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black roses question
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~mstephen/ladyb03.jpg Finally. It looks healthy and is evergreen, I swear. The apple trees nearby took 10 years to hit their stride, perhaps this is the apple in Lady Banks. That a nice crop of.. ..Grass! :- I once went looking for R. stellata mirifica near my aunt's house in High Rolls, NM, and in 10 minutes found R. arkansana, it was a Thanksgiving and I really didn't think I had a prayer of finding any roses going down Fresnal Creek, much less mirifica. (Arkansana is trying to take over the plantation now.) If anyone interested does a websearch on Fresnal Creek, they will instantly find--and to my GREAT astonishment just the other day, ThankYou, Alice for the snail--that Fresnal Creek is preCISEly where you find mirifica growing wild. This is less than 5 minutes by highway from where I found arkansana. Mirifica, meaning 'wonderful', joins the Gincko, Dawn Redwood, and cycads in that rare group of plants called 'living fossils'. They evolved on island-like mountains in a sea of desert when the lush Oligocene lowlands dried up and became deserts. They look like cosmos and are the showiest flowers of any American wild rose. Smell like hyacinth. Leaves like columbine. July 4 is just around the corner, and I'm all jazzed about the thrill of the hunt. I was once sent a small root of Mirifica--as well as R. minutifolia, which has the tiniest leaves of any rose--but this was like October/November and sadly neither survived. But I'll be finding Mirifica soon, its seeds are as good as in my pocket. wink So yes, I agree-- the world of roses extends WAY beyond those big fat hybrids which we are all too prone to be satisfied with. As with all things, when you expand you horizons, that's a good thing, Martha. I agree. Don't know if any roses can really be called living fossils considering the oldest record only puts them 25-30 million years back. But in the sense that nobody thought it was there but it is, sure! Sure is amazing what you find growing even in a city suburb. I have spotted the following growing in various spots in KC. R. Arkansana, R. Nutkana, R. Setigera, R. Laevigata and my find of finds R. Ptercantha no less growing in a church side lot incredibly, doing amazingly well too. Tried to trace the person who grew it but the church was closed. Make note to try again. -- Theo in Zone 5 Kansas City |
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