In a Vase on Monday. Weird Roses.

In the politically incorrect day of the former twentieth century , the observe plantsman , A.E.Bowles devote a part of his garden to horticultural oddities and call up it ‘ the lunaticasylum ’ . Here he grew uncanny plants with ‘ mental health issues ’ such as the corkscrew hazel . I do n’t do it whether he grow the unusualRosa chinensis‘Viridiflora ’ but it would certainly be a suited prospect for his ‘ lunatic asylum ’ .

When we imagine a rose , we think of sumptuous , velvet lenient petals in beautiful colours and of course , exquisite fragrance . The green rise does n’t offer anything like this . It is an aberration , not a modern , man- made one , but rather the result of a chance mutation . It first come along in 1743 . It is left over because all its petals have become leafage . Ok , brace yourselves , this is what it looks like .

Rosa chinesis ‘ Viridiflora ‘

Rosa chinesis ‘Viridiflora ‘

It has been ignored or reviled and called hideous ever since it come out . But it was liked enough to be brought into culture in 1856 by a British firm , Bembridge and Harrison and enough citizenry have loved it enough to keep it going ever since . I screw any flower with orchard apple tree green flowers and I like the way these become tinged with bronze as they mature . I also like their tufty , spiky shape and peppery fragrance .

So for my arrangement today , I looked for a light-green vase to display them in and found my Masons Ironstone ‘ yellowish green ’ jug . To go with the green flowers I used green hop , Humulus lupulus . These come up everywhere in my garden and are fiendishly difficult to get rid of . But I quite like them at this metre of the year for make florilegium or for vas .

I have grow quite a few old maid flower in bright vividness this year but I thought the more subtle vividness of Zinnia ‘ Queen Red Lime ’ goes the best with my green roses . I also used a spray of my favouriteAlcalthaea x suffrutescens‘Parkallee’ . I have quite a few endearing bottle coppice grasses , Pennisetumin the garden so these finished off the arrangement . The ones in the above picture arePennisetum alopecuriodesand the stamen of the hollyhock match it perfectly .

Rosa chinesis ‘Viridiflora ‘

So there we have my unearthly rose . Before you judge it too harshly , if you call back of it as an unusual green flower rather than a rose you might like it better . Vita Sackville West could n’t make up her mind about it but she did concede that it is very utile for flower coif . And as it is a China prove it has a prospicient time of year of flowering . Anyway , I have an affection for eccentricities , be it in flowers or people .

Do pop over to Cathy at Ramblinginthegardenand see the beautiful Dahlia pinnata in her Vase on Monday and then take a look at all the other vases depict off their September bounty today .

53 Responses toIn a Vase on Monday. Weird Roses.

That is indeed an unexpended rosiness , but give that it ’s not just a weird modern hybridization , but has a history , I regain it very interesting ! Love the hops too … that ’s something I ’d like to total to my garden someday . 🙂

I know many gardeners who feel the quirkier the plant life the better . I like quirky plants myself , albeit in measured serving . I roll in the hay green flowers , though , so I expect I ’d be more than willing to adopt this one if I did n’t have such a miserable time growing roses here . The combination with ‘ Queen Red Lime ’ was perfect .

It is really dissimilar , but I wish it . Especially with the hop and the zinnias . Very nice !

I shall look out for this everywhere now ! ! ! ! ! I get it on this grow . So very different .

In a Vase on Monday. Weird Roses.