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'Mélanie Lemaire' rose Reviews & Comments
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There is some interesting news for 'Hermosa'. It seems that a recent genetic study has identified more than one individual is going around under this name, even though to our eyes essentially similar enough to seem identical. This reminded me of something I read in "The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book" from 1994. In the back, he included some writings of Dr. C. C. Hurst. On page 313, Dr. Hurst begins a discussion about the Bourbons. On the following page (314) was this bit:
"...Although from the first the Bourbon was a distinct type of Rose with its stout prickly stems, vivid rose-colored flowers with rounded imbricated petals and broad leathery leaves, various breaks occurred from time to time through segregation as well as through hybridization. Between 1834 and 1841 the China reversion 'Hermosa' appeared independently with four different breeders, and it is unlikely that all these were due to a China back-cross...."
Essentially, he posited that as Bourbons self-seeded, China characteristics sometimes emerged predominantly, resulting in a sort of "throwback" to 'Old Blush'. The result would be a very China-like rose, perhaps a bit more robust with its dash of Bourbon. This is also likely what "Sophie's Perpetual" is -- a China-reversion from Bourbon breeding. But in any case, this could explain why named plants of 'Hermosa' today are not all genetically identical.
:-)
~Christopher
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Fascinating. Do you have a link to the recent study?
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#2 of 8 posted
20 JUL 16 by
 AquaEyes
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Apparently the article referencing the study is in the American Rose magazine issue which came out this month (July 2016). I have not read it, but I have seen discussion of it, and that triggered my memory of the passage I typed out above.
:-)
~Christopher
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The DNA study showed that all Hermosa plants tested were genetically identical, despite apparent differences in plants grown in the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden.
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#4 of 8 posted
6 JAN 19 by
AquaEyes
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Do you have access to the article? I never got to read it. I wonder, then, what became of the different roses called 'Hermosa'.
:-)
~Christopher
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I will look for the article. I don't recall what it says about Hermosa specifically but Fred Boutin told me the tests showed all to be the same. We have about nine different Hermosa plants that came to the cemetery garden under many different names. Some seem a bit more twiggy and China like and some seem a bit more robust and Bourbon-like. It's possible that all of the ones out here in Northern California are clones from the same line and just show variation. Interestingly, we had a seedling in the garden not far from one of the Hermosas and it looked identical. We have lost it and didn't include it in the study.
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#6 of 8 posted
6 JAN 19 by
AquaEyes
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I'm just wondering if the 2016 article is the same as the one Fred Boutin is referencing. If they're not the same, maybe the other article used different 'Hermosa' accessions than those from the cemetery.
:-)
~Christopher
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Is it possible they could be sports?
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The roses in the article are the ones that Fred mentions - they came from the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden.
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This fall it is flowering too for the second time. Just one flower... but a welcome-one!
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A friend shared a cutting of this plant with me, along with a note following its passage from home to home within her family. The rose is very charming, although there is no fragrance; the plant has occasional episodes involving black spot. It blooms throughout the season in regular flushes.
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#1 of 1 posted
5 MAY 16 by
Jay-Jay
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Nice story! Over here, it smells like an old rose combined with the scent of old-fashioned sweets (strawberry/raspberry-mix).
Not very strong, but also not faint or absent. I would call it moderate. When it flowers, I regularly walk to it, bend over and enjoy a whiff.
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This is not, perhaps, the first rose one would plant if one intended to win an exhibition. Nor is it a rose just for creating a wild patch of color in the garden. Rather, it is a solid rose that looks good as a shrub in the garden through much of the year, and produces a few roses in late spring and summer. It's never garish or awkward for most of the same reasons that it often fails to wow.
Grown in the mountains of Arizona (USDA zone 7b) it is just about evergreen, losing its leaves (sometimes) late in November and leafing out by March. It's never been bothered by disease. Nor is it bothered much by late spring freezes down to, say 20F that demolish most hybrid tea roses here. While it is never covered in blossoms as, say, the best noisettes or polyanthas it does bear them in decent quantities. They have a pretty form being deeply cupped and slightly scrolled at the edges. Foliage is a solid dark green that sets off the flowers perfectly. It is very nicely branched, and of a good scale growing to about six feet. It is happy with not much more than six hours of sunlight.
The beauties of Hermosa are subtle, but they are profound. It pleases like a pair of very comfortable shoes. Mine are own-root roses from Antique Rose Emporium, planted six years ago.
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