ROSE GLOSSARY

Here is a Rose Glossary to help you understand some rose terms and enjoy your rose gardening hobby to the fullest.

ARS – American Rose Society

Anther – the part of the flower which produces pollen.  It is the upper section of the stem.

Axil – The angle between the upper surface of the leaf stalk and the stem that carries it.

Balling – the clinging together of petals in wet weather so that the bloom fails to open and turns brown.

Bare-root – a rose dug up at the nursery and sold with no soil around the roots.

Basal shoot – a new shoot that emerges from the neck or crown (bud union).

Blind shoot – a mature stem which fails to produce a flower.

Bloom – stem having one-bloom-per-stem with no side buds.

Bract – a modified or reduced leaf that occurs beneath and next to a peduncle.

Bud eye – A dormant bud on the axil of a leaf.

Bud stage – Rose should be less than 50% open.  Sepals must be down.

Bud Union – the swollen part of the stem where the scion of a grafted rose meets the rootstock.

Calyx - the green protective cover of a rose flower which opens into 5 sepals.

Cane - one of the main stems of a rose plant.

Collection Class – multiple stems or blooms in specified classes.

Corolla - the petals of a rose flower considered as a single unit.

Cultivar - a named rose variety exhibiting distinct and consistent features, indicated by single quotation marks.

Deadheading – removing spent flowers.

Disbudding – removing buds from side or center of spray to improve overall appearance of specimen.

Disease Resistant Roses – Roses that have been bred to resist many diseases.  Disease resistant are just that resistant but not immune to disease.

Foliar feed – a fertilizer capable of being sprayed on and absorbed by the leaves.

Hard Pruning – Rose canes are severely cut back to less than 6”. Not all types of roses respond well to this treatment.

Hilling – A method used to protect roses from winter damage. Material, such as compost, is mounded 10-12 inches around the base of the bush after the ground is frozen.

Hip - the fruit of a rose, large and decorative in some varieties.

Inflorescence – the arrangement of flowers on the stem.

Lateral branch – a side branch which arises from a main stem.

Leaflet - the individual segment of a compound rose leaf.

Node - the point on a stem from which leaves and buds emerge.

Old rose - strictly speaking, a rose introduced before 1867, but more loosely used to describe any rose grown or introduced before 1900.

Once-blooming - a rose that flowers only once in early summer and does not repeat.

Open bloom – roses should be completely open and center stamen visible.

Own root roses – roses that are not grafted, a rose propagated as a cutting rather than by grafting.

Peduncle - a stalk that supports a single flower or flower cluster.

Pegging – bending the rose cane to the ground to encourage lateral branches.

Petal - the showy, usually colored part of a flower.

Petiole - the stalk by which a leaf attaches to a stem; also leafstalk.

Pistil - the female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, style, and stigma.

Pith – the spongy material at the center of the stem.

Pollen – the yellow dust produced by the anthers.  It is the male element which fertilizes the ovule.

Prickle – the technical term for a rose thorn.

Recurrent flowering – same as repeat flowering.

Remontant – roses that repeat flowers during the season, same as repeat flowering.

Rootstock - the root portion of a plant onto which the scion is grafted; also understock.

Rose Rustler – a person who propagates Old Garden roses from cemeteries and old homes sites.  Etiquette requires that permission be obtained if possible before cuttings are taken.

Scion - a shoot grafted onto a rootstock; the "top" of a grafted rose.

Sepal - one of the five individual, leaflike divisions of the calyx.

Specimen Class: Single stem of any rose variety in specified classes.

Sport - a spontaneous genetic mutation, often resulting in a plant that bears flowers of a different color or with more or fewer petals than the original plant.

Spray – stem that has two or more blooms with or without side buds.

Stamen - the male reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of a filament and anther.

Standard rose – a term used for tree rose.

Stigma – the part of the female organ of the flower which catches the pollen.

Stipule - a small, leaflike appendage that occurs at the base of the petiole.

Sucker - a stem, usually unwanted, that originates from a rootstock.

Sustainable Roses – are those roses that are winter hardy, possess above average insect & disease resistance, and require little or no pesticides in order to remain healthy.

Stage – an exhibition rose that is at its most perfect phase of possible beauty.

Stem-on-stem – Refers to a bloom on a stem that branches off another stem. This Y formation cannot be exhibited.

 

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