Rosa laevigata- Cherokee Rose - White climber
(1759)
Rosa laevigata planted in the San Marcos Growers garden.
Back in the day, anyone visiting our nursery in late March and early April marveled at the profuse flowering of the huge Rosa laevigata that draped over one of our nursery buildings. This big evergreen climber, native to Southern China and Taiwan, can reach 30 feet or more, climbing and clambering using hooked thorns on the stems and bristles on the smaller branches. It can also grow as a free standing 5 ft. tall shrub with no support. The leaves are shiny bright green and leathery in texture. The 4 inch wide single pure white flowers are borne in profusion in early spring. The petals drop cleanly leaving the star like sepal which are followed later in the year by orange-red bristly hips. Although Chinese in origin it has naturalized elsewhere, especially in the southeastern United States and it was first botanically described from Georgia, where it is now the state flower. In cultivation in England the species is too tender to thrive, being cut to the ground by hard frosts, and flowering poorly. In the south of France it grows well, flowering in April. Zones 4-10. The pale pink form of this rose is Rosa 'Anenome' and the darker pink form is Rosa 'Ramona'. We first started growing this rose in 1992 and discontinued growing it in 2015.
