How much do they sucker?

Gorgeous pictures! These are fast becoming a favorite class of mine for their simple beauty and ease of care in a variety of settings. Not easy to come by now that Vintage Gardens has cut back on propagation of the lesser known and obscure. Wish there was another good source for these beauties.

Thank you so much for sharing. I am trying to find a good rose to put in a cemetery, and this seems like a good candidate. Can they take the heat of Texas? And is Vintage Gardens the only place to get them? I appreciate you educating us on these roses. One last question: If you were to plant a rose in a cemetery, which rose or type would you suggest?

Very pretty. I have Suzanne, my first of the class, and I loved its reddish foliage this past Fall. I've been wanting Stanwell Perpetual...need to order. Is the Double White in commerce?

Eric

Thanks. I needed that.

I'd go for a tea or china or noisette in an East Texas cemetery. We never find a Scots rose, other than Harison's Yellow (a hybrid) in a cemetery out here in California. Scots roses were in fashion early in the 19th century - and they are cold-hardy - hence they are found in Celeste's part of the world. By the time roses were being planted in Texas and California, ever-blooming roses were in style.
Anita

I agree with everything you wrote, Celeste. These roses have the most delicate flowers and foliage - in appearance only. They are really very tough roses. I have found a few here locally growing in abandoned homesteads and they do transplant with ease. And they are the harbingers of spring, the first to bloom. I wouldn't be without them! Yes, they do develop thickets, but I spend some time every summer down under the canes tracing out suckers and keeping roses like Mary QofS in bounds. It's time well spent. Lovely photos!
Anne

Holleygarden,
To answer your question relating to spinossissimas and heat, I can say that they handle our summers wonderfully, no stress even in the 100+ temps and wind. Stanwell Perpetual, the most reliable repeater of all my roses, is its most beautiful when the temps rise >100. I would not have ever believed such a cold hardy OGR is such a heat lover if I hadn't witnessed it myself. Then again, it gets watered once week.
Here on the dry OK/TX border, I wouldn't place any rose in a spot where it would receive no irrigation. I know it rains much more in east Texas, so the Scots might do well in your cemetary.

Celeste, Thanks for posting this. I received a Petite Pink Scots rose last spring/summer and know very little about it. I'm looking forward to seeing her bloom and am excited about the healthy foliage.

Are you an author? If not, you could be. You have a way with words. Ever consider writing a biography of a famous rose breeder? Think about it. Jeff

A wonderful collection Celeste! We only have one, Stanwell Perpetual. I do find that it doesn't like pruning--the canes die back--so I've moved ours to a part of the yard that isn't too easy to reach, but gets plenty sun.

Petite Pink Scotch is the name assigned to a found rose; it's a lovely ground hugging once bloomer but IMO is not at all related to the real Scots roses. I think I know who gave it the name and it was someone who had never grown a Scots rose.

Speaking of, one of the loveliest rose books out there is "Scots Roses" by Mary McMurtrie who collected Scots Roses in (!) Scotland. She is a wonderful watercolorist and the illustrations in the book are her watercolours of the roses she loves.

Celeste, thanks for posting. The Scots roses have wonderful blooms and colors. Stanwell Perpetual is a garden favorite.

oh, thank you so much, Celeste. I also love these roses - looking forward to getting single cherry this year. Love the Dunwich rose and rosa primula too.

Thanks, Anita and greybird for your insights. I will do a lot more research before deciding, and very much appreciate your comments.

Unfortunately, there is no irrigation in the cemetery. I will have to cart water there. The grounds only get officially worked on annually.

I'm lucky enough to live close by, and although I'll try my best to take care of it, it will not be an easy task. Therefore, I was hoping to find a tough old rose that could stand the heat and drought - after becoming established, of course.

Thanks again to both of you.

Celeste---I always look forward to your posts and once again I'm rewarded with a wonderful story and pictures---thank you so much--
Florence

Those are charming. I like the innocence, and the buds are beautiful. And I LOVE the foliage!

Laura

Thanks, Celeste!
I like variety in my roses: I have a couple of Scots roses, and though the class isn't at the top of list of roses I want to collect, I hope to get more of them in time. Holleygarden, I grow my roses without irrigation after watering them the first year, and plenty of old roses do fine that way, even though we go two to four months without rain every summer. Our soil is very moisture retentive, that is, it's heavy clay; and I keep my beds heavily mulched. Roses won't die without water, they just stop blooming, or at worst they defoliate.
Zack Lau, thanks for the note about not pruning 'Stanwell Perpetual'--I was wondering.
Melissa

Spinosissimas are not easy to root from cuttings so suckers are the best way of sending them to anyone who wants a plant. I sent a sucker of a yellow one called 'Maria Stuart' to Peter D.A. Boyd in England, wrapped only in wet paper in a plastic bag and it arrived just fine. Peter Boyd is writing a book about Scots roses but until it comes out many of his articles can be read on the internet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peter Boyd on Scots roses

Hi Celeste

I really enjoyed reading about these roses -I'm going to try Stanwell Perpetual this year.

