I received a rooted cutting of “Prospect Hill Red China” from MF in 2008 and it grew in a pot until large enough to take its chances in the garden. Since then it has built up into a compact shrub approximately 3’ high and wide. It gets very little care apart from a reliable water supply and a handful of fertiliser once a year if it’s lucky. To date it has shown no climbing tendencies but it’s early days. Many Teas and Chinas get bored and restless at about age 20 and start looking for a higher vantage point.
Despite the lack of regular food, “Prospect Hill Red China” is rarely without a flower and often generously studded with blooms. I’ve come to love the warm light it brings to the garden. The blooms may be short-lived and of uncertain form, but they are luminous - they light up that part of the garden all year round and are especially welcome in the winter.
On paper, this rose is probably indistinguishable from many other red China roses, with similar buds, blooms, foliage and hips. Quite similar to the rose in commerce as ‘Slater’s Crimson China’, it is like a scaled up version of that small red China in most respects, although today they did differ in prickliness.
Photographing the plant today, apart from the tiny prickles on the backs of the leaves, I could not find more than one prickle on the entire plant – something I had not noted before – so I’ll keep an eye on that to see whether this is a consistent feature or a seasonal quirk. It is not smooth to handle. When cutting the blooms, the small sharp prickles running down the backs of the leaf stems made themselves felt.
I’ve uploaded a series of photos illustrating and describing various parts of the plant.
Summarising:
Habit to date: Small to medium compact shrub with many twiggy canes.
Bloom cycle: Very recurrent - repeats rapidly and rarely without buds and blooms in my garden (hot summers, mild winters).
Inflorescence: Blooms can be solitary or clustered. A typical cluster will have three buds coming from one node and another just below, but larger and more floriferous cymes are also seen at times.
Buds: Small, red, of moderate plumpness with glandular sepals that reflex fully.
Receptacle: Cup-shaped – often slightly incurved at the top making a goblet shape. Smooth.
Pedicel: Many stalked glands and small prickles.
Bloom form: Buds open to a shallow cup with incurved petals. Outer petals reflex as the bloom ages. Bloom is short-lived, and petals begin to fall almost immediately.
Bloom colour: Crimson with white nubs and occasional white streaks. Face of petal may have a velvety appearance; petal reverses appear lighter: ‘white-washed’ in some light, an oily or lacquer-like lustre from other angles.
Stamens: Pale filaments.
Hips: Small round hips, orange at first, ageing to dark red. Sepals reflex fully and tend to drop as the hip forms.
Foliage: Leaves are small with slender, pointed leaflets and reasonably prominent serrations. Small, sharp prickles down the leaf stems.
Prickles: Based on today's observation, prickles are rare on stems.
Fragrance: Moderate today – fruity, reminiscent of “Ripe Raspberry” confectionery in Australia.
Ease of Propagation: Strikes readily from cuttings.