… is for sale at Heirlooms. They had about 20 or so for sale. Its retty rare, so if you have always wanted it, now is the time to act. The mature plant size is about 2’x 2’. Its definitely a border plant. It kind of looks like a dwarf rock rose (Cistus) to me because of the textured, desert-like foliage Also, Heirlooms is currently carried another unlisted rose, which I almost bought, called Petite Francoise. I guess its a polyantha from 1915. It was among their groundcover types, so I was confused when I saw it because it looked like it had wichuran foliage like the rest. But I guess its fairly old. I am guessing, like The Fairy, its of both multiflora and wichurana lineage. If I was in the position right now, I would have bought it. It could be potentially useful in garden type hybrids.
I inquired about this years sales at Heirlooms because I was afraid it could be a bad year for them just like everyone else. They said it was a great year, and that they actually grew in customer base. They felt it was mainly because Edmunds took a hike. They said that the only low point was their annual August sale was lower that expected. I said that in previous years they used post cards. They used email this year. I explained that it is good to cut down on waste and cost, but there are specific things where human touch is more worthwhile. I explained how places like Heirlooms is a very tangible experience. I compared Heirlooms to the Portland metro, which is highly diverse much like their rose selections and various gardens. So, I said, a lot of people actually will set out the post card on their fridge/calander/kitchen table every year and then go like its an adventure much like any of us from the area will go elsewhere for the day. Its a pretty common thing to do here because of the diverse cultures and geographics. They took note of this. I told them that I as happy that Heirlooms was doing well since so many others are fading, and that it wold be sad if Heirlooms disappeared since it very much is a part of the culture here.
I went to Heirloom last week and bought 15 or so varieties. I went without much of a plan for buying. Now that I’ve been there, I’ll have a better idea of what I want/need. I was pretty impressed with the garden area and test beds.
I’ve got to get busy and make more room. I need a tractor, top soil and 27 hour days.
Thats a lot, Jeff! If I knew you were going, I would have met ya there to say hi. Their gardens are amazing. I especially love the fact that they are attempting to complete an entire AARS bed even though it really won’t warrant them any sales from the idea. Its cool to see some of the original winners. They look to be at about 85%, which is amazing.
…according to my original post, I seriously shouldnt write when sleep deprived
Jeff, I have a tractor and top soil (they say you could grow a baby in my soil), and they don’t seem to help much… I think the 27hr days are the key Oh… and no day job
I’d like to revisit an old topic. With plenty of sun and very warm temperatures, it seems possible that this variety might occasionally produce a few hips. Has anyone managed to collect viable seeds in the meantime, or is this uniique rose really completely infertile?
I grew Nigel Hawthorne for YEARS in the arid, hot mid Southern California desert. It never set self hips. It never accepted any pollen I applied to it. Its pollen never worked on anything I applied it to, not even the real “rabbits” you could pretty much pollinate with dirt. I wish I had it still. I supplied bud wood to Ashdown Roses decades ago for Arena Roses to bud for their first crops of bare roots. I had five gallon bud and bloom budded plants of Nigel at The Outdoor Room in Pacific Palisades that first season, two blocks from the Pacific and it flowered spring through fall like Banksiae did in that location, until the “summer heat” arrived in September as is the way heat arrives along the California coast. Nigel was the cleanest of the early Hulthemia hybrids. Euphrates mildewed with a vengeance. Even the flower petals mildewed. Euphrates also rooted like a weed. My original imported plants from Harkness were buried in mud from erosion resulting from an extremely wet spring washing mud down the water gap in the canyon. Digging it out weeks after the water stopped flowing when I could get back in the canyon, I separated that plant into more than three dozen well rooted pieces. Finding homes for them was a real job!
Tigris accepted pollen and generated viable seeds. Its pollen also worked but it also mildewed and spotted. Nigel refused ALL breeding efforts and it resisted ALL fungal attacks both in my hot, arid inland valley garden as well as two blocks off the ocean in the Palisades. I would LOVE to grow Nigel again now I live in a climate very similar to the one in which it flowered spring through fall but all efforts to find it in the US have proven futile. There are no commercial sources in the US listed on Help Me Find-Roses. The gardens listed there no longer have it. A Hidden Sanctuary was my old garden which has been gone for nearly twenty years. It isn’t in the San Jose Heritage any longer. Rosarium Scoticum is gone. The Friends of Vintage Gardens no longer has it. I don’t know about the Cranford nor Brooklyn Botanic gardens. If you want to research places it may still grow, those are the two remaining unexplored.
I’ve grown Nigel for about four or five years now. It’s in the warmest and sunniest spot in my garden. For reference Malta is z10b/11a, so it doesn’t get much warmer and sunnier than here, at least in Europe.
Over the years, Nigel has indeed produced a few OP hips. They usually end up failing just as they’re starting to color up. I still collected them and opened them: each time, they contained nothing but fuzz.
Edit: one observation about the OP process: I’ve noticed that Nigel’s stamens tend to stay upright and don’t really bend back into the pistils a lot. I actually tried manually bending them in to the sticky pistils to encourage self-pollination. It made no difference.
I tried countless times to pollinate it with the most potent pollen I have, but nothing ever took. Likewise, Nigel’s pollen has never worked on anything.
I still continue to try every year, but I doubt it will ever work. Still, glad to grow it as it’s an excellent plant that never gets any disease here and laughs at our heatwaves.
Also, Heirlooms is currently carried another unlisted rose, which I almost bought, called Petite Francoise. I guess its a polyantha from 1915. It was among their groundcover types, so I was confused when I saw it because it looked like it had wichuran foliage like the rest. But I guess its fairly old. I am guessing, like The Fairy, its of both multiflora and wichurana lineage. If I was in the position right now, I would have bought it. It could be potentially useful in garden type hybrids.
Oh… and no day job 