Lester’. A hybrid musk rose, growing as much as 15’ high with support and excellent for running up pillars, poles, and trees. It has well-branched stems and clean, bright foliage. The flowers are single and small individually, but borne in broad clusters. The buds are a bright, coppery pink, and the flowers lighten as they open, finally becoming nearly white.

‘Happenstance’. The name describes the discovery, about 60 years ago, in the garden of a Mrs. Crittenden. It was one of several volunteer seedlings to appear beneath a plant of R. ‘Mermaid’, below.This is a plant of unusual habit for a rose, growing nearly flat on the ground but spreading only slowly and devoting most of its energy to flower production. Individual blossoms about 2½" across nestle among the leaves. They have pale yellow centers, shading to nearly white at the edges. As the flowers age, they fade to nearly pure white.

‘Hermosa’. This is a China rose from the 1840s, still quite lovely even by modern standards. It is an attractive bushy plant, with clean, bright foliage. It blooms continuously from spring to fall, carrying many small clusters of beautifully formed, double soft pink blossoms. They are also sweetly fragrant.

‘Iceberg’. A popular Floribunda rose, growing 6-8' high. It is well branched and has clean, dark leaves which make a perfect background for masses of double, pure white flowers over a long period in summer. It also has a sport, ‘Climbing Iceberg’, with taller, more limber stems suitable for trellises and fences.

‘Marjorie Fair’. A compact, spreading shrub, probably 4-5' tall at maturity, resulting from a cross of R. ‘Ballerina’, above. It has dark, shiny leaves, resistant to disease. The plant is almost continuously in bloom, carrying single 1" blossoms in thick clusters. Each is painted rose red, shading to white at the center.

‘Mermaid’. A hybrid selection of R. bracteata made early in this century. It is a rampant grower, climbing 20-30' if unrestrained. The leaves are dark green, with broad leaflets, evergreen in mild climates. From late spring to fall it bears single, pale yellow flowers 3-5" across. ‘Pink Mermaid’ is a similar selection with somewhat smaller flowers, nearly white near the centers shading to pink on the edges of the petals.

minutifolia. A native of far southern California and Baja California. It grows about 3' tall, with slender, spreading, densely spiny stems. The leaves are quite small (hence the species name) but closely set. Pretty pink flowers, 1" or more broad, dot the plant in summer. It should prove to be quite drought tolerant, though its hardiness is unknown.

moschata ‘Will Scarlet’. Musk rose. A large, open shrub, with heavy, arching canes extending 8' or more. It has clean, dark foliage, resistant to most of the common “rose blights”. In summer and fall it is decorated by many large clusters of bright red, white-centered blossoms.

‘Nearly Wild’. Treated as a new sensation here, though the cross dates back to 1941 (a common occurrence in a state whose historical horizon is about five years!). This is a bushy selection of the floribunda group, growing 4-6' high and wide. It has sturdy stems and attractive dark leaves. Clusters of fragrant single blossoms, 2-3" broad, decorate the plant from late spring to fall. The flowers are white near the centers, deep pink near the edges. An even older hybrid, similar in all respects save slightly darker flowers with less white in the centers, is ‘Betty Prior’.

‘Nozomi’. A small, scrambling rose used effectively for ground cover. It has small, congested, glossy leaves and generous clusters of small single light pink blossoms.

Polyantha group. These are bushy to climbing, rather slender stemmed shrubs of complex parentage. A common feature is their dark green, satiny foliage, resistant to many diseases. They are decorated most of the summer with large clusters of showy, exquisitely fragrant blossoms, mostly 2-3" broad and resembling the hybrid teas in form. ‘Cecile Brunner’ (in this version; there are others) climbs to about 10’ and bears light pink blossoms. ‘Perle d’Or’ is a more moderate grower with pale apricot flowers. ‘The Fairy’ is grown for its small size (usually 3-4’), bushy habit, clean dark foliage and masses of small, double light pink flowers.

‘Seafoam’. A beautiful trailing rose, making a low mound up to 6' broad. The plant is also easily shaped on a trellis or wall. It has dark, very shiny and disease-resistant leaves. Clusters of double 2" blossoms, white with a slight pink blush, grace the plant throughout the summer months.

‘Sally Holmes’. Up to 5' tall, with thick but limber stems (It is described as a ground cover type in one text) and large, dark, glossy leaves. Large single flowers with a few extra petals are borne in generous clusters through the summer months. They start as salmon pink buds and lighten after opening, becoming nearly white with age.

sericea forma pteracantha. Imagine growing a rose for its thorns, and you have the beginnings of an acquaintance with this one. It is a robust shrub, with arching stems 8-12’ high. Closely set along them are dark orange-red thorns with a wide, triangular base; when backlit, they seem to glow from within. The leaves are narrow and dark, the flowers pure white and attractive but borne only briefly in early summer. Winter is actually the time to enjoy it most.

 ‘The Gift’. This is a spreading selection, forming a wide dome up to 5' high. The shoots are freely branched and covered by dark, shiny leaves. Many 3/4" single white flowers, edged with pink in cooler weather, are carried in broad clusters, the show lasting from late spring to fall.

wichuraiana. I am hoping that this trailing/climbing rose will get a better reception in this new round than in the first. It has performed magnificently in my own garden, making a solid, trouble-free carpet up to 10' broad. The leaves are small, dark and wonderfully shiny. The subspecies poterifolia has slender, profusely branched stems and single, pure white flowers, about 1½” across. The cultivar ‘Hiawatha’ has stouter, more rapidly extending stems and single, vivid red flowers with white centers. ‘Variegata’ is more delicate in appearance, like poterifolia, and has cream-yellow margined leaves and white flowers.

woodsii var. ultramontana. Summer travellers along the east front of the Sierra are treated to the sight of great stretches of this shrub in bloom. It is equally showy in fall color. Like R. californica, above, it makes substantial thickets, from 2' to 8' or more in height. The leaves are light to medium green and unspectacular until fall, when they take on beautiful shades of yellow to crimson. The single flowers are up to 2" broad, few to a cluster, and variable in fragrance. The hips which follow are blazing scarlet. A tough and interesting shrub.