I've posted this bush before, located across the road from Neighbor Pete. We would love to have one in our yard but to date have been unsuccessful in transplanting. Pete says that homesteaders from North Carolina -- or maybe it was West Virginia, he says -- brought this beautiful yellow rose with them, and when they sold out, community members went there to get slips of the rose. He said passers-by have stopped at his house to ask for a slip of the bush, and he tells them to go ahead because he knows his neighbor doesn't care. (I really think the bush is mostly on the road right-of-way.) I might be wrong, but I think the wild roses actually do better if they are carried in by the wind or a bird.
This lovely red variety is located at Pete's late mother's house. I don't believe I've seen another red one. Very nice.
This one, located on the logging road, has more white than some. See the bee at work?
This rather picturesque setting at Plank's includes an old piece of farm machinery with lilac bush. The old rose bush is getting out of hand, I fear, and the lilac is being over-run. I'm thinking of asking the neighbor if he would mind if we trimmed the rose back so that the lilac has a chance. Last year Hallie, Nick, and I picked hips off that rose bush for their rose hip jelly.
And here's our bramble again, slowly coming into bloom. I've given it some systemic rose food so we won't be picking hips this year. But really -- there's no dearth of wild roses here -- on our property or the roadsides. KW
5 comments:
And they smell so good, too!
Looks like you had a Rosey Day.
My half-sister Harriet, a country wife for 50 years, had this to add:
We have those North Carolina yellow roses on the Miller place at Teakean. There are pictures of them in our front entry in Lewiston. Bill's mother had them at her house, too, but I think maybe they got destroyed when the fire department burned down the house for practice.
I think those roses only grow where they want to grow, but mostly it seems they started in a protected place. Near a building or other bushes. I have always admired the roses with the long, long stems, pale pink flowers, and the big, beautiful hips. They grow along the Cavendish Grade. I tried to get them to start at our house in Cavendish, but never had success. In fact, I haven't seen them at the higher elevations. However, the shorter, more red flowered wild rose just loves the backyard in Cavendish. Don't know how it got there.
I always think of a rose blossom most like the first photo. Interesting that the others are roses, too. They're definitely thorny!
I've always loved the wild roses. The first summer we were married we went to Virginia City, Montana and all the old houses were covered in yellow ones. I still remember. :-)
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