landscapes for life ™
  
 
 
 
 
  

- NATURAL HISTORY STORIES -
August - September 2008

Highlands Roses
-------------------------------------------------------------
When most people consider roses, they think of tea roses.
These are beautiful, but are also high maintenance in our dry environment.

These are not the only rose choices for your garden.
Make sure to include some of our native roses in your design planning;
their beauty and fragrance will reward you!
Wild Fendler Rose Chokecherry flowers
Cliffrose Apache Plume Fernbush Fendler Rose Chokecherry

 

One day, walking in the woodland near our home, I was overcome by a fragrance drifting to me on the summer breeze. A large stand of native Cliffrose was in full bloom nearby. The scent could not have been more lovely.

Marveling over this stand of large shrubs, in full showy bloom, I sadly thought about what a friend had told me. My friend's neighbor (who lives in a local subdivisions that bear the plant's name, although most have been removed) made a comment about the "ugly Cliffrose". My sadness comes from seeing such a lack of understanding and awareness of the remarkable plants of our region. Sadness that their beauty and their remarkable adaptations to an increasingly harsh environment have been overlooked. Sadness at the lack of realization about the age of many of the large shaggy barked Cliffrose specimens. Once these specimens are removed they will not be replaced in our lifetime.

But I also believe that changing this view is simply a matter of education. We can start this change by broadening the perspective of what is a "rose". The rose family which includes both herbaceous as well as woody plants, holds about 70 species in Arizona. This puts roses at number eleven in total species in our state's diverse flora of around 3700 species of flowering plants. Rose flowers have 5 petals, many stamens, and several to numberous pistils (note that tea roses have been significantly modified from this blueprint).

The shrubs and trees from this family make excellent additions to the landscape, as do many of the herbaceous species. Roses are both tough and beautiful. All native rose flowers are delicate, numerous and sweetly fragrant. In addition to enhancing our landscape experience, they are attractive to a wide variety of pollinators. Many also produce showy fruits and seeds. Some species have long periods of bloom or a second bloom in response to summer rains.
Chokecherry Fruit Wild Rose Fruit
Apache Plume Seed Mountain Mahogany Seed Chokecherry Fruit Fendler Wild Rose Hips

 

So which plants are our roses?

It might surprise you that these plants are "roses" at all. Here I share 10 of our native rose family species, and some highlights of their qualities. These can easily be purchased for use in your landscape:

Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa): Delicate pure-white 5-petaled flowers in spring, followed by showy pink seed "tails" which remain on the plant for much of our warm season. Produce a second bloom after summer rains. Should be planted in areas where it can grow "wild" and spread. It doesn't lend well to manicured situations. Shrub to 6'. Evergreen to semi-deciduous.

Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californca): White flowers with 5 rounded petals in flat-toppped terminal clusters. These produce hard woody seed capsules which split into 5 sections and remain througn the winter. Leaves are leathery. Bark is gray to reddish brown and becomes shaggy. Slow growing to 25'. Evergreen. Wood is very hard and heavy.

Common Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana): The old individuals of our native chokecherry have distinctive scaly bark. It is shiny and reddish-brown when plants are young. The flowers are white with 5 rounded petals, and are produced in cylindrical clusters that grow to 4" in length. Flowers are followed by shiny dark red to black juicy bitter cherries that are relished by birds. Shrub or small tree to 25'. Deciduous. Leaves can be quite colorful - yellow to orange, peach-colored in the fall.

Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana): Delicate creamy-white to yellowish 5-petaled flowers produced in profusion in spring, and in response to summer rains -- flowers are very fragrant. Flowers are followed by 5-10, 1/4" long fruits -- each with a feathery plume attached. Bark is reddish brown, and in older plants, shreds. Shrub to 8' (or small tree in some localities). Leaves are small, leathery, and very glandular. Evergreen.

Wood's Rose (Rosa woodsii): Delicate 5 wavy-petaled pink flowers with a sweet fragrance are produced May - June. Flowers are followed by brilliant red rose hips, which are edible and eaten by birds and other wildlife. A plant for partly shady, somewhat moist situations - in the wild they grow in riparian areas and among Ponderosa Pine. Plants form large clusters, and grow to 7'. Deciduous - leaves turn a lovely variety of yellows and oranges in the fall.

Fernbush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium): The delicate but sticky fern-like foliage of this tough species will surprise you. Bark is reddish, and creamy-colored 4" spikes of flowers are produced in summer -- at ends of branches.Shrub to 6'. Evergreen to semi-deciduous.

Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus and ledifolius are available): Small, yellow-green, petalless, inconspicuous flowers; they are very fragrant. Bloom in spring, but often more than once in a season. Produce unique, twisted 3" fuzzy seed "tails" that shine silvery when back-lit. Shrub to 10', hardwood, semi-deciduous.

Mountain Spray, Rock Spirea (Holodicus dumosus): Flowers are creamy-white and produced in spikelike terminal clusters, which are followed by small dry brown seed case. . Bloom June-September, but most bloom in the spring. Grows to 8' tall. Deciduous. Dried blooms remain into fall and winter. Plants of rocky slopes, ponderosa pine and sruce clearning -- need supplemental irrigation. A plant for filtered or morning sun. Grows to 8'. Deciduous.

Potentilla, Bush Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa is most available of the Potentillas): A profusion of bright yellow 5-petaled flowers are produced over a long blooming period during warm months. Native to pine forest, streamsides and moist areas, so will need supplemental irrigation. Grows to 3' .Semi-deciduous.

Utah Serviceberry (Amalanchier utahensis): Flowers are produced April - May; they are white with 5 long narrow petals. These produce small applelike fruits which mature to a bluish-purple; these are edible. Shrub or small tree to 15'. Deciduous.

And these are just the ones that are readily available!

Also remember a rose the next time you eat tasty raspberries and blackberries -- yes, we do have native species of these in Arizona. Watch for them in our riparian areas, these do require ample water to thrive.


Nichole Trushell
nichole@morganlandscapes.com

September 2008

 

Archive of Natural History Stories:
Butterflies and Host Plants - June -July 2008

 


HOME // SERVICES // PROJECT GALLERY // WORKING WITH US // CONTACT INFORMATION

PLANTING TIPS // WATER HARVESTING // PLANTS IN BLOOM // NATURAL HISTORY STORIES // ARTICLES

 

© 2008 Steve Morgan Landscape Architecture

Photo use for educational purposes, with permission