{"id":142,"date":"2009-03-30T04:15:57","date_gmt":"2009-03-30T12:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=142"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:00","slug":"rosa-mundi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/rosa-mundi\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosa Mundi"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROSA MUNDI
\n<\/font><\/font><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>All winter I have been having a crisis of conscience about the enormous stand of miscanthus grass that presides over an area on the south side of my house.\u00a0 Now, just as the light has returned to the landscape after winter’s darkness, I have seen the future of the miscanthus, and it lies in a different part of the garden.\u00a0 As I have said before, the miscanthus is a beautiful specimen, thriving in the sunny spot created when we cut down an ailing maple tree several years ago.\u00a0 It would be a sin to destroy it, but its space was made for roses and roses are my first love.\u00a0 The miscanthus will go in the area in front of my living room window and roses will go where the miscanthus used to be.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The space has room for two or three bushes.\u00a0 I have already chosen one of them, and it was because of that rose that I decided it was time for my personal miscanthus relocation program.\u00a0 The plant is known officially as Rosa gallica versicolor.\u00a0 Over the years its friends and admirers have called it by many names, but the one that has stuck is Rosa mundi.\u00a0 Lovers of Latin know that this means “rose of the world”\u009d.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rosa mundi is part of a group of roses classified by rosarians as Gallicas. \u00a0Despite the French name, these plants originated in southern and central Europe and Turkey.\u00a0 Renowned for both beauty and fragrance, they have been in cultivation since at least Roman times.\u00a0 One variety, Rosa gallica officinalis, is also known as the “apothecary’s rose”\u009d because it has been used for centuries in medicine and perfume.\u00a0 The Gallica roses range in color from palest pink to dark, red-purple and often produce spontaneous genetic mutations or “sports”\u009d with striped petals.\u00a0 Rosa mundi is one of those sports, with semi-double flowers composed of pale pink petals striped with darker rose.\u00a0 Like other Gallicas, Rosa mundi is comparatively short, growing to only three or four-feet tall.\u00a0 It also has the advantage of relatively few prickles.\u00a0 The compact stature and prickle-free nature should make Rosa gallica in general and Rosa gallica versicolor in particular perfect for modern gardens, except for one thing–Gallicas only bloom once a year.\u00a0 These days, most gardeners, even rose lovers, want repeat blooms, no matter how beautiful the older varieties may be.\u00a0 Still, I am so besotted by Rosa mundi that I will accept the fact that the striped roses will be a short-lived pleasure.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 People who love roses tend to be sentimental, and sometimes it seems as if about ninety percent of all roses are permanently tethered to romantic tales.\u00a0 In fact the absence of a romantic story is probably part of the reason why I find the indestructible and insanely popular Knockout roses so prosaic.\u00a0 However, if they stay around long enough, I am sure that even the Knockouts will get their own legends.\u00a0 The legend surrounding Rosa mundi is a great one, featuring an all-star cast of historical celebrities–King Henry II of England, his amazing wife, Eleanor of Acquitaine, and his beautiful mistress, Rosamunde Clifford.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henry II (1133-1189) was noted for his intelligence, intransigence and difficulties in family relations. \u00a0His marriage to the equally intelligent Eleanor of Acquitaine was tempestuous and, after she and her sons conspired against him, he had her placed under house arrest for fifteen years.\u00a0 Anyone who has seen the play or movie The Lion in Winter<\/em> by James Goldman, has seen a version of this part of Henry’s life.\u00a0 Presumably Henry found some solace with his best known mistress, Rosamunde Clifford, daughter of one of Henry’s nobles.\u00a0 Rosamunde, known for her beauty, may have been poisoned by the vengeful Eleanor.\u00a0 She may also have died of disease.\u00a0 Whatever the cause of her death, some legends say that the striped sport of Rosa gallica officinalis was named for her.\u00a0 Over time the name “Rosamunde”\u009d became corrupted to “Rosa mundi”\u009d.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While I probably would have rooted for Queen Eleanor in the Henry\/Eleanor\/Rosamond triangle, I am rooting for the fragrant Rosa mundi in my garden.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When my daughter was little, she developed an affection for striped roses.\u00a0 As the result, we already have ‘Scentimental’, a modern reblooming striped variety.\u00a0 Now I am thinking of making the miscanthus area into a garden of stripes.\u00a0 In addition to Rosa mundi, I will install a more modern striped rose, Variegata di Bologna, which was introduced by the Italian breeder Bonfiglioli in 1909. \u00a0‘Variegata di Bologna’ features a cream background and stripes that are nearly purple.\u00a0 Unlike Rosa mundi, it reblooms.\u00a0 I may also install ‘Camaieux’, another Gallica, which has purplish stripes on a pale pink background.\u00a0 Like Rosa mundi, ‘Camaieux’ is known for its fragrance.\u00a0 I would love to underplant my striped beauties with lavender, but since the soil in that part of the garden is rather heavy, I may have to substitute catmint, which is less finicky about drainage.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Though the intellectual part of the miscanthus crisis is now over, I will be moving on to the physical portion in the next few weeks.\u00a0 Miscanthus grass is as tenacious as Eleanor of Acquitaine.\u00a0 I may gain some sympathy for Henry II when I try to get rid of it.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can purchase Rosa mundi, ‘Variegata di Bologna’ and ‘Scentimental’ from Heirloom Roses, 24062 Riverside Drive NE, St. Paul, Oregon 97137; (800) 820-0465; <\/font><\/font>www.heirloomroses.com<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 Catalog $5.00.\u00a0 Camaieux is available from Rogue Valley Roses; (541) 535-1307; www.roguevalleyroses.com<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROSA MUNDI \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All winter I have been having a crisis of conscience about the enormous stand of miscanthus grass that presides over an area on the south side of my house.\u00a0 Now, just as the light has returned to the landscape after winter’s darkness, I have seen the future of the miscanthus, and it … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1642,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/1642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}