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Oakington Ruby, Chance discovery by Bloom, UK 1933.
The color is a rich scarlet-red, fading to cherry red-pink, and the plant is quite dwarf....about 12 to 18 inches tall, and it has tiny leaves that are perfectly in scale with the plant. Even in modern times, it is still a charming rose with much character. Be sure to read the pages about Ralph Moore, Miniature rose breeder extraordinaire, to see what an important role 'Oakington Ruby' played in the early years of his breeding program. ARS
merit rating: 6.0 Click on the names below to view the individual varieties. Original photographs and site content © Paul Barden 2006, All Rights Reserved. |
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This
pretty miniature rose is supposedly a sport of R. roulettii, discovered
by chance in an English Garden by a Mr. C. R. Bloom. The early miniatures
were largely chance discoveries from China and Switzerland, and were
thought to be a variety named R. chinensis minima. In the 1800's they
were referred to as Lawrencianas, named after one of their discoverers.
A number of varieties were well known at that time, (1810-1846) but
sadly, it appears that most of them have become extinct. ('Pompon de
Paris' is considered to be one of the Lawrencianas still in existance.
Some have suggested that 'Oakington Ruby' may in fact be one of the
surviving Lawrencianas also, but we will likely never know for sure)