Rose ID? Found in the woods.
My husband was exploring the backroads here in far Northern California, and came upon a number of rose shrubs right next to an old road. He brought me the bloom pictured in the first image below, and took one picture of a bloom on its shrub. We went back out later so I could take some cuttings for fun (never rooted anything before), but, silly me, I forgot to take more pictures. This was on Mother's Day. Once upon a time the road seems to have been called "Cemetery Road," but we found no sign of a cemetery. Here are a couple of pictures followed by a description. (I'm new to roses so please forgive me if my terminology is incorrect.)
The camera is oversaturating the color, but this is fairly close.
Even more oversaturated, but here is another bloom where we found it.
And here are my notes from looking at the specimens we brought home, a few details from memory:
Shrub about 4 or 5 feet in height. Seems to sucker readily as there were ten or more shrubs in a row. Crimson to purple bloom, about 2.5 inches across. Quartered, fully double. Petals can be ruffled. When fully open there are a lot of petals, becomes a pompon. Stamens are a tight yellow cluster; button eye. Buds are rounded with a point. Tiny reddish hairs on the stems which go all the way up the sepals. The thorns are small and straightish but angled downward. Leaves have three leaflets; the central one on my specimen is larger. They are smooth and matte, a medium green, a long oval with a point. The look of the foliage overall is delicate, including the stems. Flowers don't nod.
I do know it isn't Dr. Huey, because I've seen enough of him around in town. I rooted four three-inch cuttings in some potting soil in a ziploc bag using some rooting hormone. I threw one out as it got some white fuzz on the top end (it hadn't rooted at all), but the others have grown long roots. It's only been a little over three weeks so I don't know if I should pot them up or not. I'm worried about mildew in the moist environment of the bag.
Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you all could help me identify this rose!
Comments (10)
rosacalifornica
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help ID Flower found in woods.
Comments (5)As non-member said, Cypripedium parviflorum, Yellow Ladies Slipper Orchid. (You may also see it called Cypripedium calceolaris in some books, apparently they changed the name recently.) Terrestrial woodland orchids like that shouldn't be moved (unless they're about to be bulldozed anyway) because they are very fussy about where they grow - they need certain types of fungus growing in the soil with them to survive. That's one reason they usually don't survive transplanting. I don't know if they're protected in Ohio or not - while they aren't common I don't think they're actually endangered - but you're better off enjoying them in the woods. In fact, you're really lucky - I've only seen them twice, and once I was with someone who knew where they were growing. Having said that, if you want them in your garden, apparently this one is more successfully propagated commercially than most - you can buy them from nurseries sometimes. Just be sure it IS propagated and not just dug up from the woods. WW...See MoreLet's Put on Our Thinking Caps -- Can We ID This Found Rose?
Comments (17)Wow, lots of discussion here overnight. I hadn't thought about hybrid multifloras . . . the green canes and thornlessness could go along with that . . . this little guy is showing no signs of flowering in clusters, though. It's got single main buds on the laterals, with two side buds. No variation from this pattern anywhere on the plant. BTW, what constitutes a 'fringed stipule'? I've been comparing this rose to everything in the garden, and I don't see that its stipules are any more fringy than some of the others I have. The comparison to Seven Sisters is an interesting one. To my experience, there are a lot of roses out there being passed off as Seven Sisters -- some with different habits and bloom styles and sizes. The only one I've ever seen in person is one we planted at a public garden downtown, and we doubted that it was the real thing. The flowers are much smaller than my rose, and it always flowers in clusters. I checked the photos of Seven Sisters on HMF, but I couldn't find one that showed enough of the leaves or buds or canes to make a good comparison. The Lansdowne rose started last year with a main cane (the one that I rooted the year before) and one basal. Over the course of the year, it sent up at least 6 other basal canes to make quite a little cluster of canes. No signs of suckering away from the base of the plant, though. As far as comparing this to my other roses, I find that this one sort of resembles my Madame Plantier. Both are thornless, with green canes, with main and sidebuds on the flowering laterals. MP was new to me last year, so I haven't had a chance to compare the flowers in person yet, though some of the photos of it on HMF are a dead-ringer for my rose, except that the flowers on MP are white. This probably doesn't help us narrow the choice of class for my rose, since the Madame has conflicting classifications -- is she a noisette, or an alba, or what? The photo of MP in the link below shows some of the characteristics of my rose. Some of the buds are fat with shorter sepals, and some are fringy and foliose (I love that word, thanks Melissa.) I wish the mama rose wasn't gone. Connie P.S. We can trade cuttings later in the year -- it's a little bit too early to do that here. Here is a link that might be useful: Marcia's Madame Plantier HMF photo...See MoreCan you ID this found rose 1 of 3 (large files)
Comments (40)Cecelia - We need to hook up! : ) Have you tried to find any other John Cook roses? Of his 24 or so roses it seems like Radiance and her sports and Enchantress(e) at ARE are the only ones not "extinct". I made DH drive while I peered in yards and weeds where John Cook lived and where he supposedly landscaped the yards of some of the big, old homes in Baltimore hoping to discover some of his roses, but all I got was depressed. : ) Linked below is a bit of info about a garden planted with John Cook's roses in 1941 which was later moved to Druid Hill, Balt. in 1989. There are gardens planted by the zoo in Druid Hill but the woman I spoke with said all the Cook roses died and they just have a few OGR's there now. Sad. Regarding fragrance... Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller and Betty Uprichard all are supposedly fragrant. I smelled my rose the other day and there is a fragrance, but it is light and perhaps a bit sweet, but most often it smells of black pepper. My nose is used to smelling roses known for their fragrance so perhaps I'm expecting too much. Good luck getting cuttings from the old rose, I'd love to see some pics of it. Here is a link that might be useful: John Cook info...See MoreFound (City) Rose -- ID Me? -- 3rd Attempt to Create New Post
Comments (8)Shebabee, I boldly approached the homeowner who was also trying to eradicate his Moss OGR. I puffed myself up and tried to sound very knowledgeable and described his rose as a historical treasure. We talked preservation and I described the process of cuttings and the better success of digging OGRs. I told him his rose was becoming quite famous because I photographed it, and many rosarians were trying to ID it. He's definitely NOT a gardener, but he opened up and told me a bit of the history of the house and garden as was shared with him by the former owner. I think our one on one conversation is what prompted the invitation of "dig all you want this fall." Might it be worth a try to chat with the homeowner who is trying to eradicate your rose? I also dragged my 6-year-old daughter along for extra persuasion. I'd be more than happy to loan her to you for the sake of a found Gallica! :-) Thank you for the additional photos. I'm not great at cuttings either. I may be more like 1 in 4, so you're ahead of me! With that said, I'd love for several of us to try to root and rescue this lovely old rose. What a great find! I do hope it strikes for you. I'll "follow" you in case you need to message me about anything. Melissa, thank you for confirming that my eye can still see straight where an unidentified Gallica is at stake! Carol...See Morerosacalifornica
5 years ago
portlandmysteryrose
5 years agorosacalifornica
5 years ago
jerijen
5 years agoMany TROMN blooms are lighter. It's sort of a chameleon, which is why it gets collected under so many names.
Wish I could see canes on your rose. . . But look here:These are Red Runaround leaves. Your leaves are different. Again RR leaves -- long and narrow and pointed.
rosacalifornica thanked jerijenrosacalifornica
5 years ago
jerijen