Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Blooming in the Basement ... Single Pink China

The cuttings that I took at Monticello's Tufton Farm last October are growing like crazy under their lights on the shelves in my basement workshop.  A few of the cuttings have buds, which I will leave in place so I can confirm that each plant still has its correct identity on the label.  More important than this is the joy that I get from seeing these tiny plants (ones that I started from a stick and a prayer) grow and push out buds and flowers.





The flower that opened this morning is on a plant of 'Single Pink China'.  'Single Pink China' is a very rare rose, thought to be a sport of 'Old Blush'.  The plants themselves are very much alike in the garden ... but 'Old Blush' has semi-double flowers and flowers on 'Single Pink China' have a single row of five petals.  As far as I know, there is no nursery in the US that sells this rose.


Five delicate petals on this flower, with a couple of quirky petaloids that many single-flowered roses have.  I could have groomed those out, but I didn't


It's still too early for me to begin the process of hardening these babies off to life on the outside, as they are only accustomed to my cool basement (around 55 degrees most of the time).  To be honest, I probably could start the in-and-out cycle of taking the pots outside during the day, then bringing them back inside at night, but I don't want to risk forgetting about them outside one evening while nights are still getting to or below freezing.    




My main mission with propagating these rare roses is to distribute them to gardens in other places to help insure that they don't disappear.  With this in mind, eight varieties of these roses in the basement (this one included) will be securely packaged and winging their way to a friend later today.

Bon Voyage, little rose!

19 comments:

  1. Very exciting! Spring is winging it's way and soon your Single Pink China will be winging it's way out-of-doors!

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    1. I wish these little babies weren’t so tender from spending their whole life in the protected basement, because I would be planting them otherwise. Oh, well. I have plenty of roses in the pot ghetto to help me through this. In the bed I’m working in now, Marechal Niel is dead and gone and I think I will put Duke of York in his place.

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    2. Okay, scratch Duke of York. I found two roses that 'may' be Duke of York in the pot ghetto (faded tags) and neither of them look that great. I planted Climbing Sutter's Gold in that spot instead.

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  2. I'm sure you will be instrumental in the rose resurrection!

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    1. That’s the whole idea! This rose and six of its rare cousins are now winging their way to a friend. Spreading the love, and (hopefully) making these babies available for sale in a year or so.

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  3. What a sweet little rose this is. For some reason the 5 petal simple roses really speak to me. I love the others, but these have their own beauty and this one is really lovely. Glad you are having success with your cuttings.

    Happy Easter week ~ FlowerLady

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    1. I love singles, and I love Chinas, so this is an absolutely perfect rose for me. Add to this the fact that it is supremely rare, and you have an equation for a perfect relationship!

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  4. It is really neat that you are doing this Connie. It is sad that we lose great flowers. You must feel a real glow.

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    1. Extinction is forever ... and I think it's cool that we can do even a little something to help prevent it in some cases. That glow you're talking about is probably from the fluorescent lights above the roses. :)

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  5. So how do I get lucky enough to take possession of one of those beautiful, rare roses?

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    1. No luck is necessary, Dustin. This plant and one other will grow up to become stock plants, for cuttings to propagate plants for sale. All you need to have is some patience, and Single Pink China can be yours in a year or two. When they are available, I will let everyone know.

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  6. Beautiful! .... and I am raising my hand for the stock available in a year or two.

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    1. … and I will be thrilled to let you and everyone else know when it is available. I will have to check for you, though, to see if it will be hardy for you in New England.

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  7. Congratulations to you, Connie! What a great job you are doing. If only I had lot's of sunshine, I'd stand in line for this one! ♥

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    1. Thanks, Martha. You have the sunshine situation that I had for the first 20+ years of my gardening life … not enough sun for roses. Once we bought this old place of ours, with acres and acres of sunshine, you have already seen in person how crazy I went with building gardens and planting roses. For you, think camellias … almost as good as roses and great in shade.

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  8. Another question, how does one go about identifying a rose definitively? HMF and other sites go along way in assisting but I can still only venture a guess at best sometimes. I have a rose that is confirmed, through oral history, which where I'm from is the way things are done, to be at least 150 years old and probably more like 200 years old. Can one plant even love that long? Identity has proven impossible for me however. I will post pictures when it blooms this season.

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    1. Dustin, it sounds like you have a treasure on your hands! Roses CAN live that long, it's just that they usually don't. Definitive ID can be had, but we usually can only get into the 'ball park' with some unknown roses ... It's usually a matter of narrowing choices and eliminating possibilities. I will be happy to work with you on this. I don't do Google+, and that's what your profile is linked to. No email address for me to send this reply. PM me sooner rather than later (connie@hartwoodroses.com) or through the Hartwood Roses page on Facebook, and we will shoot messages back and forth to see what we can do to get this rose a name

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    2. Thank you so much. I need some rose connections as I have none. I'm new to blogging so mine is not worth reading yet. I am an organic farmer learning how to breed my own plants. I collect hydrangeas and now roses, old roses. While rustling roses in order to have viable, hardy stock for breeding and researching the ones I found I discovered I had some rare jewels and some unnamed ones that I suspect were naturally hybridized. I discovered that I already had the Apothecary rose growing here when I moved in 25 years ago. All that time I thought it was just a wild rose of some sort. Two years ago I couldn't even point to the hips so, I have come light years in that time. Here is my email: sonofnone.db@gmail.com. Gonna be an amazing summer.
      Oh, I may have a seven sisters rose. I have pictures from last year I will send if I can figure out how. Thanks again!

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  9. Wow Connie! How exciting to play a crucial role in making sure that this beautiful rose survive. I am trying for the first time to grow some lilies from seeds in my basement. The little babies are growing well, but I am so afraid to plant them outside. I have not figured out how much bigger they need to be before it's safe to take them outside. I can't wait to see your Single Pink China in your garden. I hope to visit you one day soon.

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