Memorial Rose
Location
Butterfly Garden
- Common Name: Memorial rose
- Scientific Name: Rosa luciae
- Family Name: Rosaceae
- Origin: East Asia
- Height: 6 to 10 ft
- Width: 6 to 8 ft
- Growth: Fast
- Zone: USDA Zones 6 and warmer
- Light needs: Full sun
- Salt tolerance: Low
- Soil/pH/Texture: Prefers a loose, well-drained, and fertile soil with a circumneutral pH between 6.5 and 7.5.
- Moisture: Moderate water needs – prefers deep and infrequent watering once established
- Drought tolerance: Moderate
- Pests/Diseases: Aphids and honey fungus.
- Growing conditions: Memorial rose should be planted in full sun for optimal growth and flowering. Although it has a spreading habit, it can be trained to climb as well. It is moderately drought tolerant, but flowering will be stunted. It is a frost tolerant plant, capable of going dormant in freezing temperatures rather than dying back. It is not recommended to grow in a container to its fast and spreading growth habit.
- Characteristics: Memorial rose grows into a wide, spreading shrub, although it can also be trained to climb trellises and other structures. The ovate, serrated leaves grow in opposite pairs. The stems are covered with many sharp thorns – thorns on larger stems are easy to see, but there are also smaller hair-like thorns on the thinner branches that should be handled with care. The flowers vary in color and appearance depending on the cultivar, but are generally white, pink, or red in color. Some cultivars may have five-petaled flowers, while others have several rows of flowers. The flowers are also fragrant. The centers of the flowers are more prominent than other rose species, with numerous, spreading stamens. The fruits – also called “hips” – are bright red and berry-like.
- Propagation: By seeds or by cuttings. Cuttings are more reliable, as seeds can take a long time to germinate.
- Wildlife: Birds eat the fruits.
- Facts: One of its scientific names, Rosa wichurana, is named after the German botanist Max Ernst Wichura.
- Designer considerations: Its adaptable growth habit gives it a variety of landscaping uses. Train it into a compact bush to use it as a foundation plant or hedge or train it into a climbing plant for trellises and fences. Its fragrant and beautiful flowers make it a good choice for walkways and porches.