I know very little about roses, and I don’t totally understand their appeal. (Gulp! I can’t believe I just admitted that on a gardening blog! I feel like the Rosarians are going to target me for a hit now. Better watch my back.)
So when the fine people at the World Rose Festival asked me if I wanted to host a contest offering Heavy Petal readers a chance to win two tickets to the World Rose Festival being held in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2009, as well as $100 worth of rose shrubs from acclaimed nursery Select Roses, I actually had to think twice.
A rose show? Was that really a good fit for this blog? Weren’t most rose fanatics in the pinkies-held-aloft and blue-hair-rinse crowds?
Of course, I know that’s not really the case. Some of my favourite garden writers are rose nuts. (Hi Dee!) My mom is one of the most down-to-earth women you’ll ever meet, and even she gets giddy when ‘Heritage’ blooms in her garden.
So why do I have this prejudice against roses? In my head, they’re fussy divas that don’t offer a lot beyond the short time they’re in bloom. And as for how well they fit in a garden – like mine – that could never be described as “English” or “cottagey”? They just don’t go.
Of course, I could be completely off base.
I’d love to hear from you: do you think roses can be chic, easy, un-schmaltzy, and of value in an environmentally-conscious garden?
Now about this contest. First, a little bit of background: the World Rose Convention happens every three years in a different country, and this year is being hosted by the Vancouver Rose Society. The VRS decided that not only would they host the convention, but they would also organize a World Rose Festival, featuring a rose show, display gardens, workshops and lectures, floral design display, kid’s gardens, and a marketplace. You know – kind of like a small-scale Northwest Flower and Garden Show, but with a rose theme. I can just imagine how sweet the air will smell at this event!
To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling me why you think roses deserve a place in the modern garden. Convince me. The commenter who has me shoving aside heucheras or herbs to plant a rose wins.
The contest winner will receive two tickets to the World Rose Festival, held in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2009, as well as $100 in rose shrubs from Select Roses. Please note: Select Roses does not ship or otherwise transport roses; you must pick out and pick up your roses from their nursery in Langley, BC. Contest closes June 1, 2009 at midnight PST.
Meighan says
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because they are beautiful and edible! Not only are they pretty to look at, but you can eat the petals and make tea from the rose hips. You also can’t overlook their cut flower use, a bouquet of backyard roses displayed in any living room is a beautiful sight. There are beautiful heirloom roses with scents so strong you can smell them across the yard. If you don’t have at least one rose, you need one!!! If you plant a rose bush I will send you a recipe for candied rose petals :)
Jenn says
I’m not competing for the contest, as I am in the low desert, and roses are not generally considered candidates for xeric conditions.*
But I will say that the little miniature roses are charming, and in Michigan I would buy the grocery store offerings and plant them out in the garden edges. Most folks don’t think of a rose as an edging plant. They are missing out.
*Lady banks rose is an exception, a very hardy rose that takes the heat in stride and provides blankets of lovely clusters of tiny roses of white or primrose yellow in late March to mid April. They are just fading now.
Kerry says
I’m in the same boat as you, I used to think that roses were for the blue-rinse crowd and the fuddy-duddies, until I came across a rose called Climbing Joseph’s Coat — it’s blooms range from yellow, peach, pink and orange, all on the same plant! This excites me far too much, as the idea of having a plant with surprise colour blossoms appeals to the same side of me that used to love those mystery goody bags at the corner store when I was a kid. I imagine having some sort of modern, clean line arch built and having those grow over top, and when the petals start to drop I could walk underneath it and pretend that confetti is sprinkling down!
Robin says
Within traditional versus modern garden debate, there always seems to be this tension, a feeling that one must make a choice. However, I don’t think this is the case. I’ll readily disclose that I am much more of English-Garden-Type-Of-Girl, mostly because I have a large area that needs coverage and spreading seeds randomly, with a few well-placed hydrangeas and peonies is so much easier. Cost is also a factor, since I am a current renter, I can only see myself attempting to transplant my most favorite garden varieties when I choose to move.
