Rugosas – Blooming Early and Beautifully

  • Post published:06/11/2012
  • Post comments:3 Comments
Belle Poitvine

The hardy rugosas are so cheering, blooming early and beautifully as they do. Belle Poitvine suffered a lot of winter damage as did several of the other rugosas. I don’t think it was simply the weather which was very mild, but the age of the shrub. Like any living creature a rugosa has a life span, but it also has babies. More on that later.

Blanc Double de Coubert

Like Belle Poitvine, Blanc Double de Coubert, is only about two feet tall this spring, but there will be blooms. You can see the heavy ribbed foliage clearly in these photos. Many rugosas are easy roses to identify because the foliage is so distinctive. And resistant to disease. It stays beautiful all season.

Mount Blanc

Mount Blanc had so much winterkill that my husband feared nothing might be left. The mystery of removing dead stems is that when they are gone the bush looks larger than it did before. Mount Blanc is actually about half as large, but it remains tall, unlike the Blanc Double de Coubert and Belle Poitvine roses.

Therese Bugnet

I planted Therese Bugnet on the new Rose Bank last spring and she is doing very well. Hardly any winterkill. The Rose Bank is somewhat protected from winter winds which is an advantage.

Pink Grootendorst

Pink Grootendorst, right next to Therese Bugnet also came through the winter without suffering very much. This rugosa has the familiar foliage, but the sprays of flowers almost look more like dianthus with pinked edges than roses.

I will talk about the other types of roses as they come into bloom. But, don’t forget. The Annual Rose Viewing is Sunday, June 24 from 1-4 pm.

 

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Rose

    Your roses are all beautiful! Your guests will be in for a treat during the annual rose viewing. Just one question–do you have Japanese beetles in the summer? When they invade my garden every summer, they decimate the few roses I have.

  2. Laurrie

    What beautiful roses, especially those clear whites. I love your comment about the rosebush looking bigger when dead parts are removed. I know what you mean!

  3. Pat

    Rose – I have only a very few Japanese beetles that I had pick – and they come after the Rose Viewing. I have used Milky Spore disease and give that all credit, but it might not work where houses are closer together – unless everyone! uses the Milky Spore Disease.
    Laurrie – Of course, taking out the dead parts leaves more room for new shoots to take up that empty space. And it doesn’t take too long.

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