My R. laxa from Skinner Nursery (spring 2002) has been blooming for six weeks. I moved some pollen around, several hips appear to have accepted the pollen, and now (yes, now, Friday, June 13) six weeks after the first blooms appeard, the hips have turned bright red. If I could mimic a southern belle sighing, “oh, this is SO sudden,” you’d know the surprise I feel.
Does anyone know or have any experience with how long these will stay red- or if I’m going to need to watch closely, soon, for there is a fairly large rodent population in that part of my garden, and I do want to harvest these.
I always expected cold climate roses to do things fast, but this is faster than I expected.
Ann