A Rose By Any Other Name.......

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet - 1594

I only have a few roses in my garden. The first one is a shrub rose. I am not even sure if the rose that keeps blooming in early summer each year is actually the rose that I planted. I think we had to cut the original rose down and the suckers that came up from the root are now what are flowering. I planted this so long ago that I have forgotten what it was.

I also have a cute little mini rose. A friend gave it to me several years ago. It is growing in a protected spot, so it has continued to come up each spring. I love the light salmon colour!

And finally a beautiful hybrid tea rose called "Woman". I love this rose! It comes up year after year. It has a fantastic fragrance. It is a wonderful light peach colour! The roses are huge, on long stems! This a gorgeous rose to pick as a rosebud and put in a vase. I planted this one over 25 years ago. It keeps coming year after year, even without winter protection. I think it is such a hardy rose because it is called 'Woman". That is the only reason I can think of that makes this plant such a winner!

Roses have sharp prickles. These are often called thorns, but thorns are modified stems, whereas prickles are modified epidermal tissues. The leaves are pinnately compound with toothed oval leaflets. Some roses produce an edible fruit called a rose hip. These rose hips can be made into jams and jellies and are a good source of vitamin C. Aphids are the rose's main destructive pest. They suck the sap and weaken the plant. Lady Bugs are predators of aphids and should be encouraged in the rose garden. It is not a good practice to spray roses with insecticides (and it is now against the law to do so in Toronto) because beneficial insects will be destroyed along with the bad insects.

Family: Rosaceae. Genus: Rosa. Species - There are over 100 species of roses.

Common Name: Rose