Roses in the fall/Rose rustling

Along with blooming in the spring and summer there are roses that are still pushing out blooms in the fall when other plants are getting ready for the winter. 

If you want to go rose rustling  and want repeat blooming roses, the fall is the best time. And to rustle roses is essentially to collect cuttings of roses from neighborhoods, (getting permission from home owners first) and abandoned roses. After collecting the cuttings you can root them and study them. It is common to give found roses study names and put double quotes around it. For example: "Malespina Red China". A rose that is known and had the given name goes with single quotes. I.e. 'La Reine'. 

Here are a few pictures of fall roses and roses that are around due to rustling.

The study name could be something like "Liam House Red"

Hips are also a fall bonus. See upper left for a hip.

The red one is the rustled rose

Bagged roses

The weather starts to warm up and what do the big retail stores do? They bring out bagged plants at really low prices.  You know the type that you pull the plant out of the bag and you have sawdust coming out with them. They are often displayed on big racks.

So what is the big deal? Well there are a few. For roses the roots have been severely cut and so have the canes. There is no guarantee that the rose that is on the label is the one that you have in your hand. 

So if you wanted the pink rose like the one in my hand there is no way of finding out that it is a yellow rose. 

Another issue is that you can't see if the rose has any diseases such as rose rosette, or more likely rose mosaic virus. 

It may be a little bit more expensive, but if you wait a couple more months and buy actively growing roses you can see if there are any diseases, and make sure you get the color of roses that you want.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rose+mosaic+virus

A different season for different roses

Often roses are thought of blooming from spring to fall. And there are roses that do. However, there are roses that bloom just in spring, some that start in summer and go through the fall, and some that put out a big show in the spring, and follow it up with a few more blooms scattered in the summer and fall.
We have mostly the China and Tea to thank for the continual blooming.
But what about the roses that possibly are over looked because they bloom only in the spring?
If you can't find them in the garden centers then a good place to look for them would be abandoned homesites, local cemeteries, or even possibly a city park.
Here a few once blooming roses that one may be able to see by keeping their eyes out.

A mini stroll through the Sacramento City Cemetery

I don't want this blog to be nothing but information based posts. That would get boring quickly.
A brief history of the Sacramento City Cemetery or at least the roses and why they are there.
In the early 1990s they created a rose garden in the cemetery from roses found in that cemetery, other cemeteries mostly through out California, and roses collected from other locals such as gold mining ghost towns.
They now once a year offer a open garden and rose sale. The roses sold are usually not in commerce, so this is the place to get them.

Malespina Red China
China rose
In my yard it was one of the more free blooming roses.

Lady Banks

Mme. Berkeley

This rose and the one below are Rainbow and Moser House Striped Pink Tea, I can't remember which is what.

There will be more pictures of the roses in the cemetery, but I think this is good for now.

Disease

Disease happens. Unless it is Rose Rosette Disease (RRD), diseases can be lived with. Most people wanting to grow roses are generally growing them for their pleasure and use.
 I am going to include a link to Google to see what rose rosette disease looks like. RRD is a fatal, incurable disease for roses that are spread by mites. I recommend if you discover RRD it may be better to dig that rose up, place all of it in a garbage sack and throw it away. Do not compost the plant.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rose+rosette+disease&oq=rose+rosette

As for other diseases,such as black spot, powdery mildew and to some extent Downey mildew can be kept under control with basic garden hygiene. With Downey mildew there should be some fungicides involved as well.
Powdery mildew can be kept to a tolerable, if not almost eliminated by keeping the plant watered and spraying water on the affected areas.
However, wet foliage may lead to black spot. I have found that at least for me, I would rather just remove the infected leaves than spend money on fungicides.

Black spot on Graham Thomas

A little background of roses

Roses have been around for a long time. People like to group, class and order things. Roses have been grouped and classified.
I have no desire to turn this blog into a huge lecture about classes and groups, but it is important to understand a few basics.
Roses can fit broadly into three groups. They are Species (wild) roses, Old Garden roses, and Modern roses.

Species

Old garden

Modern

The modern and old garden groups can be broken down into classes. Species can be broken down as well but for my purposes I am going to leave them under species.
Old Garden roses can be broken down into Gallicas, Albas, Mosses, Damaks, Portlands, Bourbons, Hybrid Perpetuals, Chinas, Teas, and Noisettes.
Modern roses can be broken down into Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Grandifloras, Miniatures, and shrubs.

Changeable roses

Not every rose is going to look the same every bloom. Some roses are going to have blooms that are so different that they look like different roses all together. That is ok. There are a few things that can cause this, the type of rose, the temperature, the amount of sun being some of the factors.

Here is "Sorocco House Lavender" which is a great example of the changeable nature. This is a Tea rose. It is also considered a found rose, and the name it was given has been lost for now. Some rosarians believe it is related to 'Mme. Lombard'

Again, all pictures are mine, please ask before using.

Starting out

Roses are great. They come in a variety of colors. They have a variety of scents. They come in a variety of sizes. They are beautiful. They provide joy, evoke memories and even emotions. What more could one ask from a plant?
Wait, you have heard that they can be hard work and time consuming?
Well they don't have to be. In fact, with less effort than needed for a vegetable garden you can have beautiful roses.
Like this one:

Anyone can grow roses. Come along for the ride and see pictures of many different roses, and learn about them.

All pictures on this blog are taken by me, and as such belong to me. Please be respectful and do not reuse the images without permission.