Species: Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
Family: Roses (ROSACEAE)
Category: Flowering Plants
Location: SW
A. Flowering Plants
More extensive information on flowering plants can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Roses (ROSACEAE)
The Rose family gives us many of our most commercially important fruits, such as the Prunus species. They have alternate leaves and 5-petalled flowers.
C. Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
This distinctive cerise-crimson rose in the south-west corner of the cemetery gives a late-season September - November flowering as well as a June and July flowering. It is a vigorous rambler with little or no fragrance and lavish, medium-sized double blooms.
It is thought to be the Rosa 'Excelsa' raised by Michael H. Walsh in 1909 from a cross between Turner's Crimson Rambler and a different, unknown variety, although we have been unable to determine this unequivocally. (The literature description is certainly an excellent match to what we see in the cemetery.)
This variety seems to have appreciated having been cut back earlier in the summer, and is rewarding us with a strong second flowering in late September to mid-October (2023).
Images
Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
This distinctive cerise-crimson rose is a vigorous rambler with little or no fragrance and lavish, medium-sized double blooms.
Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
This distinctive cerise-crimson rose is a vigorous rambler with little or no fragrance and lavish, medium-sized double blooms., shown here producing a ample growth above a grave in mid-October.
Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
The double blooms of this distinctive cerise-crimson rose are shown clearly in this photograph.
Wichurana Rambler rose (Rosa wichuraiana ‘Excelsa’)
The leaves of this rose are only slightly serrated.
