Marin Rose Society - Rose of the Month

The Green Rose
Rose of the Month For May, 2005
by Barbara Picarelli

The name Barbara means strange, foreign, born to wander. Well, I think I’ve filled all three of those meanings. And because of that, I’m a sucker for the unusual and different, so naturally I gravitated towards this rose, Vividiflora, or the Green Rose. It’s truly different, as what one would think is petals is actually sepals and the petals (as such) are the inner portion of the flower. It grows on almost thorn free stems, and has a somewhat gangly nature in my garden. I bought the original bush at Vintage Gardens after seeing it in Gregg Lowery's home garden.

Listed as a China under the name Green Rose (R. chinensis vividiflora), it is classed as white (green) and as a floribunda in ARS listings. Dated 1845-1856, the rose is considered under the “old Rose” classification. The rose blooms freely over a long period of time and I’ve even had blooms in February. The buds are very green, of a small oval shape, and open to double leaf like sepals that are a green to light green with a bronzy tip. They come in small clusters of 3-6 flowers. I’ve had my rose in a container for some time, and although it is stated it grows to about 4 ½ feet, is has been know to get much higher than that. There is little or no fragrance, but the best part of this rose is it’s almost disease free. It makes a stunning addition to bouquets and never fails to make people inquire about it. This particular photo was taken about a month ago, so the flowers are not formed as well as they should be, and more bronze due to weather.

And speaking of Gregg Lowery, if you have not toured his home garden it will be open in May, most weekends, and well worth a visit to see his 3000+ roses in bloom. The dates and directions can be accessed on their web site at http://vintagegardens.com/

Previous Roses of the Month:

April, 2005
St. Patrick
March, 2005
R. rugosa
February, 2005
Baronne Prevost
January, 2005
Fortunes Double Yellow
November, 2004
Iceberg
October, 2004
Touch of Class, Tournament of Roses, and Taboo
September, 2004
All That Jazz
August, 2004
Peace
July, 2004
Betty Prior
June, 2004
Gertrude Jekyll
May, 2004
Sally Holmes
April, 2004
Double Delight
March, 2004
Gartendirecktor Otto Linne
February, 2004
Little Artist
January, 2004
Complicata
November, 2003
Penelope
October, 2003
Westerland
September, 2003
Elina

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