My grandparents and great grandparents moved to Delaware in 1914 at the
beginning of the mass migration of Swiss/German families to escape the cold,
rocky soils of West Virginia and western Maryland. In the ensuing years, dozens of
families moved to the “paradise” of Greenwood, Delaware with sandy, fertile soil,
no rocks, and mild winters. This was the beginning of the Amish / Mennonite
community that thrives there to this day.
Soon after my ancestors purchased 100 acres of crop land and loblolly
pine/hardwood forest, improvements were made to the yard and outbuildings,
including the construction of a new barn, brooder house, and poultry house. One
of the “niceties” was the building of a rose arbor gate leading to the permanent
pasture of Virginia broomsedge (a grass, not a sedge) dotted with Eastern red
cedar (a juniper, not a cedar).
Sometime after 1920 this entrance was graced with an old-fashioned pink rambler rose planted on either side. The property endured many changes of ownership, renters, field fires, drought, and hurricanes until the present day. Never the less, those little roses survive to this day by their very tenacity, crawling through weeds and bushes, self-layering, tip rooting and climbing upwards in a thicket of wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) and red mulberry (Morus rubra).
The driveway, surfaced with cinders and crushed clinkers from the coal-fired
brooder stoves, led from Shawnee Road to the primary residence along the
pasture fence strung with the old spiral, serrated fencing wire. From a century of
wagon wheels and horses hooves (the house was over 100 years old in 1914) the
soil between the fence and drive was dry, gravelly, and hard packed. In this
medium a colony of the most delicate and beautiful of all, the Carolina Pasture
Rose (Rosa carolina) grew, planted and cared for entirely by Mother Nature.
This was in my childhood and remains until this day my favorite of all roses. So you can keep your grandifloras, your damasks, and hybrid teas, I’ll take the Carolina. They
can be found bordering the Morton meadow at Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, the
Savage Tract, and occasionally along the ditch banks of Shawnee Road.
A very close second place, goes to the swamp rose, (Rosa palustris).
If you’ve spent any time at all in mid-June or July boating on any of the local millponds you have likely seen them. They can be found growing on nearly every shore, border, bank, and hummock of Abbott’s, Blair’s, Griffith’s, Haven Lake, and Silver Lake Millponds. Even if you are not a boater, you can see them from the public areas of these ponds and along the causeway over the dam at Griffith’s Lake.
The swamp rose is more upright and has a coarser stem than the Carolina Rose. The corollas are five petaled, single blooms and very fragrant. In autumn the fruits, called hips, of both species persist on the plants as scarlet red berries and are quite decorative.
They form an important food source for many songbirds. They can be gathered (from private land with permission) then simmered in water, strained, and sweetened to make a delicious tea rich in vitamin C. This rose hip tea can be purchased in many health food stores and is very popular in Europe. It is known in Germany and Austria as Hagebuten Tee. I drank enough of that while living there to float the Queen Mary, I think. Although the habitats and growth forms are entirely different, if you find a wild, pink, single-flowered rose and are not certain as to which species you have they can be identified by the thorns. A hand lens is usually not necessary. The thorns, or prickles, of the swamp rose are stout and curved or slightly hooked.
The thorns of the Carolina rose are thin and straight. Both are nicely fragrant.
Another wild rose that I almost hate to mention in passing is the escaped multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora).
It is probably all too familiar to you if you have farmland or a wildlife meadow. During the 1940’s and 1950’s the multiflora rose, a native of Asia, was imported and recommended by The Department of Agriculture for use as a windbreak on large, flat farm fields to help control serious wind erosion. (Remember this was shortly after the Dust Bowl era). Multiflora rose was also used as a rootstock for grafting other more desirable roses. All of its attributes were touted, easily grown, bushy growth habit, deep roots, clusters of beautiful white, sometimes tinged with pink, flowers, and food for birds and browsers. The agricultural minds of the day had little idea of how serious and invasive this plant would become, prolifically self-seeding, smothering out native plants, difficult to control, sometimes climbing to a height of twenty feet into nearby trees. This rose should never be planted and if found on your property should be removed. . The final rose that I will mention here just for reference is another alien, the Wrinkled or Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa).
This lovely rose can be seen along the coast from Maine to New Jersey. It is often planted as an ornamental in coastal communities and is sometimes found locally as an escape from cultivation. It has wrinkled leaves and a very bristly stem. The large single flowers are a beautiful deep rose.
While I was reading with interest Steve’s article on “It’s All in the Family” about some other mills on the Mispillion River drainage, I learned that the Manlove family was associated with the Tubmill Pond Mill. I have known the Manlove family for decades and had propagated a family heirloom rose for them. This seems to be a fitting time to share their story with everyone. The rose is known as Black Prince.
These are the notes that the family provided:
The first record of ownership was when Catherine Mitten Thomas received the
rose as a wedding gift. She later passed the rose on to her daughter, Sarah
Elizabeth Macklin who in turn eventually gifted it to her daughter, Lena Macklin
Manlove. It remained in Lena’s possession until she was forced to enter a nursing
home in 1974. At that time she gave the rose to her son, James E. Manlove. In
1985 James moved to his son’s residence and at that time the rose was
transplanted to that location. James gave the rose to his son, Gary M. Manlove.
James remembers the rose as being much darker in color. He said at times “it
appeared almost black” and still blooms to this day a very deep velvety red.
Notes from Paul: The Black Prince was hybridized by William Paul (b.1822-1905) of Waltham Cross Nursery, London in 1866. Classified as a hybrid perpetual with a very dark red cup- shaped flower having 40+ petals and a strong rose fragrance. The plant is usually 4-5 feet in height. Color variations may be the result of the cool weather, the age of the flower, and soil fertility. Although a historical rose, it is still offered in the trade today by specialists, since no other rose has replaced it. So get out and enjoy our Lovely Wild Roses!!!