{"id":3320,"date":"2021-02-15T08:02:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T16:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3320"},"modified":"2021-02-15T08:02:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T16:02:25","slug":"cherokee-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/cherokee-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherokee Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Five-petaled<\/a>
Five-petaled beauty–Rosa virginiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rosa laevigata, has acquired a host of nicknames over its long history, but is most often called \u201cthe Cherokee rose\u201d.\u00a0 It is native to China, but has been in North America so long and acclimated so well that many people think of it as an indiginous wildflower.<\/p>\n

Its longevity and popularity is also due to its beauty, which has been celebrated in lore and legend.\u00a0 The flowers are big, as wild roses go, spreading about 3.5 inches in diameter, with four to eight pure white petals surrounding a fat boss of golden stamens. \u00a0Borne singly, as opposed to the cluster-flowered configuration of many wild roses, Cherokee rose blooms appear in late spring or early summer.\u00a0 The flowers resemble camellias, giving rise to a secondary common name, \u201cCamellia rose\u201d.\u00a0 Glossy, dark green leaves sprout in clusters of three, five, or occasionally seven.\u00a0 Like most species roses, the Cherokee rose blooms only once every growing season, but a vigorous, mature shrub may bear scores of lightly fragrant blooms, which are succeeded by decorative red hips.\u00a0 The canes tend to sprawl, but the plant can also be grown as a climber to save space.<\/p>\n

Like so many good things, Rosa laevigata has a liability\u2014prickles.\u00a0 The stems are loaded with plenty of thorns, which protect the plant from human and animal predators, but may discourage some gardeners.\u00a0 I think the shrub more than compensates for its prickly nature.<\/p>\n

The name \u201cCherokee rose\u201d is derived from a legend laden with a number of variations, but similar basic elements.\u00a0 \u00a0In 1838, the United States government forced the resettlement of the Cherokee Nation from its home region in Georgia and adjacent states to what is now the state of Oklahoma, a journey of about 2,200 miles.\u00a0 According to some sources, 15,000 or more members of the Cherokee Nation began the march in 1838 and at least 4,000 died on the arduous journey.\u00a0 The toll was so heavy and the grief of the uprooted Cherokee so profound that the westward route became known as \u201cthe trail of tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosa laevigata, which had grown on Cherokee properties in Georgia, also grew along the westward route and, according to legend, served as a symbol of hope and inspiration to the Cherokee as they struggled towards their new home.\u00a0 One variation of the story suggests that Cherokee tears fell to earth causing the roses to sprout where the tears landed.<\/p>\n

It may be somewhat ironic that since 1916, the Cherokee rose has been the official State Flower of Georgia.<\/p>\n

There is no concrete evidence of how and when Rosa laevigata arrived in the United States.\u00a0 Garden historian Denise Wyles Adams, in her wonderful book, Restoring American Gardens, <\/em>notes that Rosa laevigata was introduced in the United States in 1759.\u00a0 The rose caught on quickly and escaped gardens readily.\u00a0 Pioneering French botanist Andre Michaux saw the shrubs growing wild in Georgia and described them in his book Flora Boreali-Americana<\/em>, published in 1803.\u00a0 <\/em>In 1804, avid gardener Thomas Jefferson planted seeds of Rosa laevigata at Monticello.<\/p>\n

Over time, the rose was also used in breeding.\u00a0 Luther Burbank produced a light pink, cluster-flowered hybrid that he called \u2018Garland\u2019 in 1918.\u00a0 \u2018Ramona\u2019, sometimes known as \u2018Red Cherokee\u2019 was a sport or spontaneous genetic mutation of another hybrid, the light pink \u2018Anemone\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Cherokee rose is heat tolerant and disease resistant, but is somewhat susceptible to cold.\u00a0 It is hardy only to USDA Zone 7, which means that it can stand some winter temperatures, but will not survive in places where the average minimum winter temperature goes below 10 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 In Zone 7, I would plant it in a protected spot and mulch it well during the winter.<\/p>\n

If you live in a climate that supports the Cherokee rose, it is useful as a boundary or barrier hedge.\u00a0 Grown on its own, it will form a five-foot mound, but trained up an arbor or trellis, it will rise to 15 feet or more.\u00a0 It is easily kept in check by pruning, which is best done just after flowering.\u00a0 Unlike some other rambunctious species roses, it does not produce annoying root suckers.<\/p>\n

The Cherokee rose, with its long history and sometimes tragic associations is still available today from some heirloom rose purveyors.\u00a0 It is currently in the inventory of The Antique Rose Emporium, 9300 Lueckemeyer Rd., Brenham, TX 77833; 800-441-0002 or \u00a0979-836-9051; roses@weareroses.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Rosa laevigata, has acquired a host of nicknames over its long history, but is most often called \u201cthe Cherokee rose\u201d.\u00a0 It is native to China, but has been in North America so long and acclimated so well that many people think of it as an indiginous wildflower. Its longevity and popularity is also due to … 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":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[2459,2460,859,2458,2461,194,1498,1576],"class_list":["post-3320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-cherokee-rose","tag-climbering-roses","tag-heirloom-roses","tag-jrosa-laevigata","tag-rose-lore","tag-species-roses","tag-white-roses","tag-wild-roses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3320","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=3320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3321,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3320\/revisions\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}