The Nature of Things

Last summer, a new rose plant popped up in my garden, near where my 'Litchfield Angel' rose was located.  'Litchfield Angel,' a David Austin rose.    Okay, I thought, it's an offshoot from the 'Litchfield Angel.' During the winter, I dug the new plant and moved it to another location in a sunny spot where it would have more room to develop. It flourished there. And then, this spring, it bloomed. Whaaat??? That's no 'Litchfield Angel'! But what is it? In color, it looks a bit like the old 'Dortmund,' an antique rose that I used to grow. But the 'Dortmund' is a single-flowered rose with one layer of petals. The new rose is double-flowered with many petals, although not as many as the 'Litchfield Angel'. So, what is this new rose? Is it some heretofore unknown hybrid, possibly of 'Dortmund' and 'Litchfield Angel'? The roses grew in the same general area, so such a hybridization would perhaps be possible. But r...

'Old Blush,' a semi-double hybrid of Rosa chinensis , is truly a throwback, having been in cultivation for more than two hundred years. During that time, it has been known by many names, including Common Monthly,  Old Pink Monthly, and Common Blush China. Now, however, rosarians have settled on the name 'Old Blush.'  It is one of the most common of old roses and also one of the most valuable because of its incredible blooming prowess. It blooms steadily throughout the season from about April through October in my garden. Because of its constant reblooming, it is not a good cut flower. The blossoms drop quickly to make room for their successors. 'Old Blush's' flowers are medium, semi-double lilac pink and grow in loose clusters on the full, upright bush. The bush grows rather slowly to over five feet in height and sports neat, healthy foliage. The flowers have a very faint but fruity and pleasant scent. The plant can be used as a hedge, a specimen, or in a bo...

'Peggy Martin' begins her bloom on the side of my garden shed, April 4, 2013. Do you know the story of the 'Peggy Martin' rose? The old "found" thornless rambler had lived in the garden of a gardener named Peggy Martin in Plaquemines Parish in New Orleans for many years. According to Peggy, she was given cuttings of the rose in 1989 from another New Orleans gardener who had originally gotten her cuttings of the rose from her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law had, in turn, gotten her rose from another relative in New Orleans. The rose flourished in Peggy Martin's garden and she was delighted to see those perfect clusters of roses that resembled nosegays all along the canes of the plant. Over the years, she gave away cuttings to many of her gardener friends and so the old rose spread. One of the people to whom she had gifted the rose was famed horticulturist Dr. William C. Welch of Texas A&M University. He recounts that after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orl...