Rosa 'Le Vésuve'

Not a spectacular flower, and little fragrance.  'Le Vésuve' is a China rose first introduced around 1825.  The Chinas are not particularly cold-hardy--a warm USDA Zone 7 is about the limit--but apart from that, the great virtue of 'Le Vésuve' is its toughness.  It's a survivor.  It thrives where other roses die.

Mine is on a slope.  I had nowhere else to put it, and I didn't particularly like it--in fact, I half-hoped the location would kill it off.  Instead, it grew, and then grew better.  It does get water, but not a lot.  It also gets no fertilizer, no pruning, and no deadheading, yet it manages to bloom regularly nonetheless, and its foliage looks clean and green nearly year round, except for a few weeks in late winter when it drops the old and grows itself a new set of foliage without any help from me or anyone else.  It is a rose that does not need people, like a house cat gone feral.  It does not need me at all.



I noticed today that our Avocado tree is sporting round pink flowers, so 'Le Vésuve' has set a long-term goal of engulfing our Guacamole producer.  That will get my attention.


So it will finally get some pruning after all, out of the Avocado.  But I like it lately anyway.  It bloomed very little when first planted, but now well established, it has at least a few flowers year round, and quite a thrilling spring flush.  It has earned my respect and honest admiration, if not my love.