Personally, I think there is something to be said for roses in a modern garden. I think that a few rose bushes, perhaps not the typical varieties, add a sense of history and a softness that can
Jeff says
The draw to roses are their complexity. They are difficult to grow and difficult to shape properly. That is way people grow them, its the challenge they offer. Anyone can grow a rose, but most can not do it well, and those that do, have spent years learning how to. And if they moved to a different region, they would have to learn all over again. I don’t grow roses very well, but I try. All these effort are not for nothing either. The rose bloom is the grand daddy of all blooms. Big, showy, full of colour and life. If flowers where members of the animal kingdom, the Rose would be the Lion.
Christine says
They deserve a place because they are a decidedly modern plant. Hybridizing and making new varieties are human interventions into the livelihoods of these thorny plants. We rose lovers and the plants have worked together to increase varieties. And the roses let us name them weird and beautiful names. Go, roses!
Cinema (yoganista on Twitter) says
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because they are timeless. They are the quintessential plant of the horticultural tradition. The cultivation of roses most symbolizes the art of growing plants for pleasure, and has throughout the history of gardening. The rose expresses more about the passions and tribulations of gardening than any other plant. It’s an icon. Any landscape, modern, traditional or accidental, can only really call itself a garden, if roses bloom therein.
mary says
In my opinion the most garden worthy roses are not generally available for purchase. They are tall, graceful roses that require very little care and provide colour, fragrance and structure to the garden. These roses are not readily available – have you heard of Ghislaine de Feligonde, Darlow’s Enigma, R x Cantabrigiensis, R. rubrifolia? I call them roses for people who hate roses.
Holly Bennett says
I have been in love with roses for many years but have thrown out more than I care to confess. Most hybrid teas are fussy babies and I refuse to spray so they didn’t last. The roses that deserve a place in the modern garden are the tough as nails superstars [mostly floribundas and climbers] that need minimal care and bloom from June on. It’s all about the variety. I love picking a bouquet of these flowers, they appeal to my girly heart. When the neighbours compliment the garden 9 times out of 10 it’s the roses they admire. But the best reason for growing roses in Vancouver is cutting some on a mild Christmas day [not last year obviously] and then phoning the relatives in Toronto to brag.
nancy says
oh oh oh!!! (waves hand in the air manically!)
roses can be part of the modern garden because a modern garden can mix the old and new.
i love the lines and simplicity of a modern garden with addition of one or two antique (org – old garden) roses.
i never had a thing for roses till i discovered ogr’s, their smell and look and the fact that attar of rose is super expensive. that got me studying to find some for my space.
abe darby is absolutely fuss free and wonderful – gives blooms nearly all year and is a modern version of an old rose, mme isaac perier is the most amazing smelling old garden rose with quite freakishly modern color of magenta blooms! did i mention it climbs nicely onto a modern fence and smells like raspberries? imagine that carried on a warm and humid vancouver afternoon. yum!
then there is mme hardy which i own… this rose is like a long lost treasure…blooms in perfectly cupped neat little white blooms with button like green eyes and smells like honey!!! it only blooms once a year but it’s worth the waiting and excitement.
not to mention roses attract humming birds and bees to the garden and as a modern gardener we are all about restoring bees and beneficial insects to our environment in the city. modern isn’t just about slick design, it’s about intelligently mixing in elements that have purpose.
have i got you convinced yet? :-D
of course, i must admit i don’t really care much for long stemmed roses of the 80’s, plastic like looking roses that look like flesh and those that do not smell!
check out paul barden’s roses http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/ when you get a chance to see what i’m talking about when i say i love roses and they do indeed have a place in every garden!
