K Lars Lohn on Nostr: Given the right conditions, rose shrubs can grow for centuries. With such a life ...

Given the right conditions, rose shrubs can grow for centuries. With such a life expectancy, you'd think they'd take their time in their youth to grow vigorous before beginning to flower.

Roses are precocious. This six week old seedling of Rosa roulettii, is already starting to bloom. While not the case here, sometimes rose seedlings put so much energy into blooming that they overreach their root/leaf capacity and die.

When we were running our rose nursery, we'd often sprout thousands of seedling per year. Now we grow just a few for our own pleasure.

Long after we're gone, this property will be a treasure trove for some future rose collector. There will be hundreds of old varieties thought to be long lost mixed in with mysteries that no one has ever seen.

Facing my own life's horizon, I find this a comforting thought.

#roses #flowers #horticulture