90 Old Roses: China Roses.
Description
This article is from the Rose Gardening FAQ, by Bill Chandler chandler@austin.ibm.com, Jolene Adams jolene@cchem.berkeley.edu, Brent C. Dickerson odinthor@csulf.edu, Karen Baldwin kbaldwin@veribest.com, and many contributors
90 Old Roses: China Roses.
Chinas--selectively bred from R. chinensis--had been grown in Chinese
gardens long before the Occident knew anything about them. The agent of
their first appearance in the West is under some dispute, with claims
being made for Sweden, Britain, and Italy. A pink form and a red form
entered commerce in the West in the 1790's, and breeding quickly got
underway, particularly in France and, to some degree, Italy. The
reasons for their quick popularity were primarily their continuous
bloom and, at least initially, the then-current rage for things
Oriental. Their main difficulty was their lack of cold-hardiness.
Chinas typically make, bushy, twiggy plants, often quite irregular in
outline, and range in color from deepest red and maroon through pink to
white. Some hybridized with the Teas show warm tones of yellow,
saffron, salmon, and orange. The China group has long been considered a
refuge for "decoratives" as opposed to exhibition roses; cultivars of
Tea parentage which did not show the blossom-form expected of Teas
would be offered as Chinas. `Cramoisi Superieur', `Parsons' Pink
China', `Eugene de Beauharnais', `Archiduc Charles', `Ducher',
`Nemesis', `Mme. Eugene Resal', `Arethusa', and the green rose
`Viridiflora'.
Continue to:
My Books
