I’m a member of a few rose unions here in ZA and with recent temps being between 33-47C across the highveld and lowveld there’s of course been complaints of roses being scorched and having cane dieback unless they receive almost daily watering.
I’m looking for rose species with excellent drought and or heat resistance to use in my breeding lines. The rose species that are available here are listed below:
- ROSA acicularis
- ROSA alba semi-plena
- ROSA alba suaveolens
- ROSA banksiae
- ROSA bracteata MaCARTNEY
- ROSA brunonii
- ROSA Canina
- ROSA Complicata
- ROSA gallica officinalis
- ROSA gallica versicolor
- ROSA laevigata
- ROSA macrantha
- ROSA moschata nana
- ROSA multiflora var. multiflora
- R. palustris "Swamp Rose’
- Rosa rugosa regeliana
- Rosa rugosa alba
- Rosa chinensis mutabilis
The ones from the list that I own are bracteata and brunonii. I’ve done research and found that bracteata, laevigata, banksiae, rugosa, and chinensis mutabilis seem to be drought and or heat tolerant to some degree (the first four each also having their own hurdles when it comes to hybridising) but I’m not sure how some of them would fare in almost 50C.
If anyone has any experience with the above mentioned roses I’d appreciate any input.