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Walk Through The Garden, 2007A
Walk Through The Garden, 2007
“Fa’s
Marbled Moss”What a delight this rose is.
Early last year, the Rose Ditch became flooded with hot, over-fertilized hay-field runoff and fearing that almost all the roses there had died, I dug up as many as I could and brought them to the garden. Almost all of them (and a surprising number still in the ditch) survived. Since then, most of these suckers have moved on—they can be found as far afield as Washington, Connecticut, Oregon, Maryland, Texas and New Jersey. "Fa's Marbled Moss" is one tough gal!
In 2006, she didn't leaf out until mid-April; in 2007 all bushes had leaves on them by 2 April—just in time for the ice storm on 6 April! As usual, just as the plants began to break, many new runners broke the ground and began producing leaves. "Fa's Marbled Moss" looks like it will be willing to colonize the whole garden if given her way.
In the garden, "Fa's Marbled Moss" reaches a height of about a meter, sometimes more; though she never reaches more than perhaps a foot tall in the ditch where she was found. Young plants and recently transplanted suckers produce paler, less obviously spotted plants. The moss generally smells of balsam and anise; the flowers are scented Old Rose and Clove, or sometimes Lemon. There are generally 80-100 petals, the innermost ones slightly recurved, and often featuring deep indentations, and white and/or green stripes down their centers. Flowers are long-lasting both on the plant and in the house. FMM sets hips readily and they are usually large and well-colored by midsummer.
Besides being a beautiful plant in her own right, "Fa's Marbled Moss" has so far produced twelve offspring for me. Nine come from an open pollinated hip which contained 40 seeds: "Andromeda," "Curly," "Nonna Bella," "Number 2,, "Number 9," "Papyrus," "Robin," "Starry Day" and "Tessellations" (they were named after characteristics of their leaves; easier to keep track of jpegs that way!). Three more, "Monster" and her sisters, are sired by 'Nightmoss' and should bloom for the first time in 2008. Of the first group, eight have flowered; two are mosses, two are moss-free, and the rest have moss, but not enough to be labeled "Moss Roses" by most people. All are pink (alas), and six of the eight have spots.
This year, I've gone a bit overboard in the hybridizing department. My aims are to produce a wider range of colors and varying patterns of spots. Keeping the moss and fragrance are also definite plusses. Crosses (reciprocal when possible) have been made with: 'Crested Sweetheart' (wouldn't it be great to combine both Centifolia AND Damask mossing?), 'Oranges 'n' Lemons' (to introduce yellow; I could have used several other plants but OnL is extremely hardy in my area), 'Marbrée' and 'Song of the Stars' (to see the results of crossing spots to spots), 'Hot Cocoa' (because just imagine spots on that color!), and 'Reine des Violettes,' 'Capitaine John Ingram,' 'Henri Martin,' 'Cardinal de Richelieu,' 'Basye's Purple' and 'Belle de Crécy' to introduce purple. Oh, and 'Halo Glory' since I can't find 'Persian Sunrise.' And 'Freckles,' just because. I need more garden space...