Without doubt, I appreciate the beauty of a rose. I also appreciate the fragrance for those selections so ‘gifted’. As much as I would be hard-pressed to consider roses among my favorite plants, there is always an exception. Several years back I was smitten by the Smooth Rose (as pictured above), botanically called Rosa blanda and it was not the flowers nor fragrance of spring that attracted my interest. Rather it was the fall and winter interest combined with its relaxed, colonizing nature.
Rosa blanda is a member of the Rose Family or Rosaceae, which contains 98 genera and over 4,800 species! The Smooth Rose is native to Eastern and Central North America, and was described by the Scottish Botanist William Aiton (1731-1793), who served as the Director of the Botanic Garden at Kew from 1759-1793. The species name is from the Latin Blandus, meaning alluring or pleasant, certainly very befitting adjectives! Bland has also come to mean tasteless or boring, which is anything but apropos!
Unlike most roses, Rosa blanda is rhizomatous and spreads to produce open thickets, rather than individual shrubs. Inappropriate for formal gardens, this habit is ideal for cottage or meadow-like designs where plants can intermingle, as seen on the above! The compound foliage is arranged alternately along the stems, with each leaf composed of 5-9 leaflets that supports the larva of numerous Lepidoptera and provide nesting material for native bees.
The pink flowers appear singularly or in groups of up to 4 flowers loosely arranged in corymb-like structure (as seen above). Lightly fragrant, the 2-3” diameter flowers bloom for one month, starting in mid-May in Northern NJ. The 5 obovate petals surround a ring of orange anthers and a central boss of much shorter female styles and stigmas. Following petal drop, the ovary slowly matures into a bright red, ½-¾” diameter rose hip (fruit) by late summer. It was these rose hips in fact that first drew my attention to the plant.
The hips are not the only vestige of autumn interest, since the foliage transitions into attractive orange and yellow hues above the rich red stems (as seen above)! Throughout summer, the foliage amply covers the stems and it is not until the foliage begins to drop that the red stems can be appreciated. Another aspect I appreciate about the stems is the lack of thorns, botanically known as prickles. Technically, a prickle is composed of the outer layer or epidermis of the stem while a thorn is a modified stem! The lack of prickles and the waxy smooth stems were the inspiration for the common name of Smooth Rose. The beautiful red stems and hips remain throughout the winter and provide a source of food for a number of songbirds, upland gamebirds and mammals.
Rosa blanda is also called Meadow or Prairie Rose, owing to their frequent appearance in open prairies and are easily grown in blustery winter sites owing to its hardiness in zones 2-6! Consider mixing and intermingling the rose with plants appropriate to a meadow, such as Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa), False Indigo (Baptisia australis) or any of a number of appropriate grasses, such as Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) for a colorful, well-blended design.
Other than removing a few adventurous rhizomatous stems from areas where they are not desired, there is very little maintenance required! The plant has proven to be highly resistant to the fatal Rose Rosette virus and are easily grown in a variety of soils, ranging from silty to sandy and moist to dry. Smooth Rose is impartial to the soil pH, growing well in lightly acidic to alkaline soils in full sun or partial shade. At Willowwood Arboretum, the plants average around 3-4’ in height, although they are reported to reach heights of 5’!
Rosa blanda is a rose grown for its spreading habit and 4 seasons of interest. In fact, I can think of few other plants that offer attractive blooms in spring, great fall color and attractive red fruits and stems for season-long winter interest. Combined with its absence of ‘thorns’, William Aiton could not have crafted a better species name, as this truly is a most alluring rose!
By Bruce Crawford, Manager of Horticulture, Morris County Parks Commission
