Friends of Heene Cemetery

The rose family, Rosaceae, includes many different species, of which many are important sources of food for humans, animals and insects. These include the hawthorn and amelanchier trees, especially loved by birds for their berries, as well as apples, pears, strawberries, blackberries and the rose itself from which we get rosehips, rosehip syrup being a famous source of vitamin C.

Cultivated Apple, Egremont Russet (Malus domestica), Heene Cemetery, July 2020

Roses come in many shapes and sizes from the buttonhole and Valentine’s Day scentless, tightly-bound Tea rose to the highly scented blousy flowers of the Damask and Bourbon, and the small, cluster-flowered Ramblers and Climbers and the miniature jewel-flowered patio rose. The natural variation of characteristics, as with all flowers, is to attract insects for pollination, whether by scent or colour or shape. The rose has also been the subject of huge hybridization on the part of people in order to obtain the perfect specimen of this much loved flower.

The Holy Grail of rose cultivation, deliberated over as much as racehorse genealogy, is a long-flowering, highly-scented, disease resistant plant. For some the elusive blue colour takes first place, for others it’s a peony-like profusion of petals, but sometimes one characteristic comes at the expense of another: disease resistance for thornlessness, for example, in the Zépherine Drouhin rose, or resilience for scent.

There are both wild and cultivated roses in the Heene Cemetery memorial garden. (This is the small area beside the main gates to the cemetery, created in the memory of a handful of souls whose graves cannot be found.) Some roses produce wonderful hips, the rugosa and the wild canina (dog rose) being particularly good, both of which are here.

Dog-rose (Rosa canina), Heene Cemetery, October 2020

The fruit of Rosaceae plants extend the visual interest of the season along with apples, berries and bright red hips, also called haws but their value as food for insects and birds is what is valued at Heene. (Strictly speaking, haws refer to the fruit of the Hawthorn tree – and other trees and shrubs – while roses produce hips. Haws are tarter in flavour, hips sweeter.) Even brown hips, which may not look like much, are important sources of food, and for this reason are left in situ rather than pruned. Leaving the seed pods in place also allows the plant to complete its natural cycle, and signals a time of dormancy and rest. In time, some of the seed will naturally disperse and germinate into new plants.

Roses themselves have always been a popular choice for graveyards, perhaps because of their sentimental and poetic associations, their natural beauty, long-flowering season (some of which can last into December), and their variety of colour and scent. The autumn hips, which can last until January, extend the season, their bright berry-like forms brightening the autumn and early winter days.