Silverkelt -- Have you tried looking for someone who GROWS it, and who is in a location where they might be able to send you cuttings???

Jeri

I've heard it isn't worth the bother. Very prone to blackspot in the east.

Have you contacted Erskine Roses directly?

Here is a link that might be useful: Erskine Roses

I think Erskine's website is quite clear on that point:
"If you are in the USA Sorry but I will not be shipping orders out side Canada."
It is a real shame that a larger Canadian nursery that DOES ship to the U.S. does not make these treasures available to the northern U.S. states. I agree with you wholeheartedly, Silverkelt. I would love to get my hands on Prairie Peace.

There are several reasons why Prairie Peace is not readily available. First you can't successfully propagate it from cuttings. As with many spinosissimas budding is also not a good option - the bud union is prone to fail after 4-6 years. This leaves only division which is iffy because you risk losing the mother plant and propagating through suckers. Suckers from Prairie Peace (and most other Canadian spinosissimas) almost always take unfortunately Prairie Peace does not sucker freely so from a mature plant you might get 5-8 suckers a year which means that the rose is not commercially viable. I was very fortunate to obtain one from a friend in Canada.

Prairie Peace is slow to establish often taking 3-4 years but when it is established itis fantastic and even has some autumn rebloom. I consider it one of the gems of my spinosissima collection.

Keep the pressure up and it might happen - i.e. ask Pickering to stock it. Seems absurd because once you seen it with the young apricot blooms you know they are mad not to stock it. Maybe Joel has never seen it.

However somebody told Mad it sucks in the east so best check if it is worth the effort in that maybe Altai, and pimpinefolia/spinossissima all do not like the east die of blackspot because of the humidity - I know I did sweat it out once in Maine for a week in July at Bethel - some think tank school or something - always thought it was a recruiting grounds for the CIA.

Thought some of you were successful in growing them there? Never seen a lick of BS on any of my Altai, or spino. - pimpine.

It took at least 6-7 plants (suckers) before I got 3 or 4 to take in my yard - kept buying them over three years. I am going to be an even older man before they hit 6 feet.

Young bloom I photographed at Olds Ag College - Alberta Canada.

I really have to admire Esrkine as he hybridized for decades - not for fame - according to the bio and one of the lucky ones as he has a hit allowing him to join the ranks of Skinner, Bugnet, Wright etc.. But as usual it is going to take for ever for it to become readily available.

{{gwi:274946}}

unless you find a friend willing to give you a sucker, sheila holmes at erskine roses is the only source. see if she might put you on the waiting list. if she will, be patient, grasshopper, and be prepared to spend lots of dollars. contrary to what it says on the website, it is my understanding that ms. holmes is not completely opposed to shipping to the US ... it's just that getting the phytosanitary certificate would require her to physically schlep the package to a government inspection office far from where she lives. it's too much of a hassle. she will, on occasion, ship a prairie peace to one of her rosarian friends who lives in another part of canada -- a bit closer to an inspection station -- who will walk the package through the necessary importation steps and ship it on to the US. the whole process is arduous and understandably pricey. but as has been noted here, prairie peace is not easy to propagate and assuaging rose-fever is not always economical.

they are super-nice folks. it took about three years but i was thrilled(!) to receive this spring a sturdy, healthy spinosissima-looking little plant ... that so far is showing zero signs of BS in coastal massachusetts (i don't spray).

or maybe i've been conned by a gang of nefarious canadian rose grifters who lured me in with a cleverly-crafted tale, pocketed my hard-earned money, and mailed me a double-knockout imposter. that would be funny, right? :0)

Thank you for that explanation, Lerosier3. I can understand a rose that is difficult to propagate from cuttings or budding being off the list of a nursery in it for the money...but I would think that some patriotism might prompt a Canadian nursery owner who is in it *because they love roses* to make it available - even if only in small quantities. They could charge more for it, siting its rarity. I'd buy!
(BTW, I've had not blackspot issues with pimpinefolia/spinossissima's here in the Great Lakes region.)

Im a moderate black spot area.. or otherwise defined as.. not as bad as some other spots.. but I will get it if its prone.. after first flush usually...

If its prone to blackspot.. it will eventually get it here.

I still wouldnt mind trying it though.