(ps – some roses need winter protection if in pots and left outside in the open, i sadly lost two that way this year… :-(
nancy says
ps – i make rose preserve out of wild rose petals like my grandma did in europe… as did the women before her…ok, maybe that’s not so modern, haha, but oh it tastes like heaven especially during our depressing winters. you can also use the rose preserve in your tea, or in your baking! it is absolutely divine! also rose hips are a very high source of vitamin c and flavinoids. go roses!
grass says
simple, the smell. for a modern garden, i would avoid the maiden aunt rosebush off in the corner, or by an entry. instead climbing roses could be a backdrop to a bed of perennials. this question is very timely as i have just been trying to figure out how to incorporate roses in my garden.
Megan says
I’m with you on the rose issue, although this picture makes them look more tempting. While the flowers are just okay with me, my problem is the form of the plant itself. I’d say I have a no rose policy, although I do like r. glauca (rubrifolia) for the purple foliage, and I like it’s tall arching branches, which I don’t prune. I’m not throwing my hat in the ring, the prize should go to someone who knows what they’d do with roses, I’m just agreeing with you.
Mary Beth says
One of my first gardening jobs I took was for a bed and breakfast in Durango, Colorado and there was 30+ roses mixed in the flower beds and it was beautiful. I was deathly afraid to touch the roses in fear I would kill one but the owner told me, “prune them in spring and feed them, don’t worry most roses are tough”. I was hooked. I have two rules for buying roses, they must be fragrant and somewhat disease resistant. The fragrance of roses in a flower bed is pure bliss for me. Be careful, they can be very addicting!
Lauren says
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because of the effort they require to thrive. Many modern gardeners plant only “easy” plants and don’t bother to watch the entire grow season. All the care roses need forces a gardener to slow down and really observe their plants and their needs.
How FUN!
Debbie says
Roses for me is all about the fragrance, I tend to be more of a English Country Gardener and my favorite rose memories are or and old pink rambling rose that covered our old pumphouse when I was growing up. However, today I like the new roses that are more diesese resistant, fragrant and tolerate abuse. Maybe, the breeders are going back to how most of us garden survival of the fittest and less fuss with shape, petal count colour etc. Plant a fragrant rose under your bedroom window and you will have the sweetest dreams.
PlantingOaks says
First off, I’m not writing this to be considered for the contest – shows aren’t really my thing.
But really, I’m surprised that you’ll write off an entire genera of plants on reputation alone.
Ok, so maybe twiggy pink hybrid teas behind clipped boxwood hedges aren’t for you.
But a big yellow rambler scrambling over a fence or arbor?
The overgrown rose blooming it’s head off completely neglected vacant lot is another common reputation they have. Hardly fussy. As long as they get their sun, most are happy.
They’re popular for a reason. Few plants have such large and fragrant blooms. Being in a warmer zone, you should even be able to grow the ones that bloom year round if you’re so inclined.
But to me change is what’s great about the garden, what makes it different from silk flowers. It’s why crocus and daffodils are so special in spring. Roses aren’t unattractive when they aren’t blooming – just another shrub. It’s not a bad trade for a few weeks of sweetly scented glory.
linda says
Rose leans towards being an aphrodisiac. I think that should be enough to convince anybody! Seriously, I used to dislike the commercialism of the rose until I tasted imported Greek rose jam. Once I realized that roses are edible and actually useful (rosehips too, full of vitamin C), I developed an appreciation for them. I plan on planting a lot of them this year for the first time because I plan on making all sorts of potions.
germi says
Roses are to the modern garden what parsley is to cooking! Sure, you CAN do without roses, and including them in a garden might initially seem like an old-fashioned impulse, but when you associate the well-chosen rose with modern perennials or succulents you get a surprising freshness to a planting.
I think one of the hallmarks of truly modern gardens is a sense of the unexpected – gardens that are rigidly, dogmatically one thing like desert/xeric or prairie or tropical can be so snoozy. Often, throwing a rose into a well-turned out planting can add a burst of color and an unexpected exuberance that can make a good garden kind of great.
