Foundling:Foundling:*Desirée Parmentier was brought to this part of the world in large numbers by the Pioneers. It was generally planted in cemeteries. There are several pioneer cemeteries within a few miles of this rose. This is probably not a “purebred” Desirée Parmentier, but a seedling that is nearly identical in every way to its parent.
Location: In an irrigation ditch in Hygiene, Colorado, along Colorado highway 66. Plants very much like this grow wild all over the area. Age: The rose has been growing in this place for at least thirty years, according to neighbors. Hardiness: Zone 5a.
Surroundings: The rose grows in an abandonned irrigation ditch at the junction between Highway 66 and a county access road. Identical-appearing roses grow across the road and all over the place within a four-mile radius of Hygiene, Colorado. They are often found in irrigation ditches and are generally uprooted when found as they are considered a nuisance by the company that manages the irrigation ditch. Soil: Heavy, highly alkaline clay. Sun: Full sun year round, although the bottoms of the canes are in shade from the ditch (they grow in the bottom of it) and tall grass which grows among the canes. Roots: Grows on its own roots and suckers freely. Water source: Rain only. The ditch in which it grows is no longer a part of the system.
How It Got There: Birds or animals, most likely. The area in which it grows was never a garden.
Habit: Suckers enthusiastically. Wild plant is a thicket about three meters by two meters. A single caned sucker planted in the garden last June is now small thicket of its own. Cane size: Up to 2 cm in diameter and a little over a meter in height, some older ones larger. Cane color: generally green, sometimes tan on older canes, some redness on the south side of some canes. Flexibility: Fairly flexible, can be staked but they don’t like it, but flexible enough to let them stand up to 100+ kph winds. Thorniness: Almost, but not quite, as bad as a moss ross. Thorns: Thin, needle-shaped tan thorns, anywhere from less than a millimeter to 1.5 cm, larger ones slightly downcurved. Mossiness: Curiously, the buds are slightly mossed. Whether this actually counts as “moss” or not I’m not sure. Disease/Damage: There is generally a good deal of die-back of canes two or more years old, and the thicket requires thinning every so often or there will be many more dead canes than live ones. There is a slight tendency to powdery mildew. Season: In the garden, first budded out the first week in April and was leafed out a week later. Plants in the ditch are two weeks behind.
Leaflets number: Usually five, sometimes six or seven. Leaflet arrangement: They grow in any orientation they can manage. Leaf color: Clear grass green, new leaves lighter, very little, if any red edging. Ovoid and serrated along their whole lengths. Leaf texture: Leaves are matte, slightly glaucous, and on the bottom definitely fuzzy. There is a fine down which is pink on new leaves and white on older ones. Leaves are thick and leathery in feel if not in look. Folding: Oldest leaves are generally flat, but most leaves are folded. There is also some tendency for them to recurve (see photos below). Pests and Problems: Leaves have a very slight tendency to powdery mildew, but otherwise very sturdy and healthy.
The
Buds:Placement: Blooms once on year-old wood. Number: Generally three but I’ve seen as many as seven.
Mossiness/Sepals: There is some light mossing, though perhaps not enough to qualify this as a moss-rose (the moss does not stand out from the stem. Mossing is present on the sepals, hip and peduncle.
Bud: The bud is “flat-topped” and anthers and pistils are generally visible as soon as the bud begins to open. Curiously enough, later in the blooming season, many blooms appear to have another bud forming inside the already opened flower. Size: small globes about 2 cm in diameter.
Timing: TBA, but was still blooming well into July in 2005.
Shape: Quartered and extremely full. The flower in the photograph above had 115 petals. Size: About 4 inches. Petal Shape: You can find just about every shape in this flower, but most petals are very oblong. Color: Flowers are hot pink and non-fading, even in the strongest sun. Color Effects: none. Scent: Definitely a 5. The rose can be smelled all the way down the road. One bloom will perfume an entire house. Flower Duration: Wild flowers TBA, in the house I’ve been able to keep them for about a week before they shatter. Stamens: Dirty yellow in color, a few always visible. Remontancy: once blooming. Pests and Problems: None.
The
HipsSetting: Sets plenty of hips but not all mature. See photo for size and shape. Color becomes yellow but does not turn red until mid-winter.
Smell/Taste: Unknown
Seeds: About 20 seeds, not all mature.
True-breeding: Unknown