Resplendent – shining brilliantly: characterized by a glowing splendor. What a definition! And you can bet that any rose that has that description is one you want to consider for your garden. Welcome to the world of hybrid rugosa roses.
Rugosa species are native to northern China, Korea, Japan and the far north Pacific Rim regions. A few had been hybridized in the 1820’s, however, hybridizers became interested in working with the species in the late nineteenth century due to the rose’s special characteristics. These new creations were the progeny of crossing different Rosa rugosa and species roses.
One of these unique characteristics is their very textured leaves – their name is derived from the Latin word for “wrinkled.” The foliage is very dense, to a point in some varieties that you can barely see the canes. They produce blooms from white through pink to red and purple, and even a few yellows. Flowers in the species are often singles with few petals, while most of the hybrids have fully double, medium-sized, fragrant blossoms with informally formed petals. They produce brilliant orange-red hips in the fall that are filled with vitamin C, and as many varieties are repeat bloomers, you can have a plant with flowers and hips at the same time. They range in size from compact shrubs to vigorous climbers, and there are new dwarf cultivars as well.
One of the major attributes of this group of roses is their general health and vigor. As a group, these roses are tough – they are very disease resistant, heat tolerant, cold hardy, can survive in poor, dry soils, and even seem to flourish near the ocean’s salty air. As a result, they make terrific low-maintenance landscape roses. Planted in mass they are truly resplendent, both in their burst of bloom in the spring and their fall color – leaves and hips! Once established, they require minimal care. To prune these roses, remove the oldest canes at ground level during late winter or early spring before growth begins.
Most varieties don’t like to be sprayed with anything (except water). Otherwise, phytotoxicity is quick to follow and the shrub will rapidly defoliate. While the species are also noted for their suckering (production of stems from the roots), hybrids are less likely to do so.
Some varieties you may want to look for include:
Blanc Double de Coubert, 1892, ARS 8.1; this hybrid has semi-double to double white, very fragrant flowers (even at night) with yellow stamens.
Dagmar Hastrup, 1915, ARS 8.4; also known as Frau Dagmar Hartopp, this variety produces fragrant light pink flowers with yellow stamens. It has large red hips that appear shortly after the first flush of flowers so both flowers and hips are present throughout the season.
F. J. Grootendorst, 1915, ARS 8.1; bright red double blooms have serrated edges in clusters of up to 20 flowers. Foliage is small, dark, and leathery. It has a vigorous, bushy form and is a repeat bloomer.
Hansa, 1905, ARS 8.4; produces large, brilliant red-purple blooms with extremely fragrant blooms. Vigorous, recurrent bloomer with big red hips.
Jens Munk, 1977, ARS 8.6; clusters of medium pink, fragrant flowers with yellow stamens top the canes throughout the season. Another vigorous plant with light green foliage.
Linda Campbell, 1991, ARS 8.3; produces enormous sprays of medium red blooms with a slightly lighter reverse. The foliage is large, dark green and semi-glossy. It is a very prolific plant that is highly disease resistant.
Martin Frobisher, 1970, ARS 7.4; hybridized in Canada, this rose looks very much like an Alba. The fully double, very pale pink flowers are wonderfully fragrant.
Therese Bugnet, 1950, ARS 8.3; a hybrid that produces stems that are deep, maroon red in winter. Dark pink buds open to medium pink, fragrant flowers. Very disease resistant.
Topaz Jewel, 1987, ARS 7.5; another rugosa developed by Ralph Moore, the double, medium yellow, lightly fragrant flowers fade to cream, and show some stamens when fully open.
ARS Ratings – 2024 American Rose Society Handbook for Selecting Roses
By Nanette Londeree, Master Rosarian