Of course, the right rose is the key. I HATE icky, spindly shrubs that seem to be there as pedestals to hopped-up flowers. My favorite roses are the bright red single pillar rose ‘Altissimo’, Rosa ‘The Fairy’ (which is so wild looking planted with grasses ), and the uber romantic ‘Sally Holmes’. These are all singles, rather than hundred petaled pom poms. Those old fashioned has-beens are about as appetizing as a weird piece of curly parsley on the side of your plate.
I cook with Italian Parsley…
With roses, like with parsley, it’s all about the choice.
Stemme Fatale says
“Roses are red,
Violets are blue.”
The words are transcendent;
These blossoms are, too.
lance says
Anything that ranks 5 out of 5 on the ‘Plants for a Future Database’ is deserving of a place in the garden. Even if it is a starvation food or some such thing.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/find_lat?LAT=rosa+rugosa&COM=&FAM=&RATING=1
I’m still not interested in attending the event though!
cathy scott says
after assesing and smelling my garden this morning i realized that there was sompthing missing, a rose bush, when i was working digging holes and weeding those peskie weeds it was so nice to smell the hyacinths that are in full bloom now. but a rose bush, o boy how about the midew or bugs? well that evening while watching C T V news, brad jalbert came on and explained a lot about the new roses that are resistand to all of the above and made it verry convincing that i should give the rose bushes another chance, after all how can any one resist a flower so beautifull,sweet,and romantic? it is the queen of all flowers no one should be with out no mather what type of gardens you have.
Anne Dowell says
I went through an anti-rose period myself but thankfully that has passed – here is my perspective.
In test gardens where they(mostly tea roses, for some reason) are laid out on their lonesome they tend to look like unhappy painted ladies. It makes me cringe to see them, even though I like to be able to get up close to smell the fragrance. They also look pretty terrible on the edge of a lawn in a stiff border.
Yet roses are their own world and the odds are that there is one that will speak to your personality – a sturdy prolific shrub, a languid tea, an overblown gallic, an orderly David Austin, or a humble garden no-name, in whatever colour you dream. The roses Annette Benning clipped with fury in ‘American Beauty” suit some people to a ‘t’, but I like to interplant nodding climbers with clematis, honeysuckle and other vines or interplant and play off characterisitcs of neighbouring plants.
Roses have endured because they can be the ultimate in sensuous expression; fragrant, intensely hued and luxuriant to touch. Watching the overblown petals decay and blacken is a philosophical moment. They do require care but when planted with enough air circulation in the right place I really don’t understand what the fuss over care is.
So, I guess I’m a closet rosarian. Fragrance and romance tends to be forgotten in the modern garden and roses fill the void.
Jay says
Roses in a modern garden? Of course!!!! Just pick the one that is right for you. They vary greatly in size of plant, hardiness and ease of care, scent, colour, thorns, you name it. I only grow organically, so I need plants that are not susceptible to bugs or disease — and with some advice I now have a few no-fuss bushes and I want more. A small bouquet can really brighten up a room, and who among us has not smiled at seeing a rose in bloom in December when we know the rest of the country is in a deep freeze?
In these challenging economic times, the modern garden should also have some plants that you only have to purchase once and they come back year after year after year after . . .
June Espin says
Roses are the ideal flower for this climate, we have even had a Mr. Lincoln bloom at Christmas. The fragrance and show is most welcome in the height of the season. June in North Vancouver
Suzi says
Iceberg Tree Roses!!! They don’t get sick, they don’t get bugs, and they don’t need much water, they bloom year round (but I prune mine in February) I have six here in Santa Cruz. Try one. I’ve only seen them in white but I like some white in my garden, I can the blooms at night.
diana says
I’m not a big rose person either but I have a few.I think they look much better amongst other plants which can hide their spindly stems. I love the Reine de Victoria planted in my herb garden beside the kitchen window. It’s our reward for doing dishes when that thing is blooming, delicious scent! Some roses also have nice fall color, the petals look lovely in a salad and the thorns protect birds from predators. Roses grow well here– not a real problem with diseases. So, there are a few reasons to grow roses!
