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romani_gw

Rosa Virdiflora...

Romani
11 years ago

So what is the one Rose that you adore the most?
For me,is it Rosa Virdiflora.....My original,came as one galon plant several years ago.
Since then,several new plants have been made and given away....

Comments (26)

  • Campanula UK Z8
    11 years ago

    and you are not joking?
    Why?
    I am always up to be converted and have had to eat humble pie on numerous occasions - do tell why you really like this (ahem) rose. If I had to come up with a redeeming feature, I would probably name the new spring growth.
    Are you a flower arranger?

  • jacqueline9CA
    11 years ago

    Campanula said exactly what I was thinking, only much more politely! I had that rose once, and had to get rid of it because it was so so ugly. Really interested in how you use it.

    Jackie

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    Aww, c'mon guys! Viridiflora really can be lovely in the right climate. It does its best in a climate with some heat -- so the chlorophyll really pumps up, and it is a gorgeous shade of green. In TX, I suspect that's what Romani gets.

    I have always been a tad "green with envy," because my usually cool overall climate doesn't create that effect. Viridiflora stubbornly remains a dull green, interspersed with bronze and red. I no longer grow it for that reason. (The HT, 'St. Patrick' also does not get that green tone, here, and is in fact rather ugly.)

    Where it's good, Viridiflora is the darling of rose-arrangers.

    Jeri

  • Campanula UK Z8
    11 years ago

    Oh, right. Of course, I have only seen it growing (badly) in the UK where it was not only a very sere bloom, it was even a tad distorted looking but without any assymetrical charm. So, I guess this is as clear an illustration of horses for courses as is possible.
    Flower arrangers dwell on a far, far different planet to me - I use the ever useful jam-jar or milk bottle at a pinch.

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    To Campanula. Why do I like this Rose.
    It is very resistant to Black Spot,the flowers are long lasting,it is a novelty Rose,it is very long lived,can grow well in containers,produces a large number of blooms at once,is easy to propagate from cuttings,and not terribly common.
    I admit,it may not have stunning fragrant blooms,but what it lacks in those it makes up for in beautiful foliage,long life,and loyalty.
    And as for a flower arranger,sadly no. It is an art,I am not well versed in.

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Jackie,
    I guess I have been fortunate with my Virdiflora.
    The parent plant,is a tidy shrub with opulent green leaves when not in bloom.
    I have had 50 blooms on it at once before.
    So it has rewarded me for keeping it around.
    And one plant I despise happens to be Irises. They only bloom 2-3 weeks out of the year and the rest of the year they are just green leaves to look at.
    Not to mention the dead leaves you have to pull out around the plants,the constant dividing,and leaf spots on them...
    I hauled off 15 waist high bags of dead Iris leaves and tree leaves from my elderly neighbors last week......
    The only Iris I can abide is the Zebra Iris.
    I am sure a few people would disagree with me about Iris.

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Jeri,
    When this Rose is happy it can be so beautiful.
    I admit it isnt the most regal of the Roses,but it is a great novel plant to have.....And a loyal friend.

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    I agree with you completely Romani -- and we see that Campanula does, as well. Your rose is dynamite in much of Southern California, and I bet it's terrific in FL, and AZ.

    Horses for Courses -- really sums it up.

    Shoot, I can't grow 'Old Blush' worth a tinker's dam, either. And that is even MORE frustrating. But the way our climate is growing warmer and drier, all that may change in the long haul.

    Jeri

  • trospero
    11 years ago

    I love R. chinensis viridiflora because its not a "cookie cutter" rose ;-)

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    I tried like crazy to grow it -- and still wish I could.

    Jeri

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Trospero,
    I prefer the majority of my plants like people,not cookie cutter.:)

  • AquaEyes 7a NJ
    11 years ago

    Romani, have you ever tried any of the reblooming bearded irises? I grew a few in my old place on Long Island. You will have to search them out online, but they're out there. I got mine from Nola's Iris Garden, but there are a few other vendors out there. The ones I picked out were also fragrant.

    :-)

    ~Christopher

    Here is a link that might be useful: Nola's Iris Garden

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    Christopher, we have a number of remontant Iris, and I love the way they pop up and bloom at unexpected times.

    I also like the contrast that strappy grey-green foliage looks in the garden. And I PARTICULARLY like the fragrant ones. :-)

    There's one poiple iris, that smells like Welch's Grape Juice.

    Jeri

  • AquaEyes 7a NJ
    11 years ago

    Jeri, I remember one of the iris I had also smelling rather grape-y, and I think it also was purple, but I don't remember the name. When I discovered that there are fragrant bearded iris, and there are reblooming bearded iris, I tried finding the ones that were both.

    I ended up buying them from Nola's because that website provided information about rebloom and fragrance. I went through the rebloomers for zone 7 and jotted down the ones that were fragrant, then went through the fragrant ones and jotted down the ones that rebloomed in zone 7 (I didn't want to miss any).

    Then I narrowed it down by the colors I liked, and ended up planting about 15 or so around the garden. When I was getting ready to move to Buffalo, I told one of my friends that he could take any plants he liked for his own garden, so perhaps some lived on elsewhere.

    I saved the list somewhere -- I'll have to look through it again for potential companion planting after the roses are in the ground and taking off. I agree about the leaves providing a nice contrast in form to the roses, and the reblooming iris do well feeding from the overflow of water and fertilizer that the roses like, so they worked well together.

    :-)

    ~Christopher

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    Yes! Exactly!

