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tessiess

Species Rose Discussion

Some of the old rose nursery catalogs are chocked full of information. Here is a fascinating list of species from the 1996 Heirloom Old Garden Roses Catalog. I'd love to get some of these, but alas many just aren't in commerce, at least not in the US. I don't even know if Heirloom still has all/many of them as they don't show up on their website.

R. damascena rubrotincita, R. moyesii 'Regalia', R. rubrifolia mechliniae, R. villosa engandinensis, R. virginiana 'Harvest Song', R. bushii, R. tomentosa, R. compactila, R. canina Abbotswood? It would be neat to see them.... Anyone grow any of these?

Melissa

Comments (16)

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    It's hard to believe they were selling all those varieties. We didn't know how fortunate we were back then in what was available.

  • belmont8
    9 years ago

    mendocino_rose, I was just thinking the same thing. There are so many things I wish I had ordered 10-15 years ago.

    I did notice on that page that some of these species are more commonly known by other names and are still available. For example, R. centifolia pomponia is De Meaux.

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    Melissa, I hope you don't mind me jumping on your thread..but it reminded me of my quest too.

    I'd like to find R. stellata (at a reasonable price)...I did find one in an california nursery at $20, but with $15 shipping, it seemed $35 for a wild plant with no patents, was over my budget.

    Any ideas? Anyone want to send me rose hips from R stellata mirifica if you have it ?

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

    Species weren't even on my radar screen when all these were available. Now I want them, and they are hard to find.


    Dbarron, I am on the waiting list at Greenmantle Nursery for R. stellata mirifica. Don't know if I'll get it in 2015, but it is such a nice rose it is worth the wait.

    I posted on Heirloom's Facebook page the other day and suggested they grow some of the oldies but goodies. Two I asked for are Fruhlingsgold (Pickering carried but no Pickering for the time being) and Rose d'Amour (R. virginiana plena). Maybe if others ask them too we could get species that are rarely in US catalogs.

    Anybody know of a source for Duplex, aka Wolley Dod's Rose, aka R. pomifera duplex? Maybe some small nursery somewhere that isn't on HMF has this gem.

    Melissa

  • bluegirl_gw
    9 years ago

    Wow, I forgot how many species Heirloom used to offer.

    One that really sticks in my mind (I lost it) because it had such wonderfully fragrant foliage was glutinosa. I *think* I got it from Sequoia or ForestFarm, way back. Never seen it again.

    But anyway, might want to bookmark Forestfarm.com. They don't advertise as a rose supplier, per se, but often have a nice selection of species & some ogrs. Shipping is fairly high for me, but their plants grown in "tubes" are equivalent to bands. I've ordered roses from them in both gallons & tubes & they arrived as very densely rooted plants that looked like they'd been hardened off outdoors--very nice.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Forest Farm roses page

  • Vicissitudezz
    9 years ago

    Melissa, I'm not on Facebook (my timesinks are here and at Pinterest), but would be very interested in Rose d'Amour, and I just sent an e-mail to Heirloom asking them to please contact me if they offered it again. We'll see.

    bluegirl, your link takes me to the FF web site, but with an error message- the link below might get you to the roses a bit more quickly?

    My plans for species rose acquisitions are to get R. palustris plena from Long Ago Roses when she has it available again (probably next year), and I would also really like R. virginiana plena as well. I am not going actively searching for R. moschata, but if I happened to see one offered at a reasonable price, I'd probably succumb to the temptation of heady, wafting fragrance...

    Virginia

    Here is a link that might be useful: roses at Forest Farm

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

    Bluegirl, re R. glutinosa, Forestfarm does grow it but is out of stock. I wrote to them last year on September 14 and asked about this species and a number of others and was told they hadn't propagated any of them in a while. They would do so, but "It will likely be a couple of years before we have any to offer, though." So keep checking the Forestfarm website--I do.;)

    Melissa

  • Vicissitudezz
    9 years ago

    I did get an e-mail from Heirloom, saying they don't carry Rose d'Amour, and I should check HMF to find out who does.

    Oh, well- maybe your Facebook post will get more of a response, Melissa.

