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nikthegreek_gw

Repeating singles and semi-doubles

nikthegreek
9 years ago

I admit I like full and multipetalled roses like many OGRs and Austins. But I have to say that I also love singles and semidouble ones. After all the rose is naturally a 5-petalled flower. At the same time I am known not to shy away from once flowering roses although, in my kind of climate, it would be a bit silly to fill one's garden mainly with once flowering ones. So, the question is, which repeating singles and semi doubles do you grow and can recommend? I believe there are, comparatively, not very many, no doubt due to historical breeding decisions. Anything goes, both older and more modern roses.
Nik

Comments (28)

  • portlandmysteryrose
    9 years ago

    Nik, it's funny you should mention singles and semis. I usually go for big fluffy gals in my garden, but I was just thinking about how much I'm looking forward to a couple of the daintier bloomers. 'Bayse's Purple' makes me positively weak in the knees. Clusters of elongated buds, dramatic sepals, dark and mysterious canes, deep purple/beet-colored blossoms, delicate illuminated dancing stamens, rugose foliage like so much crepe paper hanging about during a fiesta. 'Basye's P' is graceful, arching, and sculptural. All in all, pretty much the cat's pajamas! Oh, and it's quite remontant. :-) I'm also checking Rosa alba 'Semi Plena' daily for signs of opening buds, but it's a once-bloomer, of course. Carol

  • catspa_NoCA_Z9_Sunset14
    9 years ago

    Mrs. Oakley Fisher: poppy-like flowers on a handsome shrub that is almost always in bloom here.

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    I agree about Mrs. Oakley Fisher. What a beauty. One of my favorites is Scharlaglut. This is a velvety red with wonderful gold stamens on a yard devouring plant(once blooming I should say). Have you heard of Flamingo? It's a rugosa hybrid with large soft pink single blooms and dark stamens. Route 66 is a single dark purple. I'm including a photo of Francesca, a semi double Hybrid Musk that I love.

  • zjw727
    9 years ago

    I agree whole-heartedly about Mrs. Oakley Fisher- she's really lovely, and she smells nice, too. MOF is also a good example of a Hybrid Tea which is NOTHING AT ALL like the kind of rose most people assume an HT to be.

    Mutabilis seems to me to be an obvious suggestion, if you have the space for it. In your warm climate it will become enormous. I grow mine in a large pot, although I'm sure that sounds silly- however, it's THRIVING, and endured two separate deep-freeze cycles this winter without ANY problems. It's a real champ, and it loves to bloom!

    I've attached a picture of something that came my way as a "mystery" rose-"Papa Hemeray" seems to be a likely identity for it. It doesn't have any discernible scent, but I think it's lovely, and it has been a healthy, fast-grower for me. I'm excited to watch it develop!

    Zachary.

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    Mr. Bluebird is one of my favorite singles for its wonderful color. I've had some problems with blackspot on my four plants, although they never defoliated. I just pruned the plants and they bounced back. I can second the beauty of Route 66 although it fried almost immediately in my climate. Marie Pavie is a pretty and healthy semidouble. Bermuda Kathleen, with Mutabilis as one of its parents, is a large and healthy shrub with pretty single flowers.

    Ingrid

  • Tessiess, SoCal Inland, 9b, 1272' elev
    9 years ago

    Omi Oswald, Cassie, R. californica 'First Dawn', and Julia Mannering (this one is new so I don't know how much it repeats). Cassie, a polyantha, blooms more than any other rose in my garden (almost all year, although it slows down to only a flower or two during winter).

    Photo is of Omi Oswald, blooming in December.

    Melissa

  • User
    9 years ago

    I came across this page of singles/nearly singles while surfing:

    http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/newsletters/stories/single_petal_roses/

    Note: the descriptions for the two Basye roses are reversed.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Single/Nearly Single roses

    This post was edited by bellegallica_zone9 on Fri, Apr 18, 14 at 22:22

  • subk3
    9 years ago

    Souvenir de St. Anne is semi double. A sport of Souvenir de la Malmaison, it is a bourbon that is very disease resistant and blooms its head off all season. It is considered a "must have" by OGR folks in my area.