    Of course, in our garden, we also have many other odds and ends. Like Romani, be like variety. So we have Epiphytic plants, brugmansias, salvias, a few mite-resistant fuchsias, and other things that were dragged home as cuttings. :-)

    Jeri

  • tatterdemalion
    11 years ago

    The green rose is one of my husband's very favorites! In our garden (central TX) this year, it bloomed till Jan., took a breath, and started blooming again in Feb. It's almost constantly in heavy bloom.

    But I think we really just like the perversity of the thing: a rose that no one can see--Ha!

    But to answer your question, Romani--do I have to pick just 1? Could I do 3?

    SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON: LOVE the dense, cabbagey, quartered look, the delicacy of the coloring, and the dark teal healthy foliage

    CRAMOISI SUPERIEUR: So free-blooming, pretty color, nice shrub, charming flower shape that's sort of the rose version of office casual

    CLOTHILDE SOUPERT: Bloomed like mad last year, with endless clusters of cheerful white globes that reminded me of a bubble bath.

    That's my answer today--next week I might answer differently!

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Aqua eyes,
    I just hauled off 15 waist high bags of dead Iris leaves from my elderly neighbors last week.
    I have told her daughter after they bloom most are coming up.
    Hers are horribly crowded,getting diseased leaves,and she does not have the room for the probably 60 clumps I am digging up.
    If they could breed an Iris that doesnt spread so fast,has longer lasting blooms,and more attractive foliage.
    Maybe then I would try them.....
    The only Iris I ever liked was the Zebra.It grew slower and had attractive leaves.

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Tatter,
    Sure there can be more Roses.
    One I wish I could grow is Dark Lady.I saw it as a grafted Rose once at a nursery.
    And tried it from a cutting...It did root,but the plant was very weak and it only made a few flowers before it died....

  • AquaEyes 7a NJ
    11 years ago

    Romani, the repeat-blooming bearded iris I grew did not spread nearly as fast as the one pass-along once-blooming iris that was in my garden at the time. And I think the disease you're seeing is likely exacerbated by the plants being overcrowded and long-past needed dividing time. There are also a few repeat-blooming Siberian and Japanese iris out there (they don't spread as fast, and have softer foliage) but they are even harder to find.

    :-)

    ~Christopher

  • jerijen
    11 years ago

    I hadn't thought about it, Christopher, but you're right. Our remontant Bearded Iris DON'T spread very rapidly.

    We did plant some Siberian Iris here, but in 10-12 years, it bloomed precisely ONCE. So, no more of THAT.

    Jeri

  • Campanula UK Z8
    11 years ago

    Um, don't often comment on iris - mainly because several huge clumps were dug without regrets. For a very short time, the beardies bloomed....and I was just a tad horrified. I guess because they were planted in my scree and gravel garden and just looked appallingly wrong - too florid, too big, too....hybridised. Nothing grew around them apart from ugly orangey rhizomes and the foliage looked sordid for the rest of the summer after the blink and you would miss them flowers. Too dry, too alkaline for many others apart from the early February miniature reticulata, which I grow in pots at home. I have since planted a few sibiricas but, on the whole, I get my monocot fixes from various daylilies (although I am a non-starter novice compared to the hemerocallis lovers in the US) and, to the point of obsession, dieramas (angels fishing rods or fairy wands). Oh yeah, just to show I am not hampered by good taste, I have a guilty love affair with gladioli, which love my soil and require no end of summer digging and drying (always a risk with dahlias, although I am idle and distracted enough to chance it).

  • anntn6b
    11 years ago

    A couple of comments:

    A friend now living in central Alabama on soil that is sand and little else was overjoyed to find she can grow Iris there without digging them up every fall and replanting every spring (as she did as a child in upstate New York for her Grandmother's iris.) Her soil is poor enough that the iris hang on but haven't had the decency to spread madly to cover her barren hill top.

    Viridiflora (not that anyone asked) does get Rose Rosette. An OGR person told me about hers getting RRD and when I asked what symptoms she saw she said, with a slight blush, "It got even uglier, just worse all over."

  • lola-lemon
    11 years ago

    This post got me interested in the reasons why a green rose is green...... and When I was reading about viridiflora roses, I learned phyllody can be caused by RRD. Not that the stable mutation of "the green rose" is caused by a virus or other phytoplasma (they haven't proven that- still studying)-- but on normal roses, vegatative proliferation where the sexual parts are replaced with leaf parts, is thought to be due to an environmental stressor causing hormone derangement. sometimes it is stable, sometimes not.
    When I see vegetative proliferation on a rose - (like a flower growing out of a flower) it unnerves me. :-0

    I wonder if the green rose was borne from a seed like it is (like a mule or a hinny is born sterile), or was propagated from deranged growth? It sounds like it could have just been propogated initially, but I don't know. ....someone cleverly admired this unusual trait enough to propogate it. (But then, look at the parrot tulips and such-- which are viral mutations we admire). They must have had an artistic eye.

    It's confusing to me that they consider the green rose a stable mutation-- because the plant is sterile and can't breed. It doesn't revert though, apparently. But it can't pass its genes on like other sports.

    I think the green rose is certainly interesting looking- reminds me of greenish hellebores (the christmas rose/lenten rose) a little which I love.

    If you are interested in rose phyllody....

    Here is a link that might be useful: UC Davis paper on Rose Phyllody (viridiflora)

    This post was edited by lola-lemon on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 13:46

  • Alana8aSC
    11 years ago

    That was a neat read lola-lemon, I have the green rose, but I just added it as a band last year so can't say much about her yet.My MIL loves it though cuz her favorite color is green!

  • Romani
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    What my Rose looked like last year.

  • User
    11 years ago

    At his website, Paul Barden has a write up about a reversion sport of the Green Rose. (link below).

    I'm interested in trying viridiflora, but I'm going to wait until I have more space.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Reversion sport of Green Rose

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