Plant Snapshot: Rose

Plant Snapshot: Rose

By Will van Zyl

We are all familiar with the rose, the flower of love and war: The War of the Roses. It is probably the most popular bloom used in flower arrangements today, and they are all designed for a specific feature: colour, fragrance or disease resistance and there are over 30,000 different cultivars available across the globe. One of my favourites is Rosa Rhapsody In Blue, a semi-double purply-blue flower with yellow stamens and a lovely scent, the open flowers are good for pollinators like bees and hoverflies. Another attractive cultivar worth mentioning is Rosa William Lobb, named after an important 19th-century Cornish plant collector.

Rose fossils have been found dating back about 35 million years. It was, however, only grown as a crop in 1200 BC in Persia for the rose water used in recipes, medicine and skin tonics. The Roman emperors used rose water for bathing in and the petals as confetti to shower their guests at banquets. Today the rose is still used similarly, the rose water for flavouring ice creams and desserts and the petals

The hips (fruit) are a favourite with foragers but are not often seen in garden varieties because most modern roses are designed with intricate double flowers preventing insects from pollinating them. Roses with open flowers like the native dog rose (Rosa canina), and Rosa rugosa produce good hips which can be made into rose hip tea, jam and jelly. The ripe hips can be eaten directly from the bush and are very high in vitamin c. Even the seeds are of value, being cold pressed for oil used in cosmetics.

Rosa rugosa is a native of eastern Asia, including south-eastern Siberia and Japan, where it can be found growing on dunes next to the sea. It is therefore ideal as hedging in windswept coastal areas where sea spray can kill other plants.

A little poem to finish on: There once was a rose from Siberia Which was happy growing in the dune area It’s equally happy in a Cornish bay Where it isn’t bothered by the sea spray And hopefully won’t cause a foraging mania!

Will is a Probus-based garden consultant www.the-garden-route.uk