Botanical roses, safe bets for our gardens

Choosing a rose bush is not always easy. Between the remontants, the non-remontants, the bushes, the shrubs, the vines, the modern ones, the old ones, the hybrid teas, it is really not easy to find your way around! What if we only talked about botanical roses?

They are also called rosehips. These are the roses which appeared naturally on the earth, which were not hybridized by the hand of man. Jérôme Chéné, from Roses Loubert, a company based in the town of Rosiers-sur-Loire (49) explains how to recognize them:

“They are different from current modern roses by their habit, which is much more vigorous. The foliage also makes it possible to differentiate them. It is much less ‘shiny’ than that of the modern ones. The colors and shapes of the foliage are also different. Rosa glauca, for example, shows bluish foliage above, purple below. The rough rosebush (Rosa rugosa)it has a very embossed foliage.”

“They offer a single bloom. They are single roses, often with five petals.”

Jérôme Chéné, rose grower

at franceinfo

There are 120 species of botanical roses and 380 hybrids.

So it’s true, botanicals only bloom once in the spring, but you can count on a great show for three weeks, or a month! To create new roses, some breeders work from these botanical roses, because their genetic heritage makes them more resistant to diseases. These hybrids are often remontant and very fragrant.

“‘Mme Charles Baltet’ is a Bourbon rose with a very fruity scent. ‘Triomphe d’Alençon’ gives off a sublime fragrance just like ‘Alfred Colomb’. Five years ago, we planted ‘Joasine Hanet’ at home. When it is in full bloom, you can smell its fragrance from far, far away!”

Municipalities are rediscovering the value of these roses and planting more and more of them: “They require little maintenance, almost no pruning and no treatment. Cities that have large spaces to manage and few means to maintain them find these shrubs particularly well suited to their needs.”

– Hugon Rosebush (R. hugonis) for its beautiful pale yellow flowers.

– Rosa chinensis ‘Viridiflora’ for its curious purple-streaked green flowers.

– Rosa moyesii ‘Geranium’ for its scarlet red flowers followed by attractive, small bottle-shaped fruits.