Jane says
Roses belong in the modern garden because they are perfect for the neighbors. I came to this idea late in my gardening years: I inherited a long line of them planted along the parking strip and was prepared to haul them all out immediately. But as I lived in my home for the first summer and saw all the little neighborhood children looking, smelling and enjoying them with their parents, I realized they were perfect, and just the right height for toddlers. Those roses helped me make friends with lots of my new neighbors. Although I’ve added herbs and a small tree as well, I wouldn’t get rid of many of the roses now. They’re just too popular!
Georgia says
I’ve never grown a rose but my mum when we lived in Jamaica. I always stop and smell the roses in Berkeley – there are so many big flowers right up against the sidealk. Why isn’t Berkeley the Rose City? (Portland, Or. has the title.) My current yard has a rose bush (the landlady’s family planted it). It has delicate pink flowers and requires no additional water to rainfall (I don’t water it). It’s nice to look at while eating meals (it’s outside the eat-in kitchen window).
Not posting to enter the drawing.
laurel says
Once you have been seduced by a particular rose, you will know it deserves a place in your modern garden. It will be a unique rose that intrigues you and leaves you breathless. This rose will have shiny green leaves contrasting with matte red new growth at the tips that will produce buds that grow to become gorgeous, outragously juicy colored blooms- like fireworks going off in your garden. All this will happen without extra fuss and headache of diseases and pests-if you find the right one- the one that has chosen you. This rose will enhance your garden. (…Atleast this has been my experience! I used to be against roses too, but now its hopeless!)
Sara Bearchell says
I moved into a house a few years ago that’s absolutely choking with roses: both borders leading up to the front door, planted shoulder to shoulder and waist high with all kinds of varieties I have still yet to name. After learning the hard way how to finally take care of them, I’ve come to regard my roses as a symbol of my entire garden: the epitome of a love-hate relationship.
I love my garden, like I love my roses, but there is always a point in the year where I’m not sure who is in control anymore. Is it me or a war of the roses?
Yet nothing wows me quite like that row of bushes in full bloom- buzzing with bees and full of scent, delicate velvety petals and glossy fat leaves. All that hard work, all the tender loving care, all the fussing about… roses belong in a modern garden because they are just plain worth it.
It’s why I garden in the first place.
Plus they’re like a Chanel suit, they never go out of style.
Ken says
If I had to choose only one plant in the world, it would be the rose.
The rose encapsulates all that we are, and all that we hope to be.
From the beginning, the rose aspires to be one of a kind, an original. Using all of its God given gifts, it seeks to find and establish a place for itself among all the rest.
As it grows, the rose exhibits the traits of a new born or toddler. Its will is strong, and presents a rough and tumble exterior. If nurtured properly by its “parents”, it seeks to please them by rewarding them with a rich, fragrant and stunning beauty.
Through adolescence, it yearns for originality and space of its own. As it is guided through pruning by its keeper, the rose longs to bring forth its fruit.
The rose still brandishes its diametrical, protective exterior in the form of thorns; yet it dominates the surrounding terrain with its captivating grandeur and aroma. Week after week, we are privileged to absorb, through our many and varied senses, the majesty and splendor which is the rose.
Sublime peace. The rose.
Carol McGuire says
Roses have always been beloved by everyone. From Queens to comoners. My grandmother had a rambler that she loved, my mother had a cutting, I believe it was a Josephes Coat. I have several and especially love my Cordon Blue. The scent makes me sigh. The color and texture are divine. With all the new disese resistant types what is your excuse? Try it you’ll like it!
Cecilia says
I live in an urban environment. Compared to the suburbs, which are all about conformity, urban environments are about the unique and individual and so are roses.
There are literally countless varies of roses, one to suit everyone personality and place. Don’t find a suitable rose create one yourself! Roses are easy to mate and create a totally new type. WOW!
Andrea Shish says
I have to say, I once had all the same reasons not to garden with roses.
Then one day, after my husband and I moved into our little house, I found myself cutting away a huge expanse of cedar hedging in front of the house. There I was, Saws All in hand and to my surprise… Voila! a rose bush, hidden in amongst the cedar hedging. I was completely dumbfounded. How could something live behind such an overgrown hedge?
