Tell me what rose I need

8 years ago

Hello! I've been researching what roses to get but getting conflicting reports on the qualities of various roses, so I thought I'd poll the experts for real experience!

I'm looking for a climbing rose for my kitchen garden. I live in hot, humid central FL, zone 9b, and have a 12x10 ft North facing wall that is in bright shade for half the day and direct sun for the last half of the day. I'd like to build a trellis to cover the wall and put one or a couple climbing roses on it.

I'd like a rose that:

-produces hips for tea and chicken feed, small hips are ok

-has lots of blossoms

-attracts beneficial insects/pollinators

-nearly thornless is a bonus, but not must

I like the look of Apple Blossom, Veilchenblau, Madame Alfred Carriere, and maybe Altissimo. In your experience, do those meet my requirements? Would I be able to grow them mixed together on the same wall? Maybe starting with one cane of each variety? Do they bloom at the same time or different times? Is there a variety you would recommend over these?

Thanks!

Erin

Featured Answer

Tessiess, SoCal Inland, 9b, 1272' elev

8 years ago

I do look for good hip production in roses, and I've been tasting many of the ones I grow (haven't tried making tea yet). Some are as bland as cardboard, while others can be quite tasty (when ripe--they don't seem to have much flavor until then). The 2 roses with the most flavorful hips in my garden are Rosa californica 'First Dawn' and Rosa canina 'Laxa'. Both these roses are beloved by bees! First Dawn also has extremely fragrant flowers (pale pink and single) and blooms in massive trusses so that the whole area surrounding is perfumed. Almost every flower turns into a hip. They are small and chewy, with plenty of seeds but yet also have enough pulp/skin to chew. Birds seem to love them. Whether this is just because of the handy size or due to the taste (they seem to completely ignore the hips on some other roses), I don't know. First Dawn does have thorns, however they are not in the attack realm such as those on the rose Mermaid. First Dawn will climb with support and is shade tolerant. FD also suckers like crazy. I don't know if this rose would grow well or not in Florida. In my garden FD flowers off and on all year long. Rosa canina 'Laxa' is a once-blooming species but it has a long bloom period in spring. Flowers are very pale pink and appear along the canes rather than on the top. Like FD, almost every flower turns into a hip. The hips are bigger than FD and have even more flavor. This rose will also climb with support. It is almost thornless. Flowers are only lightly fragrant. Laxa has only suckered a tiny bit so far in my garden, but I haven't had all that long yet. From the literature, I understand that R. canina is frequently used to make tea, and since the hips are high in vitamin c, they are still used to make cough/throat syrup. Good drought tolerance, but I don't know about shade as mine is in mostly full sun all day. My soil is fairly fast draining sandy loam. I don't know how well Laxa would do in Florida either. Try here (where I bought Laxa btw) for more information/suggestions for roses grown for their hips (scroll down towards the bottom where it says, "A Summary of Roses that are outstanding for the size, color & savor of their Hips"), La Vie en Rose at Greenmantle Nursery.

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Comments (10)

Rosefolly
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
You would do well to consult expert rose growers in your particular climate. I don't live in your area, though I have family there and visit every couple of years. If you are anywhere near Lakeland you might want to drive over and take a look at the rose garden on campus of the university there. It is a wonderful garden, and you will be able to see how the roses do in central Florida.

Two very good nurseries in your state are Angel Gardens Nursery and Rose Petals Nursery. Both carry a large selection of roses very well suited to your climate. You could ask the owners for advice.

On the whole I would suggest a climbing tea or tea noisette as being well suited to your requirements (not sure about the hips for chicken feed). By the way, Veilchenblau is not a repeat bloomer. It's a very good rose, but you mentioned "lots of blooms" so I thought I'd point that out in case you wanted those blooms for a long period of time. Also, you will get more interest from beneficials if you select a rose with fairly loose, open blooms such as a semi-double, rather than tightly packed with petals.

Finally if you decide to plant Madame Alfred, you will not need more than one rose. This one wants to get BIG. In my climate (wet winters, dry summers) it gets powdery mildew, but I believe it is healthy in other areas. I forget whether it is thorny or not. It's been such a long time since I grew it.
jerijen
8 years ago
Paula beat me to it. Hers is the best advice you will receive.
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CrosStitching
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the input. I've talked to a couple local nurseries, one referred me to another in the county, but they had no advice to offer for some reason in spite of specializing in roses. Anybody growing roses for hips?
thonotorose
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
CrosStitch, I am in Thonotosassa. I agree that you would do well to take a trip to [FSC , <-- link ] Florida Southern College and walk the rose gardens. You might also want to think about joining the Central Florida Heritage Rose Society. https://www.facebook.com/Central-Florida-Heritage-Rose-Society-201527983197371/

Best hip producers in my garden are A. Clytemnestra, very large and very thorny climber. B. Miss Atwood is nearly thornless and produces some very large hips on a very large tea. C. Champney's Pink Cluster produces tiny hips, thorny. I'll add more as I think of them.
thonotorose
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
If you search at HelpMeFind/roses under thornless, (unless you have contributed, you can only search one criteria at a time.) my search came up with over 2,000 names, some of which are duplicates.

Examples:

William Allen Richardson thornless tea noisette. Do not know if it sets hips.

'Beauté de l'Europe' thornless Cl tea noisette. Ditto

Kathleen thornless Cl Hybrid Musk, scented, repeats. Ditto
mudpie7
8 years ago
Is there a source for l'Beaute de Europe in USA ?
thonotorose
8 years ago
It is listed as available from Pam Greenewald at Angel Gardens. She custom roots.
mudpie7
8 years ago
Thanks Thonotarose, i just got an adrenalin rush at the thought,
thonotorose
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
CrosStitch, Please take a look at the linked pic of Kathleen's hips.

The "buy from" tab lists Angel Gardens and Rose Petals Nursery as having it. Looks like it meets all your criteria. And I want one now, too!
CrosStitching thanked thonotorose

Tell me what rose I need

Tessiess, SoCal Inland, 9b, 1272' elev

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Rosefolly

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