Heirloom roses can grow to be enormous bushes, unlike the modern hybrid tea roses. If you only have room for one, I recommend the Seven Sisters rose. It is called that because the flowers are borne in clusters and change colors as they age. The buds open pink and then darken to red and then purple. In their final phase, the flowers fade to a cream color. Plant the Seven Sisters rose and you won’t have to settle for just one color!
What is the Seven Sisters Rose?
The Seven Sisters rose is a multiflora rambler rose that is native to China. A multiflora rambler rose is a rose that climbs and bears its flowers in clusters. The Seven Sisters rose was introduced in Britain in 1817 by Charles Greville. It is often called “Grevillei” in honor of him. Because this rose can tolerate poor soils and a little shade, it quickly gained popularity. Very soon it had found its way across the ocean to America and then spread across the continent as the West was settled. Settlers who moved west brought seeds and cuttings of their favorite plants with them from their old homes to their new homes.
How to Grow a Seven Sisters Rose
The Seven Sisters rose is hardy through zone 6. It is sensitive to the cold and prefers shelter from the wind. Plant in a sheltered corner of your yard or against a fence. It is a large rambler or climber with canes that can reach a height of 20 feet but usually only grow to 13 feet. They are customarily grown up walls or trellises but will produce more blooms if trained horizontally along a short fence. The canes will be exposed to more sunlight when grown horizontally rather than vertically.
They bloom once a year in the late spring. Once the spring flush of blooms is finished, It’s best to remove the spent flowers. If you do that, sporadically through the summer and early fall, your bush may produce more flowers though not as abundantly as in the spring.
The flowers are small, measuring 1- to 2-inches across, and are heavily double. Heavily double means that there are more petals than is usual for a double flower. As noted above, the flowers open dark pink, then darken to purple before fading to cream as the flowers die. Because it flowers in clusters, the bush can have flowers in different stages and different colors at the same time. It was nicknamed “seven sisters” because like sisters, the flowers look similar but change as they mature.
After the blooms have faded in the fall, if they are not removed, in their place will be bright red rosehips that are also attractive.
Like most heirloom roses, Seven Sisters is disease resistant and is easily propagated from cuttings.
How to Prune a Seven Sisters Rose
No pruning is necessary for plants that are less than three years old. Climbing roses need three years before they are large enough to flower. Pruning too early will prevent them from ever flowering.
Once your bush is old enough and large enough, an initial pruning can be done in late winter, removing dead and diseased canes only. Any dead leaves, branches or other brush should be removed from under your bush to prevent the spread of insects and disease.
After your bush has finished blooming you may give it a more extensive pruning. On mature plants with many canes, cut down one third of the oldest and largest canes and then prune the remaining canes by one third. If your bush has only a few canes, you can forgo removing any and just prune their length by one third.
It is important to wait until after your rosebush has finished blooming to prune green growth. Seven Sisters blooms on old wood which means that this year’s flower buds were formed last year. If you prune off the green growth in the spring prior to blooming, you will be cutting off the buds for this year’s flowers.
Always use clean, sharp pruners. Cleanliness is important if you have more than one rosebush. Disease from one plant can be transferred to other plants if you do not clean and sterilize your pruners in between. Keeping your pruners sharp is important because dull pruners will crush, rather than cut branches. Crushing them will damage the branches, inhibiting growth. Cuts should always be made at a 45 degree angle away from the last bud.
How to Propagate a Seven Sisters Rose From Cuttings
Woody cuttings, which are cuttings made from plants that have woody stems such as shrubs and trees, are notoriously difficult to root. Roses are an exception. They root very easily from cuttings.
You can take a cutting in the spring which is known as a soft wood cutting because the branch is actively growing and soft or you can take a cutting in the late fall or early winter, which is known as a hard wood cutting because the branch is now dormant and stiff. Strip off the leaves on one end of your cutting, dip the cut end into rooting hormone and then press it down into the soil in a container or even directly into the soil in your garden. The rooting hormone just speeds up the process of root formation. It is not necessary if you don’t have any or prefer not to use chemicals. When you see new growth on your cutting, you will know that roots have formed.
How to Propagate a Seven Sisters Rose Using Layering
Another technique that is often used to propagate roses is called layering. After your bush has finished blooming, take one of the branches and bend it down until it touches the ground. Anchor it in place using metal pins and cover the middle with soil. Don’t cover the entire branch with soil. Just the middle where you want roots to grow. Keep it watered and when you see new growth on the tip of the branch, you will know that roots have formed. Now you can sever the branch from the bush. Carefully dig up the newly formed root ball and the soil it is growing in and transplant the whole thing to its new home elsewhere in your garden.
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