Forget what you hear about roses being picky, how else could they still be around after thousands of years! Sure they need some extra care when they are attacked by alphids or get a bad case of blackspot. But when they do thrive, and you see the first buds about to bloom, it can be very rewarding and exciting. I think you should give it a try, and see if you like them. I have a paricularly strong feeling that you will!
Jen says
I’m kind of ‘against’ roses as a gardener, for the reasons you mention above, but I work as a florist in the off season, and once the thorns are off those babies, nothing plant-based can beat a rose for squishable texture. Some of them smell fantastic too- I think roses have a place in modern gardens focusing on the senses, especially sensory gardens for folks with different needs or vision loss.
Deb G says
De lurking to add my voice to the roses don’t have to be fussy group! Rugosas are just one example of a type of rose that look healthy and beautiful without requiring any sprays, no extra feeding, limited water. They have beautiful rose hips that which makes them interesting in many seasons. There are lots of low care roses. And fussy ones for people who want challenges. From a sustainable perspective, they absolutely fit in a “modern” garden if they are the right variety.
From a style perspective, it would all be in what they were combined with, how they were placed.
Gosh rose lovers are passionate! :)
DorotheeRH says
A rose is more than a rose!
* Ancient Romans believed that white roses grew where the tears of Venus fell when she was mourning Adonis.
* The Greeks called the rose “The King of Flowers”.
* The oldest rose in the world has flourished for over 1,000 years on the wall of Hildeshiem Cathedral in Germany.
* Columbus’ crew picked a rose branch out of the ocean on October 11, 1492. This signaled the presence of land. The very next day, Columbus discovered America.
* Roses are related to apples, cherries, pears, plums, berries, and almonds.
* Rose hips contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable.
Yvonne says
Why roses? … because then the yard smells of grandma’s place when I was 10 years old wandering through nose-height to her special, small, much loved and unmanaged wilderness – and that’s all the reason I need.
Kendra says
I’m mostly of the same ‘not in my garden’ opinion about roses, at least the old school way of growing them. But lately I’ve been getting into thickets and briars…a rambling, climbing, scrambling thing in a corner of the garden…even just a small corner. If we think in terms of function in the ecosystem rather than aesthetics alone, there is certainly a place for a wild or climbing rose in the modern, eco-friendly garden where it can grow wildly (or just mildly) untamed, the way it should, and where it can harbour all the beneficial little creepies and crawlies, the way nature intended. Break free of rose garden conformity! A delightfully messy thicket of thorns is a bird and insect haven…providing habitat and food for predators and pollinators and all that jazz. An added bonus if your thicket blooms beautifully, smells fantastic, makes rose petal jam or produces yummy hips for the birdies.
Charlotte says
I love roses and lavender so call me an old fashioned gardener. But I loved the vegetable gardens at Villandry in France and in the corner of each bed was a red rose. I heard the story that the monks who used to tend the gardens used the roses to alert them to problems with the vegetables in the beds. I don’t know if it is true but the rose sentries are charming there and we have them in our vegetable garden too. Besides, if you have scented roses, you add scent and colour to your garden and that is never a bad thing!
Dee/reddirtramblings says
Hi Andrea! Nope, no blue hair here! LOL. I wish I could go. I think it would be simply divine. However, my mother is having two surgeries in June, so I’ll need to stay nearby. I would need an entire post to convince you, but here’s this: the newer, disease resistant varieties need very little care and should be treated as pretty everblooming shrubs. I’m even trialing three new ones which are supposed to be fragrant. As to the other types of roses other than H.T.s, they are beautiful, smell good, and evoke romance. That’s reason enough for me.~~Dee
Bev Price says
Roses have such cachet — and for so many reasons. Throughout recorded history they have graced gardens with their scent and their variety. They lift spirits, they soothe, celebrate and inspire. Lovers communicate with them, poets extole them. They waken memories, pressed in the pages of an old book, and they bring comfort to saddened hearts. Our own garden has so many plants sharing its space, but its soul is found in the roses we treasure there.
