Roses and permaculture?

Susan Lenore Stanley wrote:Roses "clone" or grow their own roots too, very well...  Free and beneficial :--)

Matthew Nistico wrote:

Thekla McDaniels wrote:A locally owned nursery has a highly fragrant thornless variety of our local wild rose.  They found it hiking, took a cutting, propagate it.  I just found it this summer and brought one home.  (pricey in a 5 gallon pot!)   It has taken root, and settled in well.  Several new stems from under ground.  I have no idea what the hips will be like, or how much it will spread ( I hope it will spread to the goats' side of the fence).  Will have to wait til this time next year to know.

Certainly if it does thousands of wonderful things, I'll let you all know, and encourage the owners of the nursery to propagate the plug size for the mail to  permies business.  They also propagate silver buffalo berry from wild gathered seeds, and many other fine native to this area or xeric plants.

I was going to say they do not have a website, but look how wrong I am!  http://chelseanursery.com/

great people, but I don't know if they ship.

Thekla

A thornless wild rose?  If indeed it demonstrates good qualities, they may have stumbled onto a real gem there.  They should name it and start propagating, if that ends up the case - they may have a money-maker on their hands.

Matthew Nistico wrote:Previous posts have already highlighted the many benefits and uses of roses: nutritious hips and edible petals, potential use in growing a thorny hedge/fence, trap crop for aphids, bee fodder, ornamental value (which I agree with previous posters: permies should never undervalue beauty in our systems!).  I have also found my wild species roses are a great trap crop for Japanese beetles, if you have those in your area.

Like many here, I grow rugosa rose and have found it to be tough as nails.  It's propensity to root sucker is both annoying and useful: requiring frequent attention if I don't wish my bushes to turn themselves into thickets, but also providing an endless supply of easily transplantable new roses.  But, I don't know how much the hybrid tea roses the OP inherited with her land will follow this same pattern.  I will also note that I was skeptical at first how well they might do in my heavy clay soil, since rugosa famously enjoys sandy places (I've read it is known to colonize beach dunes).  They go crazy here!  I think the take home lesson is that if you want a surefire, rapidly growing, rapidly spreading, and early producing species to jump start a bare patch on your property, wild roses are a good bet.

So, the question remains: should you maintain your hybrid roses or replace them with other species, including possibly wilder rose species?  I would say give it time and let the roses tell you what to do with them.  Give them no chemical care or overmuch attention and see how they respond after a year or two.  If they continue to thrive, then you have learnt something about them, and you have enjoyed some free visual appeal to your otherwise empty lot while it is in its early establishment phase.  As the rest of your systems mature, you will see how these roses fit into your growing landscape: whether their size and position are convenient for you or not.  You might then chose later to replace them with some even more hardy and productive wild rose species if you found they were in a good spot.  If they don't survive the neglect, then your decision has been made for you.