As I began my research on plants I wanted to plant spinach, unfortunately it only does well in cold weather. So I narrowed my choices to Watermelon, Sweet Corn, and Rosa Californica. My goals for Watermelons and Sweet corn might be a big ambiguous therefore I chose the Rosa Californica.
Like most girls and women, I am a fan of Roses. I never gave it any thought that roses grown in san diego aren't in there natural state. The Rosa Californica is interesting because it is one of the only 2 roses native to California. Along with being very pretty and pink, these flowers provide great hips for tea. Tea isn't the only thing you can consume from this plant, you can eat a fruit that grows from it, I am un-aware of the name but it is edible. This flower likes moisture, but like a lot of native San Diego plants it can adapt to a drought easily. This plant protects itself with its thick prickly thorns, which people can use outside of there houses to keep stray dogs and cats out of there yards.
The cool thing about this wild rose is "...(it) will grow in a wide range of soil types and will do quite well in heavy soils that are hard on some other native plants." Therefore all though The soil at our garden isnt the "best" soil, it is still suitable for the roses.
This flower is also a great provider for the Garden as a whole. It provides a home for the pollinators in the garden community as birds make there nest in them which i believe could be a symbiotic relationship. The bird lives there as the plant protects it with the thorns and the birds spread the pollen , and butterflies spread the pollen.
You dont have to worry about catching any nasty infections or rash's from this flower it is virtually disease free and pest . Another cute fact is they bloom in the summer. I can just imagine the summer sky reflecting from these beautiful flowers full of life.
Of all the interesting facts I found about this particular flower, this quote struck me the most, "Rosa californica thrives on neglect. Do not fertilize this rose. My experience has been that it blooms as the soil is drying out. Blooming/fruiting under stress is not uncommon for many plants. Try withholding the irrigation." I read a lot of reviews about people complaining how there roses never bloom, and I am really worried about planting them for that reason. But that quote makes sense to me because the rosa californica is a WILD rose, which in my eyes means that's like trying to take care of a wild tiger, it just does better on its own. This seems like a very easy plant to take care of and a refreshing way of looking at things with nature.
1."Master fertilizing; plants will flourish | The San Diego Union-Tribune." SignOnSanDiego.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010.
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