Green rose (rosa viridiflora) and Sunflowers

silvertipgrizz
silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

*ADMIN NOTE: Please be aware that there are no green roses developed that look like the tea rose. The companies selling this type are not legitimate.*

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Very interesting that this plant has been kept going so long from cuttings.

    I bought a rose once that was being sold as a blue rose. I didn't expect it to be true blue but was quite disappointed with the resulting colour. The flowers turned out to be pink with the slightest hint of lavender. I thought it might be a bit more towards the lavender end of the spectrum. So be wary of the colours in the pics on labels. On the other hand, my daughter bought an orange rose last year that is quite spectacular compared to the pic on the label.

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 989 ✭✭✭✭

    Thank you for sharing!

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @silvertipgrizz @torey I saw a real green rose in New Zealand. We were staying in Home stay in Pakaraka and it was a real Paradise garden for me. So many new plants for me. And, among these a green rose. A really green rose. Luckily I took a photo of it.


  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jolanta.wittib I saw these roses that look just like the ones you posted but didn't want to post together because I wasn't sure it was a rose.

    I'm wondering if they aren't coloring some of these roses by manipulating ph???

    I just thought they were pretty and unique, just like this one you posted. Any idea where they can be purchased?

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @silvertipgrizz I am sure that this one was not manipulated. You can see aphis on the rose. The owners of the garden had so many plants there and they all grew naturally.

    Unfortunately, I have no idea where one could buy such a rose. For me New Zealand is the other side of the Earth and this rose, together with so many other wonderful plants was something that belonged only to the world of New Zealand. But, I am sure, that the roses do exist in other countries as well.

  • maimover
    maimover Posts: 359 ✭✭✭

    @jolanta.wittib very beautiful and something not everyone gets to see...

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited March 2021

    I bought a blue tea rose a long time ago (20+ years). It was the first blue rose developed. It was very pretty, as blue as was possible to create (which was not a true blue as we might think), but more purple or lavender colored. After looking at pictures, it may have been "Blue Girl". It was not pink. "Blue Moon" appears pink. I was told by the nursery owner that a true natural blue rose was not possible to breed as that pigment does not exist in roses. If you see a very blue rose at a florist's, it will be a dyed white rose, or if what I just read is true, it may be more recently genetically modified (done in Japan).

    I read an article that the first blue rose was developed in 2004, which is incorrect as I bought mine in 1996 or 1997. Maybe this is referring to the GMO variety.

    I bought a Don Juan at about the same time. It was beautiful!

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning I love the Don Juan rose.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @silvertipgrizz I still think it is dreamy after all these years.

    The other favorite that I have is the Morden Blush (not a tender rose), developed at Morden, Manitoba. I asked for roses that resemble those for my wedding bouquet. There were none blooming at that time of year. The florist did a great job of matching the shade.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning

    I forgot about Abe Lincoln such a beautiful dark red, like the don Juan... I can't remember now which scent was more hypnotizing..

    When I lived in the far north I found all sorts of plants that I was not familiar with having come from the south. Two of them and still my fav..ok 3 of them and still my favorite flowers are:

    the most beautiful 'Dinner Plate Dahlia', Easy to grow, a most easy and elegant flower for indoor bouquets that I was taught how to care for the flower head indoors in a vase of many different sorts to keep them beautiful with that absolute fresh picked look for 2 weeks..what life these huge flower heads brought into my home.

    the most beautiful, dainty and so easy to care for 'Floribunda Rose' so feminine in appearance, mostly carefree ie few pests, never spots on the leaves just beautiful, prolific growth and easy to care for.

    the most beautiful 'calendula' I knew about because I used it in my oils and soaps but I never grew any until I lived north.. I saved the petals, the seed head and the flowers grew like crazy in that cool summer climate.

    But my fav southern flowers were, and still are varied and many ie hosta, roses, sunflowers...and so on and I still grow calendula, floribunda roses and dahlias every year that I can.

    The one plant that I grew years ago because in the most perfect picture, they are a most perfect looking rose, that I will never invest time or money in again, and I actually grew them I saw for myself how prone to diseases they are. And if a specific rose was beautiful, it had no scent and if it had an awesome scent the rose itself..not so much...too much trouble and way too expensive.

    Sounds like your wedding bouquet was beautiful. What rose was it?

    Oh, I forgot:

    the most beautiful, 'Rosa rugosa'... When I drove back to the lower 48, through Canada (stunning beauty, all the way through Canada..except town lol) in some places they were all over the highway...needless to say I collected rose hips when I had the chance and a place to pull over safely. And the bears were chasing other people 😥

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    I would like to grow sunflowers for seeds in a cold climate. What variety should I choose?

