Foundling
Dakask/Damask Hybird:Foundling
Dakask/Damask Hybird:
The
Place:Location: In an irrigation ditch in Hygiene, Colorado, along with several other roses which grow wild in the same spot. This rose grows up against a post between *Desirée Parmentier and Fa’s Marbled Moss, q.v. There is also a chance that it might be a centifolia/moss hybrid; the leaves are shaped much more like those of the local centifolias than those of any of the other roses in the same ditch. Age: No idea but considering the shape of the bush, at least three years.
Hardiness: Zone 5a
Surroundings: See photo. The circle shows a bush of Fa’s Marbled Moss; the Demi-moss is two fenceposts to the left. Soil: very alkaline, heavy bentonite clay; notice the alkali bloom (calcium carbonate) on the soil in the foreground. Sun: full sun all day throughout the summer shaded only in early morning by its fence-post. Water source: Rainfall only.
How It Got There: I suspect it is a hybrid of Fa’s Marbled Moss and Desirée Parmentier, and grew in this spot from seed.
The
Canes:Habit: An upright bush of about 80 cm in height, with straight, rigid canes. Suckers slowly; transplanted suckers did not survive last year. Cane color: Young canes olive to grass green. Mature canes paper-bag brown. Flexibility: Very rigid. Thorniness: Unlike either of its suspected parents, there are few thorns on this bush. However, thorns easily rub off. Thorns are of many sizes and after a while only the largest remain on the plant.
Mossiness: The sepals, receptacle and stems are covered with something that is about halfway between the full-blown moss of Fa’s Marbled Moss and the “downiness” of *Desirée Parmentier. So I’m not sure if this counts as a moss or not.
Disease/Damage: As in the photo at right, there does seem to be some evidence of insect damage. Other damage is from horses chewing on the rose.
Season: TBA
The
Leaves:Leaflets number: Five to seven; varies from place to place on stem.
Leaflet arrangement: Leaves grow whichever way is convenient and mostly alternate.
Leaf color: Leaves are Grass Green to Apple Green, with little or no change in color with age although this may reflect poor growing conditions.
Leaf texture: Leaves are plump, stiff and somewhat puckered; they are always folded to some extent. Lower sides of the leaves are covered with a white down. Leaves open flat, the only rose in the ditch whose leaves do this. Veined almost as deeply as a rugosa.
Shoulder: none.
Pests and Problems: Most of the problems seem to be due to horses chewing on the plant, however there is some wind damage and some insect damage.
Placement:
So far, flowers on year-old wood.
Number: One to three buds per lateral.
Mossiness: Light and a mix of soft and hard.
Bud: medium height and pointed. Perhaps 2cm.
Timing: TBA
Shape: Loosely double rosette, eventually opens flat, 5-7 cm in diameter in the ditch, may do better in the garden. Much like Fa’s Marbled Moss but fewer petals and freer growth.
Petal Number: Perhaps 50.
Petal Shape: Some notched and curled petals, but not many.
Color:
Spotted exactly as Fa’s
Marbled Moss, but of a warmer pink with no shades of purple. Veining
in petal is likely to be darker. Compare below, Demi-Moss on the
left, Marbled Moss on the right.
Scent: Sweet rose scent, fairly strong, perhaps a 3 on a 0-5 scale.
Flower Duration: Don’t know about the plant, but a little less than a week in a vase.
Stamens: Yellow speckled with brown (or vice versa?) visible when the flower is fully open.
Remontancy: So far only once-blooming.
Pests and Problems: horses eat the flowers.
Setting: Left to its own devices, all flowers will set hips, but the hips end up containing only two or three seeds. The seeds are usually very large, but I have never gotten any of them to germinate. Hips grow grass green and change color to brick red only over the winter. Slightly spiky.
True-breeding: No idea, but I sincerely doubt it.