FAMILY TIES
TOP LEFT:
Rosa corymbulosa, native to China, in flower
in Crabapple Meadow.
BOTTOM: Bright red hips of R. corymbulosa.
RIGHT: Rosa wardii var. culta blooming along
the Loop Trail, just north of the Wilcox Bridge.
Just this past March, the Arboretum acquired
a new rose, says Ray. It is a specimen of Rosa
omeiensis collected in the wilds of Southwest
China by Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken of
Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy. Offering
white flowers, stunning red to orange-yellow,
gourd-shaped hips, and dramatic, winged red
thorns, it will be planted in the future China
Forest at Pacific Connections this year.
The Arboretum isn’t “species-ist” about
growing roses: Cultivars and hybrids make up
more than half the collection, after all. And
just two years ago, it planted dozens of Rosa
‘Flower Carpet® Amber’—a tough modern
hybrid landscape rose with soft, orange-yellow
double flowers—in the new summer-themed
Centennial Garden on Azalea Way. However,
growing hardy, wild-collected plants is part of
the conservation mission of the park, and—as an
added benefit—these plants generally require a
lot less maintenance. Though the formal rose
garden was never built, the Arboretum features
enough wild roses among—and in—the trees to
whet any rose-lover’s appetite.
16 v Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin
Rosa gives its name to the Rosaceae, or rose
family, even though it’s not the largest genus
in the clan. (The genera Alchemilla, Sorbus,
Crataegus, Cotoneaster, Rubus and Prunus
are more species-rich.) The approximately
5000 species of the Rosaceae can be found
everywhere on the globe, except Antarctica and
the driest deserts of Africa and Australia. They
can be found from alpine heights to tropical
lowlands, but grow predominantly in temper-
ate climates and show the greatest diversity in
the Northern Hemisphere.
Fossil evidence from China and the U.S.
dates the rose family somewhere between
76 and 100 million years old. Many modern
members of the family, roses included, have
retained the relatively unspecialized flowers
of their progenitors, allowing for a wide range
of pollinators—one of the reasons for the
family’s widespread success.
From herbaceous perennials to large trees,
the family offers a lot to gardeners, too. But
the rose, with more than 3000 cultivars avail-
able today, easily tops the list. Evidence from
China and the island of Crete shows roses
were in cultivation as early as 5000 years ago.
Though roses were mostly used for medicine
back then, I’m sure a few early poets were
struck by their beauty, too.
In Washington Park Arboretum, the rose
family is second only to the heath family, or
Ericaceae, in terms of sheer numbers of plants
represented. m
D aniel M ount is an estate gardener, garden
writer, and member of the “Bulletin” Editorial
Board. He lives on a small farm in the Snoqualmie
Valley. Read more of his reflections on plants and
gardening at www.mountgardens.com.