    Yes, Blue roses are a faint purple color. 😊

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Mmm, roses. Right up my alley.

    @silvertipgrizz I could be wrong, but I think what @jolanta.wittib posted is Rosa Viridiflora, just a nicer specimen of it. The "petals" still look rather like sepals to me. Look at these pictures just for comparison. https://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/viridiflora-shrub-rose.html

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @blevinandwomba yes, you are right. It looks like that. They might be sepals and the rose “blossoms” had no other colour, but green.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @flowerpower * Poss the mini varieties that you can plant in pots and take in and out as the weather and sunshine avail??

    May I suggest you try companies that specialize in sunflowers for the best info...Or, even better sometimes is your state co-op. Let us know what you find out.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @blevinandwomba I'll have a look. It was the color that got me lol..

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @flowerpower * About the shortest season sunflower is 70 days. I normally start them in the ground but if you are concerned about the growing season start them in paper pots indoors a few weeks before last frost

    From some of my sunflower seeds

    teddy bear - 70 to 75 days to bloom

    Lemon queen 75 to 90 to bloom

    velvet queen 65 to 70 to bloom

    Ferry Morse sunflower mixed colors 75 to 90 days

    Here's a fun site with a lot of sunflower articles:

    https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/flowers/growing-sunflowers-when-to-plant-and-how-to-grow-sunflowers

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    "Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus)

    It is thought that sunflowers may have been domesticated before corn, as early as 3000 BC in the area that is now Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona and in the Mississippi Valley by 2300 BC. The plant is certainly native to northern Central America and grew tall and bushy, with many flowers per plant. Evidence suggests that the seeds were used to grind into flour for bread or made into a meal that was mixed with squash, corn, or beans. Various tribes used the plants to create dyes, for oil that was applied to the skin and hair, and the stalks were even used as a building material. Sunflowers were also used as beanpoles, like corn was in the Three Sisters method of growing."

    Read more at: https://www.westcoastseeds.com/blogs/garden-wisdom/sunflowers


  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant Thank you for the list - sunflowers can be so cheery and spectacular.

    I did end up stumbling upon a heritage* sunflower "Large Russian". It is said to originate from North America. It grows 8 to 12 feet tall. https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/helianthus-annuus-russian-giant/

    "For best results, sow Helianthus annuus ‘Russian Giant’ seed in individual 10cm pots of moist seed compost in April to May, cover with cling film and place on a sunny windowsill or greenhouse bench. Remove the cling film once the seeds have germinated, and water plants regularly, allowing the water to drain. Pot on into larger pots with multipurpose compost, before eventually planting outside once all risk of frost has passed. "

    The first three sunflowers you mentioned are on a heritage seed list: https://www.seedsavers.org/category/sunflowers .

    Notes: heritage seeds are traditional seeds where the plant grown from seed is similar to the parent. Heritage seeds represent the gold of gardens allowing gardeners to save seed to save money, gain security, and share their "wealth" with others.

    Planting in paper pots, such as @Denise Grant suggests allows transplanting directly into the soil, pot and all, this will minimize the transplant shock which can set plants growth back several weeks. For short season places the set back shock can be the make or break difference in getting the plant to produce a crop.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @flowerpower * The large russian sunflower is a fun sunflower to grow. Mine usually grow 12 foot tall

    Good luck. I hope to see photos in the fall

  • Cornelius
    Cornelius Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭

    Blue pigment is really rare in nature. Even blue birds aren't actually blue and are really just an optical illusion.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    @monica197 I have no experience with growing roses in your climate, but I'm a rose nerd so I'll chime in. Are you thinking heirloom or modern? I'll pretend you said heirloom, and tell you some of the roses I have been loving from afar. My first thought was Noisettes- some of the earliest(historically) repeat blooming climbers, and so ethereal. This is a pretty decent summary of themhttps://www.southernliving.com/garden/flowers/noisette-roses Check out Crepuscle https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rosa+Crepuscule&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images

    Or check out some climbing Tea roses. Belle Portugaise is supposed to be very vigorous in a warm climate- and she's beautiful. http://gardenatheart.blogspot.com/2012/03/truly-beautiful-portuguese.html

    Or grow Sombreuil; she's so lovely she makes me woozy https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rosa+sombreuil&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fb3%2F5e%2Fa5%2Fb35ea569db576db6e0d48ffe6f970375.jpg

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lots of education here and great comments.

    Why arent' we having a 'biggest' or 'prettiest' or 'most useful' sunflower contest yet lol