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Waxed roses??

12 years ago

I went to a big box store and they had several roses that look great, they are in pots, inside bags but the rose bushes seem to have been dipped/sprayed w/ wax.. WHY? How does this effect the roses? They had Granada and First Prize and several others that I may be interested in... Thank you for your help/input..QB

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Comments (5)

roseseek
12 years ago
Waxing acts as an anti transpirant, to help prevent it from drying out until bought and planted. It seals the pores, helping to prevent water loss while they sit in the body bags or small pots. They're often used on cut Christmas trees, cut flowers and transplanted shrubbery. You can buy them under the trade names of Wilt-Pruf, Cloud Cover and many others. There is debate whether waxing is detrimental to bare roots or not, with many firmly entrenched on both sides.
michaelg
12 years ago
I never saw any evidence that waxing is detrimental. I have planted waxed roses successfully. Because waxed roses tend to be cheaper and mass-distributed, you are often starting with an inferior product, which could account for some of the anecdotes of failure. But plants don't have any trouble growing out through the wax, and it eventually disappears.
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Hi, I would like to have crown of thorns and Wax rose I'm kind of new at this so I don't have alot to trade but will come up with something email me at skipperdeer@aol.com Thanks Rob
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Does anyone recognize this rose?
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Comments (27)
I Agree with Geodave. I belive this rose is Duchesse d'Angoulême. But I disagree that it is Duchesse d'Angoulême (s. Agatha Incarnata)! I recognize it as Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821). A rose that rosarians disagree about wich class it belongs too. Some Say it is a gallica ...other say it is a centifolia. Duchesse d'Angoulême( S. Agatha Incarnata ) is a Gallica of unknown origin. I differentiate by the 2 by the looks of the sepals and the thorns on the canes. Duchesse d'Angoulême( S. Agatha Incarnata ) has longer sepals and sepals that are split up, and has many small pricklets/fine brushlike thorns on the canes. While Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821)has shorter sepals and fewer bigger thorns, mixed with the smaller pricklets. Also the bloom in both bud stage and fully developed looks similar. When I looked at my pictures of Agatha Incarnata I can not see many similarities, except the almost identical looking leaflets. I also looked in my rose books and Seils rose is not Agatha Incarnata. I was not aware that this rose also was called Duchesse d'Angoulême! Never seen this in any of my European books about old roses. What really gave it away was Anita suggesting that the bloom looked like Constance Spry. There it was. Immediately I was thinking about the "Wax rose" and remembered that Seils Rose looked like that one. I looked it up ... it turns out that that the "Wax rose" is Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821)! So I was a bit confused when Geodave said that the rose was Agatha Incarnata aka Duchesse d'Angoulême. But I do think Seils rose is Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821) aka the "Wax Rose". No wonder looking at the pictures on HMF makes people very confused. People who grow Duchesse d'Angoulême may not know which Duchesse d'Angoulême they really grow and upload pictures of different roses. Is it the Gallica that we grow as Agatha Incarnata? Or is it Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821)? which we really do not know whether really is gallica or a centifolia. I recognize some of the pictures on HMF to be Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821) aka the "Wax Rose" ... Celeste in woodbury is on HMF showing Duchesse d'Angoulême (gallica, Vibert, 1821) and so is: Helena Verghese Borg photo ID: 61104, AmiRoses photo ID: 59632, Veronique Malouin's Rose Garden Photo Id: 41486. Lynette who we also know from this forum is however showing the rose we grow as Agatha Incarnata (Aka Duchesse d'Angoulême ???) photo ID: 1169. Just look at the very different sepals. What a confusing mess! A solution might be that we and HMF distinquish between Agatha incarnata a gallica of unknown origin ...And Duchesse d'Angoulême Aka the "Wax rose" that is classed as a gallica (But may be a centifolia( and hybridized by Vibert 1821. Remember that most moss roses have centifolia ancestors (The reason why we see the almost moss rose resin like glands on the sepals op Seils rose and that some was thinking it might be a moss LOL). Seils rose is the rose we grow as Duchesse d'Angoulême (the "Wax Rose").
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wax?
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Comments (2)
Might be an interesting experiment when you can compare new growth next Spring. Did you tie a bit of string or something on those stems or is your memory better than mine? The general thought of waxing roses by experienced rosarians on the rose forum though is generally negative for benefit -- admittedly many of those rosers give more care to their roses than I do some family members :) "Waxed roses have the benefit of not losing moisture in storage or shipping. However, the wax often prevents the new growth from emerging. When the wax melts in the hot sun, it can often affect the cane tissue."
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Real Roses
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Comments (5)
I have made wax dipped roses, but I have never used real roses. I don't know what the heat of the wax might do to a real rose- it may cause it to wilt rapidly. However, it may be worth a try. The wax dipped roses are pretty, but I wasn't overly impressed with them. I think a silk rose (undipped) was prettier than the wax dipped one. However, I don't like those wax dipped bears, either. Most people are just crazy about them, but I think they are ugly. LOL. Susan
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queenbee_1
Original Author
12 years ago
These roses are putting out new leaves and look very healthy.. I just never noticed it before..
karl_bapst_rosenut
12 years ago
My only problem with waxed roses is when they add green dye to the wax. This disguises any blemishes or harvest damage and covers up black dead canes later in the buying season. I have no problem buying a waxed rose early in the season but won't touch them later. The wax retains moisture in the canes for only so long.
seil zone 6b MI
12 years ago
All of the above and I'll add don't try and peel the wax off. I have tried and all I managed to do was injure the rose in the process. Like Michael said they grow anyway and the wax eventually flakes off on it's own.

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