Of course - this subject is really not "OT", I don't now why I put that. I think it was because I had made a prior "testing" post about not being able to post.

Jackie

Gad, I just read the above, and realized I said my 6th rose bush was setting hips - it was NOT, it was setting new BUDS all over itself!

Please keep us posted. I have been wondering all day, coincidentally, why wild roses and wild flowers generally are so much more graceful than cultivated -- although often unruly in the garden. At least that is how I perceive them.

I’m sorry about the devistation of the fire. It might be Rosa californica which is deep rooted, spreads by runners and recovers after snow and animal browsing, so I think it could grow back after a fire, too. In general I think wild plants are better suited to recovery v. cultivated plants to ensure their survival. JMO but I think it would have come back from the roots not hips/seeds. I hope someone more knoweledgable chines in, I’m just guessing on the ID.

Jacqueline: Do you have any photos of the forest now (to contrast with the 1 month post-fire photo you posted)?

I remember learning about forest succession growing up. Theory, w/o seeing examples, first-hand, over time. I imagine teachers in places such as this are taking full advantage of the opportunities presented.

I wonder if Summer heat abating and rain have given your wild roses a second Spring, Jackie.

I did try to take some pics of those roses last week with my DH's flip phone. (Neither of us own a smart phone, and I can use my computer, but that is about all - mainly VERY "analog" person).

Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, and it turned out that when I thought I was "saving" them, I was really deleting them. Grrrr... I did try to take a few after that, but I was so discouraged that I forgot about them. This morning I got his phone and fumbled around, and I may have succeeded in sending them to a friend of mine's smart phone, asking her to email them to me. If I get them, I will post some on here later today.

Jackie

A story of survival and amazing for sure. While fire is the most dreadful of elements which attack our forests, the forests do return. Thanks for the very interesting account, although sad for the loss of the beauty you had. Give it a few years and perhaps return and camp out...:-)

Here are 3 pics that my friend emailed me back, after I sent them to her phone. I did take all of these last week.

#1: just opening bloom on new baby rose bush, also showing buds below it.

#2 Older bloom on newer rose bush (the blooms don't last long):

#3 Older rose bush next to the one which is blooming, showing hip:

#4 In the background of this pic, you can see our neighbor's property, which has been logged, and the property (National Forest) beyond it, which has not been logged.

Tragic -- I grew up in the SF bay area. I don't recall ever having such giant forest fires as a kid and a young adult -- forest mismanagement they say. Don't know. 85 years old now so I go back a ways. Thanks for sharing your pics and the story.

More comments: There were more buds coming on the rose bush which was blooming than you can see in these pics. The standing dead "forest" in the last pic is what all of the hills visible from our property look like in every direction.

From the look of the blooms, and the hip, it does look like 'rosa californica' to me. I still think it is a mystery what the younger looking rose bush thinks it is doing blooming in Oct. All of its foliage, in addition to the blooms and buds, looks brand new and Spring - like. I agree that it might have been encouraged by summer heat interspersed with thunder storms, but in 55 years I have never seen a wild rose bush blooming up there in Oct (and we used to go up there from May/June to Oct, at least once a month for several days each time. I went for long walks along the road which parallels the large creek every day, always looking at any flowers/trees/birds I could see.

Jackie