Washington, United States

I have grown roses for about 12 years. I enjoy growing roses of almost all classes but over the years I have found that I was particularly drawn to certain roses more than others. R. Primula with its fragrant leaves, R. Sericea Ptercantha with its huge fluorescent thorns, the Pernetianas because of the difficulty of growing them and the Spinosissimas, for the opposite reason, because of the ease of growing them. It was not until I read Shepherd’s book on the history of roses that I realized that most of the roses I liked most were found, or could be found in one section of Eurosa – the Pimpinellifoliae section. He included the Hybrid Persicas in that section of his book because of convenience but I believe that there are good reasons for including them there. When Jack Harkness was attempting to bring R. Persica genes into modern roses he found great success with one rose – Canary Bird which is a hybrid xanthina. I follow Mr. Harkness in using the old name for the Hulthemias. I also include the Pernetianas with the Pimpinellifoliae roses as they are in fact Hybrid Foetidas.

I believe the Pimpinellifoliae Section of Eurosa holds great promise for the future of roses. We live on 2 ½ acres and presently have about half that acreage under roses. We have decided to use the remaining part of our property to grow Pimpinellifoliae roses and in particular the Spinosissimas.

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Last visit: More than a year ago