  • peachymomo
    9 years ago

    Poulsen's Pearl and Kirsten Poulsen bloom almost continuously from spring to fall here, and both are disease free. Kirsten Poulsen is such a vivid raspberry pink it's difficult to photograph.

    {{gwi:243974}}
    Poulsen's Pearl

    {{gwi:243975}}
    Betty Boop also has a good rebloom.

  • portlandmysteryrose
    9 years ago

    I almost forgot to mention Penelope. I am giving away many roses in my garden. I only kept two of my hybrid musks--Penelope and Buff Beauty. To shape up my garden design-wise, I am picking very pickily and choosing very choosily. Penelope remains. That's about as high as my praise goes these days. Well, TWO Baseye's Purples remain, so maybe my praise goes just a tad higher. Carol

  • rosefolly
    9 years ago

    I got rid of Penelope because it mildewed rather badly for me here. I wish it were otherwise because I can see it can be wonderful when it is healthy.

    But Buff Beauty is a glorious rose!

    Folly

  • sidos_house
    9 years ago

    The more petals, the better! -- I always think. But there is something fresh and lovely about the single roses too. The comparison between the two reminds me of Scarlett and Melanie in Gone with the Wind.

    Have you considered Dainty Bess? I love this rose so much, I have four.

    Two singles I am looking forward to planting this year include Golden Wings and The Charlatan/Astronomia. Perhaps one of those could be an option. They receive good reviews on HMF.

    If you like throwing caution to the wind, there's Jacqueline du Pre. She has not received much applause here on the rose forums. But you never when you'll get lucky so I am trying mine in a moist spot under the eave of our house.

    I hope you'll tell us if you choose any new singles or semi doubles for your garden.

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    I'm growing Astronomia. It's vigorous and disease free here.

  • sidos_house
    9 years ago

    I wonder if it's okay to suggest Abigail Adams for your consideration. It looks like it is available in Europe. I will have my first flush in a few weeks and the reason I bring it up is its apparent vigor. I don't mind waiting a few years for a plant to come into its own. But its also nice to have a few "givers." I planted a scrawny, but healthy Abigail Adams last summer and in less than one year's time, it has grown to this and is forming tons of baby buds. It is reported to have a moderate fragrance and flushes of rebloom. I don't expect it to steal my heart like some of the other single or semi-double roses pictured here do but I am grateful for its performance so far.

  • sidos_house
    9 years ago

    Oh, and David Austin's Scarborough Fair is another great performer here. Extremely healthy and always in bloom. Compact and well-rounded. Just not stunning though in the fragrance department.

    In this photo, you can see the eensiest bit of blackspot and it only came about in late August after a summer of almost daily rain and there was never more than a couple of leaves per plant that spotted.

    It's a very pretty rose.

  • zjw727
    9 years ago

    I found this picture of Abigail Adams on HMF- look at all those hips! WOW!

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.217801

  • melissa_thefarm
    9 years ago

    My goodness....no one has yet mentioned 'Sanguinea'? Wonderful, healthy, brilliant blooms, extremely recurrent. 'Single Pink', possibly a single form of 'Old Blush', very good. I love the Pemberton musks, and always admire 'Kathleen' when I see it; it's single to semi-double. 'Sally Holmes' is pretty. A rose I had many years ago and would love to try again is the single 'White Wings'. I don't know how easy it is to grow, but I remember it as rather lovely. There are many good recommendations on this thread.

  • patricianat
    9 years ago

    Mutabalis, that wench. So big and hardy, so colorful and what a pillar!

  • odinthor
    9 years ago

    Here are some I like (not all of them Old Roses as we generally construe Old Roses, and one of them very modern), in no particular order. They either are singles, or give the impression of being singles:

    'Ramona' (sparse repeat)

    'Lilac Charm'

    'Ivory Triumph'

    'Occhi di Fata'

    'Noella Nabonnand'

    'Mme. Antoine Rebe'

    'Portlandica' (doesn't repeat for me; but I guess it does elsewhere)

    'Arpeggio'

    'Firecracker'

    One could add 'Ivory Fashion', as it quickly opens out into wide open-eyed beautiful bowls of porcelain white. For two worthy lavenders in about the same "not really single or semi-double but open out quickly showing an eye" category: 'Ripples', 'Lavande'.