I started a post about long-blooming once-bloomers and someone posted a picture of a scots rose with black hips. Perhaps you could identify it for them?

Thanks!
Maureen

Here is a link that might be useful: Other post with scots rose photo

I have found that spinosissima roses are particularly difficult to find in the US and Canada once you get past Stanwell Perpetual, Mrs. Colville, Dominie Sampson, Doorenbos Selection, Double White, the Fruhlings series, Glory of Edzell, Mary Queen of Scots, Robbie Burns, Louis Riel, Suzanne and some of the species spinosissimas. They are available in Europe. This year I will be importing about 35 varieties from Rosenposten in Denmark and next year I will import about the same number from Loubert. I am trying to get as a complete collection of spinosissimas as is possible to get. I save my suckers for trading for spinosissimas and pimpinellifoliae that I need. Cuttings are iffy. But some can be propagated that way. Later this spring I should have some Robbie Burns that were propagated by cuttings. Also a few Double Whites that were propagated from suckers. Eventually I will have a lot more varieties. If anyone can provide suckers of Scots Roses please let me know.

Lerosier,
I am jealous of your pending order of spinossissima. I see this class as my next obsession and am already checking into the ins and outs of importation. I will be interested in future reports of how your import deal pans out.

I wanted to thank all of you who commented on my post.
I am happy to know that many of you have also been touched by the simple charms of these underappreciated roses.

york rose...they are aggressive suckerers and will form thickets if left alone. That is how they have persisted all these many years in untended plots. So if one is interested in growing them you need to plan accordingly.
The suckers grow close to the soil and are easy to remove.

greybird...I am also sad to see there is a decline in the availability of these roses. That is one of the reasons
my husband and I have taken such an active interest in
preserving the ones we find. What a shame if they were lost forever!

holleygarden....I have never tried growing roses anywhere but here in my cold climate so I wouldn't pretend to know if they would do well there...however I do know that most
of the scots roses we have found in cemeteries were never
watered at all, some even growing in sand that was parched and dry, but they were still flourishing. They are tough
roses and do not appear to need as much water as other roses I have grown.

Ann....we have Mary McMurtrie's book 'Scots Roses'. It was one of the first rose books we bought and the illustrations are lovely. Looking through it, I realize that there are many variations of the scots rose and some we have 'found' we may never be able to identify.

mariannese...my husband had been in contact via email with Peter Boyd about some of the scots roses we are finding here...can't wait to read the book.

Thanks again everyone....I'd love to respond to each of you, but my family's waiting for me to come up with something for supper...LOL.

Celeste

Inspired by Peter Boyd and Mary McMurtrie's book (and our curator's Scots ancestry) we've added one Scots rose the the Sacramento cemetery garden, and hope to add a few more, preferably ones found in cemeteries elsewhere in the country. If any of you are willing to share suckers, I'd be glad to pay for shipping, or to trade suckers that we have. I've got things like Blanchefleur, R. rugosa kamchatika, and a few others.

I've got some Scots in my ancestry too - don't know if that adds to the affinity, but the first time that I saw Falklands (blooming in Christchurch Botanical Gardens) I was hooked by the delicacy of the flower, the black hips, and the great foliage! Suzanne is certainly a beautiful hybrid - I know where Eric got it, from the Wooster "Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance."

By the way, Peter Boyd said that the suckers stay together fairly well so long as you don't put weed barrier around them - the suckers will travel long distances to find light and you'll be fighting them some distance from the mother plant. He mulches with sharp gravel, so far as I could understand British garden terminology. I've had the chance to make his acquaintance - I,too, can't wait for his book!
Anita

thanks for posting I will try these roses in my arctic zone 3 garden.

As always, your photographs are wonderful. They really are charming these roses. I only have Fruhlingschnee and Stanwells. I'd like to plant more(in places where they can sucker) I almost took one home from a cemetery in Colorado but when I looked around I saw that it had covered the entire place. That was kind of scary!

Hello,

I realise it's been 5 years since your original post, but I wondered if you still have your collection of the beautiful roses pictured above? I'm wanting to have a go at some hybridising of roses, but have an appallingly small budget. I already have several plants I would like to use, but I'm really looking to bring some of the vigour and desease resistance of the scots roses into the mix at an early stage. Would you consider trading some pollen from any of your roses? I'm paticularly interested in the double white you have pictured. Although Stanwell Perpetual and Falkland are also on my list. I can pay for postage or send pollen in a trade?

Thanks for any help!

Jake

Very interesting old thread! I find these roses very intriguing. I'm curious if Lerosier ever went through with those rose imports, and if so, how the roses are doing.

-Chris

I am looking into growing a Scots rose I am wondering does the Stanwell Perpetual have nice fall foliage, thanks.

Thank you for the information I really appreciate it and I look foreword to buying both the Stanwell Perpetual and double white when i can find them.

All my Scots Roses are doing well. They are large bushes now and many have suckers. I have dozens of Double Whites. All told I have about 150 pimpinellifoliae in the garden now.