Rosa Rugosa: Before and After

The Rosa rugosa, which comes from Asia, is one tough personality in the garden.  The variety Sandy was planted on the steep side of the ravine, just beyond the juniper hedge beside the labyrinth.  Twenty or so were purchased from Musser Forests in spring 2003 to stabilize the soil after a landslide.

As the photo shows, the large hips provide spectacular color, even more than the slightly larger pink blossoms.  The hips also last much longer than petals, though sadly do not have an interesting flavor, which some varieties provide.

If only they would stay in that difficult-to-grow-in area.  Over the years, the plants have suckered their way up to the top of the ravine, where there is plenty of water available, and even occasional fertilizer.  They have sent roots through the juniper, growing up and above the hedge.  While it is a very pretty contrast of foliage and puts some dramatic color near eye level, the rose also creates enough shade to start killing off the juniper.  Since the juniper is the only thing holding the soil in that particular place, and the rose will not do nearly as good of a job, the rose must be give away.  Or, more accurately, the gardener must force it to behave!

While the bushes produce hips throughout the year, they reach their peak in the middle of the fall season, when the cool weather slows down their eventual decay to black. The first picture was taken in late November.  It continued blooming and fruiting through light frosts. 

But that all comes to an end when the weather turns seriously cold.  Like this year.

Here is the current condition of that same cluster of hips.  The deep red color is holding its own for now, but the leaves are rapidly declining.  The leaves hang on for several weeks, adding to the decaying effect, and eventually the hips will turn brown then black.  For a few more weeks, it offers some color in what is rapidly becoming a blend of muted browns and dark greens. 

In February, when it is much easier to climb around the ravine, the stand of Rosa rugosa will be scanned for poorly placed shoots that need to be removed including as much root as possible.  Older, thick stalks will be cut to the ground, encouraging new, strong growth from the root.  It is a slow, prickly process, but the results are worth it.

Katsura and Viburnum

The Katsura "Heronswood Globe" has now reached its peak color for the fall, a brilliant yellow that glows with the sun coming through the leaves.   This is almost the same color as Ginkgo leaves which are also changing color at the same time, but it is a much more manageable sized tree, only growing up to 15 feet.

I found it at the National Arboretum sale, like so many others, but it is commonly available in many nurseries.  In the five years it has been in place, it has grown a substantially thicker trunk and is now about 8 feet tall.  Some scale of its height can be determined by the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass on the right edge of the photo, which is about 5 feet tall.

I irreverently call it my lollipop tree, because of the round ball on top of the stick of a trunk.  It is the only tree that will be planted in the labyrinth, and provides shade for the center.  Soon there will be a chair under it where people can sit in the shade and look at the Bay.

To the right side of the photo, in the back, there is a large, dark green leaved bush.  That is a Viburnum rhytidophylloides Alleghany, which was developed and introduced by the National Arboretum. 

It has deeply indented veins in its leaves, creating shadow lines when the light is right.  The flowers come both in the fall and the spring, and sometimes, as in the photo at the left, berries have already developed before the rest of the cluster of flowers begins blooming.  It is unusual.

This is a very tough shrub, that was bought just after buying the house, and temporarily planted on the north side.  By the time it was moved into its current location a few years ago, it had already grown quite a bit with a large root system.  Digging it out, one root was particularly hard to cut off.  Then a few weeks later when the oil furnace and water heater seemed to have run out of oil, the technician discovered the copper supply line running twelve inches deep alongside the house has been cut!  Oops!

Because this shrub holds its leaves through all but the worst winters, it provides an important screening for the center part of the garden.  It blocks the view into the garden from the houses behind it, and further up the street, offering some sense of privacy.  Here is another view of a cluster of berries and flowers.

Going back to that chair under the Katsura, you may be wondering where is this view of the Bay?  Why is this blog called the Labyrinth by the Bay, when there have been no pictures that showed any kind of view, water or otherwise?   So, here it is, when you turn your back to all of these details.