Kate says
My mom has been trying to get me to get passionate about roses for years. My response: “convince me.” Why bother, I wondered, with such a troublesome plant (they have THORNS for heavens sakes) when you could have the effortless May bounty of an arbour covered with a montana clematis or the show stopping spectacle of a mass planting of orange-red-purple-salmon rhododendrons with a mollis azalea thrown in for scent or the floppy papavers (Patty’s plum, anyone)? I can still remember that the house got dusted on Saturday and the roses on Sunday, immediately after church. And then there was the mystery of all that pruning: when? how much? (and those thorns again!). Roses in my mom’s garden – sure, but in mine? I think not.
But then my mom took the rather presumptuous step of plopping a bare root of Fragrant Delight on my porch one November, insisting that “You must have a least one rose.” Looking at that naked and brown specimen only reinforced my contempt. But I’m a gardener; I had to plant it. And then June arrived. I must say that I’m a bit embarassed to repeat what a pushover I was. One whiff of those pink buds and I went over to the other side (they don’t call it Fragrant Delight for nothing!)
Roses in rows: not for me. Spraying: not for me. Dusting: not for me. But even I can remember to prune when the forsythia blooms. And the payoff from a little trouble with the pruners and a handlful of Brad Jabert’s fertilizer confirms it: you should listen to your mother.
Eliza Olson says
Roses have so many relatives. They include the rare Cloudberry that is found in bogs and peatlands in Northern Countries. Burns Bog in Delta is the southern-most limits of its habitat on the West Coast of the Americas.
Strawberries, raspberries and apples are a few other relatives. You can tell them by their 5 petalled flowers. Of course, the domesticated roses have a lot more.
Roses give us rose hips which healthy for you but what I like most about them is their fragrance. There is nothing like a fragrant rose!
Bardia says
My first memory of a rose is of a dark red rose, most likely a hybrid tea, in my uncle’s garden with the sweetest smell imaginable. As an adult I have come to appreciate my uncle’s love of roses because I see how roses come to reflect our individual preferences and communicate our human particularities. A rose deserves space in a modern garden because it is the closest thing to a love-affair, one might say inter-species romance, in the garden where the human actors are the hopeless romantics! We await the rose buds in the spring; we do everything in our power to help them flourish; and we cherish every moment that they are in bloom, i.e. create bouquets, take pictures and smell their sweet profusions.
Kerry Moore says
I don’t want to grow roses; I don’t want the fussing, the frustration, having to phone experts when you mess up, and worst, watching the rose named Just Joey that you transplanted from your mothers garden after her death, slowly, painfully give up its grip on life.
So why did I just buy four more roses? I put it down to the nice medication I am taking that makes me absurdly optimistic and fond of the damned things .. oh, and the stubby ruins of Just Joey just threw out a little branch.
My roses are life itself and I say that digging out yet another thorn sliver. Bless ’em.
joey barton says
i love the contrast and irony associated with roses. the beauty of the blooms comes with the danger of the thorns. roses are also not the tempermental shrub that they reputedly have. they give maximum bang for the buck for most of the growing season, and can fill a number of needs within the garden:
they make great shrubs, borders, specimens, hanging baskets, and can cover a trellis in a couple of seasons.
i look around at other gardens and see very little roses planted and the ones that are, are usually sad looking units. with a little care, anyone can have breathtaking roses- i am living proof of that- i have over 25 in my very tiny patio garden.
The Drooling Vegetable says
Gotta say, I just don’t like ’em.
I couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe because I find them a bit wiffly, the horticultural equivalent of granny’s frilly bloomers.
They’re just a bit too genteel and dainty for my liking…
Niki P says
What better way to explore colour in the modern garden than with roses? Like a throw pillow or rug, they can inject warmth and personality into an otherwise sterile environment. A garden without roses is like a house without art on the walls.