  • brenda_l_w
    9 years ago

    Lyda Rose is the easiest rose I grow. It is disease resistant, tolerant of shade and a good bloomer. Right now it is loaded with buds and about to burst into bloom. The blooms remind me of apple blossoms. Lyda Rose is a modern hybrid musk bred from 'Francis E. Lester'.

  • luxrosa
    9 years ago

    Mermaid' I adore this 5 petaled, yellow rose. Pretty foliage too. Gorgeous stamens. I've espaliered it to keep it within bounds 'cos it does get huge. Fragrant, to my nose anyhoo.
    'Yellow Butterfly' from the genius Ralph Moore, is another single yellow rose I admire, it makes a pretty drift of yellow at the front of a border.
    'R. moschata' It does not re-bloom but produces one continuous bloom cycle that lasts 3-4 months, as many months of bloom as a Hybrid Tea. The fragrance wafts quite far from the plant.
    I was glad to see Noella Nabonnand' listed, its one of my favorite red roses.
    'Gloire des Rosomanes' which has a splendid spicy scent. Cherry red blooms with perky China influenced white streaks.
    'Pax' strong Musk rose scent and a very frequent bloomer.
    Reve d'Or' an ethereal beauty, the name says it all
    ; Golden Dream, or Dream of Gold.
    'Susan Louise' very large rose blossoms of cream and pink. It can grow to be a tree sized plant, blooms from February through December here, near San Francisco, California.
    'Irish Fireflame' comes to mind, a bright rose.

    Nice thread, it brought names of many roses I've loved. Gosh, how I'd love a 'Sanguinea'.
    Lux

  • monarda_gw
    9 years ago

    I love reading about the singles and semi-doubles. Just a reminder, like White Wings (above) and Dainty Bess, (pictured in the link), Jacqueline du Pre and Ivory Fashion have contrasting red stamens, which are a beautiful asset in my book, since they don't look dirty when pollinated as some others can.

    In the unobtainable unicorn department, Vintage used to have a delectably pastel -- at least in the photograph -- yellow and pale pink version of Mutabilis that made my heart go pitter-patter.

  • melissa_thefarm
    9 years ago

    "Yellow and pale pink version of Mutabilis"...I may have this rose. I got it as 'Yellow Mutabilis' years ago from Roseraie du Desert, the Hooks' nursery in France. Instead it's as Monarda describes. I think I'm going to get fond of this rose, particularly as a friend gave me cuttings of 'Yellow Mutabilis', and I now have a couple of young plants of it growing in the nursery bed (and needing to be transferred to pots). 'Mutabilis' forever, and all its family!
    Melissa

  • mariannese
    9 years ago

    Took a picture of my friends' Sanguinea in Egina in October. It's a somewhat tatty looking and unkempt bush because my friends spend very little time in their island home. I'm sure it would flower better with some care. The flower is one of the brightest reds I've seen.

  • avalon2007
    9 years ago

    Gotta have Mutabilis and Crepuscule!

    Lady Hillingdon is also worth considering- the color glows against a dark background.

    Miss Lowe's Variety (dark red) is showing a great deal of promise in my garden. The plant is still very young, but is extremely healthy, fast growing and repeats quickly.

  • catspa_NoCA_Z9_Sunset14
    9 years ago

    Miss Lowe's Variety has unusually good, elegant leaves for a China, being more like the best of the teas. She is entirely disease-free here. Mine is now roughly 5' x 5' at 4 years old and will undoubtedly grow larger.

  • Adam Harbeck
    9 years ago


    Mutabilis. mutabilis. mutabilis.
    I have planted two of these by my driveway and am allowing them to "climb" up through my frangipani and kumquat trees. It is a stunning plant and always in flower.
    I love the multi-coloured flowers, and there is a slight fragrance in the early morning. If I had the opportunity, one day I would like to plant it alongside another similarly vigorous tea rose, like Archiduc Joseph or Monsieur Tillier.

    Another bullet-proof rose in my area is Rosa laevigata. It is a once bloomer, but it has lovely foliage and stunning white saucer-sized flowers when in bloom.
    http://www.floridata.com/ref/r/rosalaev.cfm

    This post was edited by adamharbeck on Mon, Apr 21, 14 at 21:22