Striped roses are different from every other kind of rose because each striped bloom is unique with its own arrangement of stripes and dots.
They add novelty to a rose bed, transform a dull corner, and are eye catching container subjects.
Rose grower Ludwig Taschner suggests combining them with other roses in complementary colours, with the striped roses as the centrepiece, of course.
Striped roses like ’Red Intuition’, ‘Artista’ and ‘Avant Garde’ created quite a stir when they were introduced some years ago and they paved the way for more like ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Rainbow Nation’ and ‘Meli Melo’. Being so unusual, they draw people to them, to stop and look and enjoy each individual bloom.
This year’s showstopper is ‘Roller Coaster’ which has full-petalled blooms with vibrant stripes, blotches and dots of pink and burgundy, contrasting with silvery-white reverse petals.
The pickable blooms, each with a different colour combination, appear all over the bush and have very few prickles. The rose itself grows into a neat but dense shrub-like floribunda about 2m high and wide, with a strong root system. It will grow well in a large pot, as a group or even as a neat compact hedge.
‘Sun Kissed’ is another newly released striped rose and is an apt name for this glowing yellow and orange striped rose that opens up like the sun, with its rounded, broad petals. The blooms appear in clusters and when open are a magnet for bees.
The dense bush grows up to hip height, with healthy disease resistant leaves and it is quick to produce new buds, for almost non-stop flowering. It’s a good garden floribunda rose as well as for large containers.
‘Red Intuition’ is still very popular, as it is the most romantic of the striped roses. Even though it doesn’t have fragrance, its uniqueness lies in its dark red stripes that that splash over the clear, lighter red petals. This hybrid tea rose grows to shoulder height and its classically shaped pickable blooms are borne on long, straight stems. Ideal for romantic gestures.
Using Striped Roses in the garden
Each of the striped varieties will easily mingle with one or two coloured varieties of the same type and this is especially true of hybrid teas.
While varieties like ‘Chaim Soutine’ (above) and ‘Avant Garde’ have strong contrasting stripes that stand out, those that blend in more easily are ‘Red Intuition’, ‘Paul Gauguin’, ‘Paul Cezanne’, ‘SOS’ and ‘Edgar Degas’.
Plant them in groups and play with heights by creating corners or beds with spires at the back, hybrid teas in front and floribundas and minis as a border.
Of the floribundas, ‘Rainbow Nation’ (above) is an equal partner to Iceberg being vigorous and showy. The miniatures ‘Fall Festival’ and ‘Maverick’ produce candelabras with superb specimen blooms, which are extremely showy, and the striping can be seen from afar.
‘Fall Festival’ also looks good in a container, as do ‘Paul Gauguin’, ‘Rainbow Nation’, and ‘Artista’ because of their eye catching colours and overhanging growth pattern.
Did you know … that most striped roses initially available in South Africa were from the French rose breeder Henri Delbard, who first saw striped roses in 1986, while walking through trial rose gardens in California. Later, at an exhibition of Impressionist painters in Paris, her saw the link between the paintings, their colours and the roses that had seduced him in California.
His first rose was the floribunda ‘Claude Monet’ (white and red with yellow tongues of flame) which were planted in the gardens at Museé Marmottan in Paris where the most important collection of Monet paintings is housed. The next roses to be released were ‘Paul Gauguin’, ‘Paul Cezanne’, and ‘Henry Matisse’.
When Henri’s son Arnaud visited South Africa in 2004 he gave Ludwig’s Roses permission to release ‘Red Intuition’, and this was followed by many more.
The collection continues to grow and includes striped roses from other rose breeders in Europe. By far the most unusual is ‘Abracadabra’ bred by German rose breeder Wilhelm Kordes.
The star-shaped blooms of this medium high hybrid tea rose are a combination of dark red with splashes of yellow. Each bloom is different, and some blooms revert to yellow, so that one never knows what to expect. The straight, slender stems are produced in abundance.
October Rose Festival this weekend.
Lose yourself among thousands of rose blooms at the October Rose Festival at Ludwig’s Rose Farm, this weekend. Jump on the tractor-train ride through the roses, meander among magnificent displays of roses in the Rose Hall, savor refreshments from The Rose Kitchen and let the kids entertain themselves in the safe play area. Admission is free. Reach Ludwig’s Rose Farm via the N1 North, take the Wallmansthal offramp and follow the signs.
Visit www.ludwigsroses.co.za for more information.
TEXT: Alice Coetzee