    Virginia

  • roseseek
    9 years ago

    HMF shows Greenmantle carries Rose d'Amour, Virginia. You'll have to check with Marissa to see if it's currently available, but she's definitely worth buying from. Great source and great folks. Kim

    Here is a link that might be useful: Greenmantle

  • bluegirl_gw
    9 years ago

    Thanks Melissa! Yeah, I'll ask them, too (you know, encourage them to realize folks want it).

    Virginia, have you ever grown R. primula? It has the most wonderful leaf scent, very ephemeral, but when you catch a whiff--very nice.

    It's another that's very difficult to root. I've been on Greenmantle's waiting list for a year & was told to expect to wait a couple.

    But! It can be budded successfully--Kim did it this summer--give me a holler if you want a budstick of it.

    Also, I've just skimmed the enormous thread--but didn't see anyone mentioning Eglantine. I finally found the place to make it happy & it's a tree now. It smells so good & the scent isn't occasional. It's always present when you stroke the leaves & when the weather is humid it wafts the green apple scent through the yard.

    Plus, it seems to thrive in alkaline soil & water (my situation) & it's propagated fairly easily, unlike most species roses, for me.

  • belmont8
    9 years ago

    Old Market Farm lists R. virginiana plena. They have other species too.

    Apparently there has been some confusion in the trade between Rose d'Orsay, Rose d'Amour and R. virginiana plena. I am growing all three (all were gifts) and d'Orsay is the only mature plant so far so I'm not clear on the differences. Graham Thomas wrote about them.

    In the 90s Heirloom sent out R. palustris plena to a friend instead of R. virginiana plena.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Old Market Farm

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

    Marissa was already sold out for 2015 for Rose d'Amour when I spoke to her last month.

    Eglantines are wonderful. Julia Mannering from Vintage is doing great here. Lovely, lovely foliage and flowers, plus she smells divine. Does anyone grow any white-flowered eglantines? Or any less common ones? I'm leaning towards getting Catherine Seyton from Rogue Valley.

    As to R. primula, mine from Pickering likes conditions here and blooms profusely. The vase-shape growth habit is very attractive. Foliage scent is a plus. It set many hips this year, and the varmints didn't get them all. A bunch of hips are chilling in the refrigerator, and this fall I am planning on planting the seeds and observe if any seedlings get the fragrant leaves.

    Melissa

  • roseseek
    9 years ago

    That confusion could easily have been a British issue. There have long been questions as to the validity of the identification of what they have always grown as R. Californica. Kim

  • bluegirl_gw
    9 years ago

    Oh, I'd sure like to hear about your primula seedlings.

    I lucked out--ordered 2 primulas (grafted on multiflora, I assume) from Pickering's last fall & received them before they stopped shipping. Planted deeply over the graft, in almost full sun, as recommended here & both are looking good. Hope I can keep it this time--I'm going to try taping some buds, just in case.

    I have a couple of generic eglantines--one from ForestFarm, and a Greenmantle from RVR ( I think). They appear to really enjoy the alkalinity, I suppose if they grow wild on chalk downs, caliche is no problem. The "tree" is in pretty full day sun, it was unhappy in a more shaded area.

  • AquaEyes 7a NJ
    9 years ago

    Virginia (vmr423) -- I messaged you about 'R. moschata'.

    :-)

    ~Christopher

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

    Just called High Country Roses to check on some roses listed as out of stock on their webpage, and another which I'd been on the waiting list for when the mother plant died. Good news all around--so naturally I ordered.;)

    Got Suzanne, hurray! I've been waiting for years to get one, and next week she arrives.

    Fru Dagmar Hastrup (found some recipes online that recommend this variety for such things as soup and jam)

    Wasagaming (my Pickering one this year was DOA)

    Scabrosa--great rose, lots of hips, shade tolerant

    R. pomifera (can we see the theme here yet H-I-P-S!)

    Also asked about what might be offered in future but not on the website yet. R. moschata, likely next spring. Also R. pulverulenta (which HMF indicates is a synonym for R. glutinosa), but this one is too small to propagate from yet, so it will be a while.

    I sent an email to Forestfarm about R. dumalis and R. palustris and was told to check back in January, they may have some then.

    Melissa