I agree with Annececilia, a rose of this rarity should be spread, its not like every rose that Pickering offers is exactly a hot selling commodity.. they carry Soleil d'Or for goodness sake!

Silverkelt

From a hotter and more humid place (east TN, temps in the 90s, humidity in the 70s and 80%s for the past two weeks), the pimpin. and spins that I grow look good through summer.
It might be because I have them in an area where there are species roses and the moderns and their fungi are over a tenth of a mile away (and up a hill.)

Marie, you and I were posting at the same time. Thank you for that further information. I will pursue it! :-)

I'm fairly sure Lily grew it once. A lot of the Erskine roses are quite complex hybrids, so they don't necessarily have the same disease resistance as the simpler crosses. Also, because of where they are from, nobody knows much about their blackspot resistance until they come East.

I can understand the desire to have it ... when I took that picture at the ag college and examined the bush there was this perfect sucker just off the mother plant. It took all my "will power" not to surreptitiously abscond with it - weekend and nobody around. Did I feel good about it ... nope, I figure it will get weeded out and cast aside ... seen that in one heritage garden of canadian roses ... scores of suckers that had been weeded out and been on the grounds for a couple of days drying out ... I did my duty that day.

Ive emailed pickering asking them if they have any plants of stocking it, and informed them that there are a # of us that would like to try this rose..

Silverkelt

There is little point in urging any nursery to stock a rose that is nearly impossible to propagate by budding. (not to mention that it will have an extremely limited audience) There is no incentive for them to waste the resources to attempt it, especially if they can expect to sell maybe five or six plants per year. A dedicated "boutique" nursery might take this on as a special project and experiment with alternative propagation techniques. For some of the extremely difficult to propagate roses, I have found that if you peg a growing branch down to the soil and cover a section of the cane with soil, leaving a couple inches of the tip exposed, you will get a rooted plant within one season. (Its a kind of layering) Many of the Spinosissimas are nearly impossible to propagate, and yet you can make new plants readily by this modified layering technique. I suggest that someone who has 'Prairie Peace' give this a try.

Riku,

I'd love it if you could go back and get that sucker from Prarie Peace.
I've had very good results from speaking to a head gardener and asking for permission to propagate from rosebushes in a public garden, (all 4 said yes) rather than asking the manager or superintendant of a public rose garden for permission to propagate (all said no) because the latter type of folks hemmed and hawed, none of them had any idea what I intended to do and one thought I'd be cutting a rosebush nearly in half, to make another bush from it.

I'd mention to a head gardener;
-Prarie Peace" is not easy to grow from cuttings, therefore the most reliable way to conserve it is from growing a new bush from a sucker.
-taking a sucker does no harm to a "mother" plant, when the entire amount removed is a very small part of the whole.
-I wouldn't take cuttings or suckers from any plant under patent protection.

Best wishes,
Luxrosa

I am not so sure Joel would reject it out right. He once asked me to send him a list of hardy old Canadian roses I thought were worthy of him considering.

Never did get around to it ... so it was my fault, not his. Last time we talked he did mention as listed above he has to consider demand and if it not there ... no "rose". Still seems to manage to put out 7 hybrid Spinosissima options to market - managed to test them but had to toss the Frulhings as a waste of time in my garden. Would not bloom even when protected.

Might still make the effort to send him a list as that one heck of beautiful rose Erskine hybridized - needs to be out there for cold zoners (5 and minus) because when compared to whats on the market and offered as really hardy and beautiful, it is as good, nay better than half of them in the flesh. So is Suzanne.

Very interesting thread. I have found that oculated plants of spinosissimas are worth while even if the budpoint is a bit weak. If it's planted deep enough they tend to go ownroot before the budpoint wears out. This might be the case with Prairie Peace too. Finding a suitable rootstock might be a bit difficult, but those in the trade usually do. Here it's mostly the nurseries that only use one rootstock variety that leave out the difficult to propagate varieties.

Actually Prairie Peace is difficult to impossible to find in the US now but shouldn't be in the future. I have one growing in my garden now and should have two more next year. The one I have now has suckered but it has already been promised. Between the three I hope to have I should have 4-6 new plants a year starting in 2012. I am much more inclined to trade than sell. I am enclosing a link to the plants I have in my Pimpinellifoliae collection. Click on My Plants tab. If you have any Pimpinellifoliae that I don't have please let me know.

Here is a link that might be useful: my garden