Rosing to the occasion

KNYSNA NEWS - The old roses of Knysna have always fascinated me – where do they come from, who planted them and how did they come to grow in the most obscure places?

One can only assume that the early settlers brought cuttings with them, either from the Cape of Good Hope or the Eastern Cape. It is known that roses were first grown in the Cape in the 17th century: Jan van Riebeeck picked the first Dutch rose on 1 November 1657. The 1820 British settlers to the Eastern Cape brought many favourite cottage plants with them, among them roses and medicinal plants.

In my own garden I had three varieties, none of them planted by me or by the previous owner. Somehow they just appear, growing in the coastal forest and in between the hedges. On the fence between our property and the neighbour we had a vigorous climber, Albéric Barbier, armed with the most aggressive thorns I've ever seen.

Bush battle
Between us (rose, not neighbour) we had a personal battle for eight years. This love-hate relationship came to an end when I had enough of cutting offshoots that grew overnight at an alarming rate just to attack me the next morning when I was hanging up the washing. I do miss the lemony-musky fragrance, the glossy foliage and the bees foraging in its blooms for pollen. Albéric Barbier also grows in profusion on the empty plot just opposite Garden Gates.

Every year it gets mowed down by brush cutters, but come early summer the profusion of the blooms delight many travelling up the road.

Rosa laevigata must have appeared at the same time as the Scutia myrtina (small coastal forest tree) in my garden judging from the thickness of its stem. Scutia's berries are favoured by fruit-eating birds, and it is possible that the hip of Rosa laevigata was eaten by the birds and deposited where it was growing. This shade-tolerant rose is seen all over Paradise, climbing up trees and mingling with Wisteria sinensis to the delight of many travelling up Circular Drive.

Rosa laevigata

Dorothy Perkins
Dorothy Perkins seems to favour roadsides, where it scrambles down the hillsides and up into the taller vegetation. In late spring a profusion of fragrant, dainty pink blooms delight many passersby. In Gwen Fagan's book, Roses of the Cape of Good Hope, is a lovely photograph of Dorothy Perkins growing as a ground cover near the Knysna lagoon.

Other oldies include Natal briar which were growing on a fence in front of the Toyota garage; it can also be seen at Mother Holly's near Goudveld. On the back fence of the Anglican Church growing among Albertine and Albéric Barbier, is a yellow Bracteata hybrid by the name of Mermaid. There is also a small specimen of Lauré Davoust.

Lauré Davoust Albéric Barbier

Alien intruder
Another old favourite, Rosa rubiginosa, occurs on the outskirts of Knysna and in some gardens. This wild eglantine rose from Europe and Asia has became invasive in the temperate hilly areas of the eastern highveld of the country. It reproduces by seed and suckers freely from the roots. It now shares the dubious record of being one of the problem alien invasive species in the country.

It has a category 1b label, meaning that it should be controlled (destroyed), and growing, selling or gifting of this plant is prohibited.

With summer just around the corner, keep an eye out for these incredible survivors, you will find them in all sorts of places – against all odds they continue to thrive and reward us with their bounty of beauty.

Albéric Barbier. Photos: Supplied