Here is a Rose Glossary to help you understand some rose terms and enjoy your rose gardening hobby to the fullest.
AARS – All American Rose Selections
AGRS – American Garden Rose Selections
ADR rose – a winner in the German ADR rose trial (Allgemeine Deutsche Rosenneuheitenprüfung). No chemical pesticides have been allowed since 1997.
ARC – American Rose Center
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 to brown color.
Bare-root – a rose dug up at the nursery and sold with no soil around the roots.
Basal shoot – a shoot arising from the neck or crown of the plant.
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 understock.
Calyx – the green protective cover of a rose flower, composed of the sepals.
Cane – one of the main stems of a rose plant.
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 – a rose propagated as a cutting rather than by grafting.
Peduncle – a stalk that supports a single flower or flower cluster.
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 carpels, 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.
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.
Until Next Time. Stop and Smell the Rose.
Rosalinda R Morgan 