Roses in bloom are like sweet music to any rosarian’s soul. The beauty and fragrance of these delicate flowers can captivate our senses. However, sometimes a rose may strike a discordant, puzzling, or even strange note. Let’s explore some of the unusual blossoms that you might encounter in your own garden.
Sucker Blooms
Have you ever noticed a dark-red bloom growing on one of your rosebushes, replacing or mingling with the blooms of the variety you purchased? If so, you have come across what is known as a “sucker.” Grafted roses are created by attaching a desired variety onto the rootstock of a vigorous rose and cutting away the top part of the rootstock rose. A rose sucker is a cane that starts growing off the rootstock.
Most roses available in nurseries are grafted on a rose called Dr. Huey, which has deep burgundy-red semi-double blooms. Apart from the different blooms, you will notice that the leaves and thorns of the sucker cane have a different appearance as well. Moreover, the sucker grows faster and taller than the other canes on the bush. This is because the rootstock rose is a hybrid wichurana rambler. Roses can also be grafted on other rootstocks, such as Fortuniana or Multiflora, which have white blooms, or Manetti, which has pink blooms.
While it might be intriguing to have a rosebush with two different colors and shapes of blooms, the sucker growth will eventually overtake and diminish the growth of the purchased rose. If you prefer the dark-red blooms of the sucker cane, you can dig down and locate its origin to remove it properly. Simply cutting it off will only result in its regrowth.
Sport Blooms
There are instances where a rosebush produces a bloom that is a different color from the variety you purchased, without any sucker growth. This phenomenon is known as a “sport.” A sport occurs when a plant undergoes a natural genetic mutation, resulting in changes to its characteristics, including the color of its blooms. This mutated cane can be removed and rooted to produce a new rose variety with similar blooms.
For example, Secret, a favorite pink blend rose, has a white sport named Secret’s Out. Randy Scott, a white hybrid tea, has a light pink sport called Dona Martin. Brilliant Pink Iceberg is a sport of the well-known Iceberg rose, and Burgundy Iceberg is a sport of Brilliant Pink Iceberg. These sports bring unique variations to the rose garden, adding moments of surprise and delight.
Sports, however, can be unstable. Rose cells possess the ability to repair some of the DNA changes, potentially causing the entire bush to revert back to the original parent plant. Unlike suckers, there is no action to take if a sport decides to revert.
Weather Changes Blooms
Nature has its way of painting the roses with different colors. Some varieties of roses exhibit blooms that change color depending on the weather. For instance, Sally Holmes rosebush, which bears creamy ivory blooms throughout the year, magically turns pink on one section during late November and December. However, what may seem like a sport is actually a response to colder temperatures. When spring arrives, the rosebush reverts to its typical ivory blooms.
Similarly, Double Delight, a red- and cream-blend rose, intensifies its red hue in hot weather while showcasing a larger creamy center in cooler temperatures. The captivating Distant Drums displays more apricot shades in hot and sunny weather, while embracing pink shades during the cooler spring temperatures.
Phyllody Blooms
One of the weirder bloom abnormalities you might encounter in your rose garden is phyllody, also known as a vegetative center. It’s characterized by leaflike structures emerging from the center of a rose bloom. While the plant appears healthy, one or a few blooms on a bush may exhibit this strange leafy growth.
The unsightly blooms are caused by imbalanced plant hormones, which can occur due to environmental conditions like hot weather, water stress, or insect damage caused by pests such as leafhoppers. Floribundas, in particular, are more likely to exhibit phyllody symptoms due to genetic susceptibility. Interestingly, they have an ancestor called The Green Rose, which exhibits narrow leaflike petals instead of normal blooms.
The good news is that as long as the plant is otherwise healthy, you can enjoy the anomaly. Once the weather changes or the pests move on, your bush will resume producing normal flowers.
In conclusion, our rose gardens are constant sources of discovery. Beautiful and magical moments await us, while surprises, puzzles, and even weird phenomena arise from time to time. Even the off-key and curious blooms can bring a smile to our faces. So, embrace the uniqueness and enjoy the wonders that our gardens have to offer.
Perwich is a member of the San Diego Rose Society, a Consulting Rosarian, and a Master Gardener with UC Cooperative Extension.