I grew a nearly exemplary long stem rose!

Well, I did not exactly do it myself. One of three specimens of ‘Proud Land’ hybrid tea rose that I installed into the rose garden in about 1984 did all the work. I was quite pompous when I found it though. After all, I maintain this particular specimen in a can here until it relocates into another rose garden.

I certainly did not expect such a bloom only a week before November. Although roses can bloom until winter dormancy, the latest are generally on short stems. Increasingly cool weather decelerates formerly vigorous growth.

This particular rose bloomed on a stem that was more than three feet long! It would have been ideal for Miss Piggy of the Muppet Show! Goodness, it could have been too good for Miss Piggy!

‘Proud Land’ hybrid tea rose

The flower might have lacked perfect form, and the foliage might have been slightly blemished, but with such an awesome stem, they were inconsequential. Perhaps I should have stripped the foliage and cut the flower off, in order to most effectively display the near perfection of this most astounding stem!

After cutting it, I removed the thorns and lower foliage, and put it in water outside the lounge at work. According to tradition, unless someone else is presently experiencing marital tension of some sort, the first of the gentlemen with whom I work to find roses there takes them to his wife. This was only a single rose, but was very special. It was gratifying to know that someone with whom I work was about to experience a very special evening, although I gave it no more thought than that.

Then, the gentleman who claimed it mentioned that it was too long, and before I could protest, he cut the stem in half.

the discarded half

8 thoughts on “Horridculture – Long Stem Rose”

    1. We get a few roses with long stems earlier in the season, but I am impressed by this one in October. The primary and almost universal problem that I notice with roses is that they are not pruned properly or aggressively enough while dormant through winter.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Old fashioned garden manuals describe the best process most accurately, and provide better diagrams. I try to limit canes to five, from the growth of the previous year. Some of mine have been recycling their old stems for many years, without producing new canes.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Of all the weird fads that come and go, ‘old fashioned’ would be a very practical fad, . . . if only it would become a fad. Modern cultivars are so genetically complicated! The ‘sustainability’ fad was so silly and contrary to the genetically inferior modern cultivars that came with it.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment