Carefree Bloomer

'Carefree Spirit'

I promised this post to some visitors to my garden (well, actually they were captive relatives quickly lured into a stupor by my incessant babbling about the garden).  During a garden walk, they had described a spectacular rose bush growing in their neighborhood.  As we walked further along the garden, seeing all the roses who still retained a bloom or two, they added that it was a "simpler" rose with few petals, and that it was red, and maybe had a white center.  I took them, in time, to my 'Carefree Spirit' rose and they proclaimed it as the rose they had seen, although mine was much smaller at two years of age then the bush they remembered.







'Carefree Spirit' (MEIzmea) does indeed put on a spectacular bloom display, and she will continue to bloom freely throughout the summer.  Introduced by Conard-Pyle in 2009, her actual origin is a little confusing as she is listed as being bred by both Alain Meilland or Jacques Mouchotte (a breeder in the House of Meilland) in 2007.  Do I sense some Gallic discord in the House of Meilland?  She is also listed in helpmefind as the result of a cross between a 'Red Max Graf' seedling and a seedling of 'Pink Meidiland' X 'Immensee', and in other places as a descendant of 'Carefree Delight', a previous AARS winner.  If she really has 'Max Graf' and a R. kordesii seedling in her background, even my limited knowledge of rose hybridizing would leave me to suspect that the bush is very vigorous and winter hardy, and indeed she is completely winter hardy in my climate.  This is indeed a tough bush, surviving and doubling in size during a summer and winter of drought, and the glossy dark green foliage requires no spray against fungus or beast.  So far, even the deer have left it alone. In 2004, the All American Rose Selections group stopped spraying fungicides at its test gardens, and Carefree Spirit was the first (and still the only) shrub rose after that revolution of care to win the coveted AARS award (awarded in 2009). Thanks to God that the rose marketers have grown some sense about the characteristics the public desires in new roses, because roses like 'Carefree Spirit' may yet rescue us from 'Knock Out' hell. If my garden visitors can recognize and covet such a rose, then so will the public at large.


 My 'Carefree Spirit' is about three feet tall, and she is supposed to reach 5-6 feet at maturity.  She bloomed in the late group of roses in my garden, with 'Madame Hardy' and 'Chuckles' and 'American Pillar' to name some other late roses, so she's bringing up the rear of the first rose bloom and starring in her own time.  I will admit that her allure is entirely due to the bounty of her blossoms because 'Carefree Spirit' is scentless to my nose and she isn't thornless either.  Ah well, no rose is perfect.  Except 'Madame Hardy' of course.  And, my readers, let us please choose to ignore the closeness of the phrase "bounty of her blossoms" to "bounty of her bosoms" in English.  I'm an old man, love of roses can possible be taken too far, and I should be allowed my small literary illusions without comment.

Missing Eden

Yesterday evening, making my nightly rounds through the garden, I came upon a full-blown mystery.  Several days ago, I had noticed that the bi-colored Meilland rose 'Eden Rose '88', also known as 'Pierre de Ronsard' or by its patent name, MEIviolin, had begun to open up its blooms for me.

'Eden Rose '88', 2 days ago, rain damaged,

You should be made aware that, although I've grown this rose for a number of years and although I've given it a prime south-west facing spot, I've just never been strongly impressed by this rose.  It may have been named "The World's Favorite Rose" byWorld Federation Of Rose Societies, but it just doesn't perform that well here in Kansas.  Oh, no doubt, I love the fully double bloom form with its creamy-white petals delicately ringed in pink.  But the bush itself has had no vigor or hardiness for me, dying back to the ground each winter despite my efforts to protect it.  And the canes of this rose seem weaker than most to the Kansas wind.   It was, in fact, the first rose to teach me to pinch off new basal canes before they reached a three foot height, less they be split at the base by a strong gust. It is supposed to be a short climber, reaching eight or nine feet tall, but I've never seen it top three feet before the wind or winter prune it back.  And finally, it is quite susceptible to blackspot late in the season, losing most of the dark leaves overnight if I don't keep my eye on it.  It often forces me to break my non-spraying ethics.

'Eden Rose '88' today, nipped in the bud

But, back to the current puzzlement, I noticed last evening that every single half-open bud of this rose had been clipped off overnight.  Not clipped off as if it had been properly deadheaded to the next outside-facing bud, but just the buds themselves had all been removed; at least all the buds that had been in the process of opening.  Even more perplexing, right next to 'Eden Rose '88', the plump buds of  'Prairie Star', 'Cuthbert Grant', 'Ballerina', and 'Louise Odier' were completely untouched, as was, upon further inspection the rest of the roses in my garden.  And worse yet, the next day the entire rose was trimmed down to about 6 inches, except for the 3 foot tall single cane at the right.

Why, pray tell me, did some wicked creature of the night single out 'Eden Rose '88' for its palate?  I cannot believe, as She Who I Have to Humor (Mrs. ProfessorRoush) hypothesized, that this rose was that much sweeter to the tastebuds than any of the others. I think that's about as likely as someone or something taking offense that 'Eden Rose '88' was actually introduced in 1987, a modern cross of 'Danse des Sylphes' and the pink and white climber 'Handel'  with 'Pink Wonder Climbing'.  Or something taking offense that the same rose-breeding family introduced another rose named 'Eden Rose' in 1950, a pink rose not to be confused with the modern climber.  There were no tracks in the area to help identify the fiendish culprit, so unless we are to blame a freakishly large hovering hummingbird, I am at a loss to even guess at a possible motive or suspect.  I did take the precaution of applying my standard deer repellant in the area (see this post).  I should take the destruction as a sign and spade prune this rose once and for all.  But there's just something about this rose......something that only an insane, crazed, night-pruning monster could love.