Wanted: Outrageously Thorny but Reliably Reblooming Roses

3 months ago

I've talked about my failure with roses due to ground squirrel predation ad nauseam, but since my one remaining rose, the thorny Wild Edric, is still with me, I reasoned that perhaps another one that is equally spiky might also survive. If any of you have a thorny monster that also sports beautiful and frequent blooms, I'd love to hear about it. A decent height of at least five to six feet would be preferable since the squirrels don't come equipped with crampons, although I've seen a couple of them braving thorny altitudes once or twice. Survival of even a thorny rose is not a sure thing but perhaps worth another try.

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ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
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3 months ago

last modified: 3 months ago

Carol, I had that very same thought just yesterday when I looked on HMF again, that Cl. Caroline Testout reminded me an awful lot of La France. Another win feature of this lovely rose!

Kim, thank you for the warning about Conrad. I think I had heard negative things about this rose before, although I couldn't remember details. Wild Edric, my one remaining rose, is a hybrid rugosa from Austin, and strangely enough I've never seen rust on it, not even when I had three or four of him at one time. Wouldn't you know it, Austin no longer ships this rose to the US. I wonder if my elevation of 1700 feet might be a factor regarding the rust.

rosecanadian, a yard full of rose climbers would not exactly be a bad thing!

P.S. Looking at Conrad on HMF I have to say he is deliciously thorny. Very beautiful and apparently also very fragrant blooms, which also remind me of La France. However, I just don't have the courage to grow this problematic monster.

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