Rose
of the Month #11
By Gaird Hamilton
BONICA
Since I started our series
of “Rose of the Month” we have already covered ten roses,
and this month will be number eleven. I had visualized an article each
month written by various members of our Humboldt Rose Society who would
tell about a rose which they grew that was a joy to raise and to behold.
So far, in spite of an open invitation for articles, the roses of the
month have all been ones of mine. This works out alright though since
we have lots of roses of which we are very fond of a large number. (
I should mention that other members have written very nice articles
about a number of roses which they raise and like very much).
When you read the list which
follows, you will notice that they are all roses which have been out
awhile. This was because it is possible to have a new rose which seems
awesome the first year but then fizzles out after that. These are all
roses tried and true, which grow very well in our cool coastal damp
climate. Now we also have a lot of roses which would have made the list
already except that they are extremely difficult to locate, being either
from Europe, or bought only in Canada and then no longer necessarily
available there. Some of our favorite roses fall into this category.
When asked , I gladly tell about these roses, and would be glad to write
about them if such an article was desired. In the meantime, here is
the list of available, fairly common roses which are uncommonly beautiful
and healthy in our area.
1. Apricot Nectar, 2. Gold
Medal, 3. Kardinal, 4. Gemini, 5. Playboy, 6. Ingrid Bergman, 7. Sally
Holmes, 8. Lavaglut, 9. Pristine, 10. Behold. These are roses which
I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone. Now I will add number eleven.
The Rose of the Month for February is a rose for people who don’t
think that they can raise roses. It is the shrub rose Bonica which has
recently been named the World Rose Hall of Fame Winner for 2003, and
was also the AARS winner in 1987, a rare honor for a shrub rose. It
is my good fortune that we have a Bonica in the perennial bed behind
our house which is located such that I can see it any time that I am
sitting in bed in the morning drinking a cup of coffee(an everyday event).
This bush is just totally covered from top to bottom with large clusters
of small pink flowers most of the time, usually clear into December.
The canes are mostly limber enough that when it is a stand alone specimen
it is like a mound of flowers. It can be easily used as a short climber
on a fence and HRS members, Floyd and Jacque Hubbard have the fence
along the front of their place beautifully covered with Bonica in this
fashion. This is a true easy care rose. It exists in our perennial beds(three
of them) with almost no care from us except an occasional clipping,
some watering, and sometimes when the limbs get too heavy with their
huge clusters we have to do some propping of canes.
Here is the official description
from Modern Roses XI: MEIDOMONAC, S, mp, 1985, (Bonica, Bonica 82, Demon);
flowers medium pink center, lighter at edges, medium, dbl, no fragrance,
foliage small, dark, semi-glossy; bushy growth;PP005105 AARS, 1987 ADR,
1983 [R. sempervirens X Mlle Marthe Carron) X Picasso] ; Meilland.
Since this is not a hybrid
tea or floribunda, it does not have to be pruned in any special way.
As a shrub rose, just prune it as you wish it to look, kind of like
you would any shrub. When the cluster is all bloomed out you will see
that there are already new shoots growing below the old cluster and
you can just prune down to there and before you know it, the new flowers
are already blooming. Another bonus which I should mention is that about
this time of year the bushes are covered with thousands of small but
colorful orange hips. It is a year-around treat.
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