What Is a Once Bloomer Rosebush?

Species Roses

• All garden roses are descended from species or wild roses, which are native to various parts of the Northern Hemisphere. These wild roses generally have five petals apiece and are pale in color, most often white or pink, but occasionally red or yellow. The majority of species roses are once bloomers. An example of a once-blooming species rose is Rosa virginiana, a native American species that has fragrant pink, five-petaled flowers and sharp prickles.

Old Garden Roses

• Old garden roses are generally those bred before the introduction of the first hybrid tea rose in 1867. Many, but not all, old garden roses are once bloomers. The large, round, many-petaled centifolia roses, sometimes called "cabbage roses" depicted in Dutch masters' paintings, are once bloomers. Fragrant, pale-colored Alba roses, such as Great Maiden's Blush, also bloom only once a season. Many classic ramblers, such as Rambling Rector, a white-flowered climbing polyantha, are also nonremontant. A modern rose that hearkens back to the old-fashioned once blooming tradition is Constance Spry, introduced by breeder David Austin in 1960.

Remontant Rose Introduction

• Once blooming roses were the only roses available to Europeans until the introduction of the Damask rose (Rosa damascena) in the 12th or 13th century. Most likely brought to Europe by returning Crusaders, this rose blooms once in spring and again in fall. The China roses (Rosa chinensis, formerly Rosa indica) arrived in Europe from the Far East in the 18th century. These shrubs bloomed repeatedly during the growing season and were used extensively in the breeding of remontant varieties.

Uses

• Nonremontant roses are some of the most beautiful, floriferous and fragrant roses and are especially well-suited to use in mixed plantings of annuals, perennials and shrubs. The roses shine during their bloom season in spring or early summer, then yield the stage to other plants. In the fall, some species, such as Rosa moyesii, enliven plantings with large, bright-colored hips. Another way of using once bloomers is to allow them to be supports for flowering vines like clematis. A clematis planted near the base of a large rosebush can add flowers before or after the roses bloom.