[NatureNS] Thornless Multiflora Rose

To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
References: <1E435D7CF8F547C8829A035DE12BCADA@D58WQPH1>
From: Lois Codling <loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 22:34:33 -0300
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

food,&amp;
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--Boundary_(ID_w6z3qTO4rtYqpY61ZSymQA)
Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; format=flowed
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

Good to have you back, Dave!

Lois Codling


On 6/22/2017 5:17 PM, David Webster wrote:
> Dear All,                                                June 22, 2017
>     I am back, at least long enough to send this e-mail, but continue 
> to be  swamped with the task of getting Alison settled into a Nursing 
> Home. So time will tell.
>     I wish to draw your attention to a 'thornless' strain of 
> Multiflora Rose which, on the one site where I have been able to 
> observe it (home), fruits well and is mobbed in late winter by 
> Waxwings. The small thorns, present near the ends of current 
> growth are weak and soon shed so I think the term thornless is justified.
>     The initial stand was a mixture of thorned and thornless but by 
> selectively cutting the thorned strain off over a period of >5 years 
> the thornless strain was able to take over and snuff out the thorned 
> strain.
>     I tried to root cuttings this year soon after leaves emerged 
> and all four cuttings developed roots in a glass of water within 7-10 
> days.
>     If this thornless strain were widely planted as an ornamental or 
> for habitat improvement purposes (late winter bird food, erosion 
> control...) then crossing with the thorned /might/ yield a less 
> thorned and less obnoxious suite of hybrids.
>     At the very least such plantings would enable enjoyment of the 
> benefits of Multiflora Rose (pleasant odor of blossoms, attractive 
> plant year round, good erosion control, local wind-break, food for 
> pollinating insects, late winter food for mobs of Waxings and, I 
> suspect, food for one to two bird mobs of Cardinals) without the 
> detriment of large, curved and sharp thorns which seem to reach out 
> and grab exposed flesh.
>     It is in full bloom now (June 22, 2017) and I don't yet know 
> whether shoot tips/or side shoots will readily root throughout the 
> growing season or only shortly after leaf emergence. Sterile shoots 
> are currently pale and look weak and I assume are being drained by 
> nearby flowering shoots.
>     If anyone would care to try this plant then let me know and I will 
> try to get a rooted cutting into your hands within a year.
> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>
> <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> 
> 	Virus-free. www.avg.com 
> <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> 
>
>
> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>


--Boundary_(ID_w6z3qTO4rtYqpY61ZSymQA)
Content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT

<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
  </head>
  <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
    Good to have you back, Dave!<br>
    <br>
    Lois Codling<br>
    <br>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/22/2017 5:17 PM, David Webster
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
      cite="mid:1E435D7CF8F547C8829A035DE12BCADA@D58WQPH1">
      <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
      <meta name="GENERATOR" content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588">
      <style></style>
      <div>Dear All,                                                June
        22, 2017</div>
      <div>    I am back, at least long enough to send this e-mail,
        but continue to be  swamped with the task of getting Alison
        settled into a Nursing Home. So time will tell.</div>
      <div>     </div>
      <div>    I wish to draw your attention to a 'thornless' strain of
        Multiflora Rose which, on the one site where I have been able to
        observe it (home), fruits well and is mobbed in late winter by
        Waxwings. The small thorns, present near the ends of current
        growth are weak and soon shed so I think the term thornless is
        justified. </div>
      <div>    The initial stand was a mixture of thorned and thornless
        but by selectively cutting the thorned strain off over a period
        of &gt;5 years the thornless strain was able to take over and
        snuff out the thorned strain.</div>
      <div>    I tried to root cuttings this year soon after leaves
        emerged and all four cuttings developed roots in a glass of
        water within 7-10 days.</div>
      <div>    If this thornless strain were widely planted as an
        ornamental or for habitat improvement purposes (late winter bird
        food, erosion control...) then crossing with the thorned <em>might</em>
        yield a less thorned and less obnoxious suite of hybrids. </div>
      <div>    At the very least such plantings would enable enjoyment
        of the benefits of Multiflora Rose (pleasant odor of blossoms,
        attractive plant year round, good erosion control, local
        wind-break, food for pollinating insects, late winter food for
        mobs of Waxings and, I suspect, food for one to two bird mobs of
        Cardinals) without the detriment of large, curved and sharp
        thorns which seem to reach out and grab exposed flesh.</div>
      <div>    It is in full bloom now (June 22, 2017) and I don't yet
        know whether shoot tips/or side shoots will readily root
        throughout the growing season or only shortly after leaf
        emergence. Sterile shoots are currently pale and look weak and I
        assume are being drained by nearby flowering shoots. </div>
      <div> </div>
      <div>    If anyone would care to try this plant then let me know
        and I will try to get a rooted cutting into your hands within a
        year. </div>
      <div> </div>
      <div>Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville</div>
      <div> </div>
      <div>    </div>
      <div>    </div>
      <div id="DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><br>
        <table style="border-top: 1px solid #D3D4DE;">
          <tbody>
            <tr>
              <td style="width: 55px; padding-top: 13px;"><a
href="http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=link&amp;utm_campaign=sig-email&amp;utm_content=emailclient"
                  target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><img
src="https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelo