Despite falling temperatures, still this china rose is in flower. Okay so it’s not a blaze of colour as in the summer months, but I’m so impressed by its persistence.
On any given day during this very damp grey autumn I have counted at least a dozen flowers, and many more buds, on our rose. I read that city dwellers get flowers all year round which doesn’t surprise me in the least (there is a good specimen in the Chelsea Physic Garden). So, I’m aware that ours would benefit from a little more shelter; but turns out it is tougher than often given credit for.
Also called ‘Bengal Beauty’ this rose, introduced in 1887, has an informal, almost tangled habit, and bears large, single, crimson flowers over an exceptionally long season. Individually, on close inspection, these have a rather haphazard, untidy look, but the overall impression is quite captivating.
Two metres in height sounds big, but it’s a very accommodating rose and bounces back from a hard prune after the last frosts.
This is another plant that has been awarded the coveted RHS’s Award of Garden Merit.
NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 and is for sale in our online shop here.
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2 replies on “Rosa × odorata ‘Bengal Crimson’ AGM”
Does rosa odororata’bengal crimson’ have hips by any chance, mdme growbags? thnx tusse
Hello Tusse,
Sorry for not replying sooner but we’ve been having a bit of a debate about how to answer this in the most helpful way!
For the fact is that all roses develop hips once their flowers have been pollinated (if they’re not dead-headed)as the hips are essentially the rose’s fruit, and contain its seeds. But we think your question is more about whether Rosa ‘Bengal Crimson’ has such pretty hips that you would want to stop dead-deadheading in late summer to allow some hips to form. The answer to this is no, as the main features for which you would grow a Bengal Crimson is its incredible length of flowering period, often up until Christmas. It would produce hips if you stopped dead-heading, but they’re not especially pretty shape (like the wonderful urns of Rosa moyesii) or a wonderful colour ( like the luscious red of Rosa rugosa) so best to keep snipping off the dead flowers and enjoying its fresh blooms for as long as possible. Hope this helpful, best wishes Laura