Gardening: Polyantha is a rose that keeps on giving

There's a rose that week after week, since spring, has been decked out in pretty pink blossoms. Even going into fall, the plant is covered with hopeful flower buds, many of which are prodded open on balmy days.

Rosa polyantha is obviously not your average rose.

The usual ills, such as blackspot or Japanese beetles, do little damage to polyantha. Her leaves remain almost as perky green in fall as they were in early summer. And no need to coddle this plant through winter in a styrofoam hut or with mulch heaped around its base.

Polyantha's ancestor originated in France in 1860 as a seedling of the often scorned multiflora rose. You know this shrub, popping up everywhere, threatening to engulf fields and even some backyards with its giant, thorny canes and small white blossoms. (OK, the flowers are pretty.)

M. Guillot, a rose breeder, had planted seeds of a climbing multiflora rose, and found in the offspring plants bearing double pink flowers. All the plants produced sterile blooms, except one. When this one plant's seeds were planted, its offspring, polyanthas, were compact plants that bloomed the whole season.

Yes, polyantha blossoms are small, less than an inch across, but they make up for their size with their abundance. The flowers are borne in large sprays that decorate the plant through much of the summer with a soft, pastel pink that calls to mind old-fashioned roses of cottage gardens.

The petals are white at their bases, and pollen-laden stamens paint a dab of yellow at the center of each blossom. The blossoms fade almost white with age, so the different aged flowers create waves of color over the plant.

There's no science or art to pruning polyanthas. Lop the whole plant to within a few inches of the ground and sacrifice the very earliest blossoms but keep the plant smaller. Or don't prune at all; the plant still never grows more than about 3 feet high.

Although generally overlooked by gardeners, polyanthas have not been overlooked by rose breeders. In 1930, a polyantha was crossed with a hybrid tea rose, and thus originated what are today known as floribunda roses. Floribundas get their blossom shape from the hybrid tea but their hardiness, floral abundance, compactness and disease resistance from the polyantha.

Besides buying a plant, another way to get started with polyantha is to just plant seeds. Ideally, plant the seed — or seeds — in a small flowerpot of potting soil. Water and keep the pot in a cool place for a couple of months. Give the seedling plenty of bright light — outdoors or in a sunny window — as long as it has leaves.

One plant can become many new plants from cuttings. Just stick 4- to 6-inch pieces of stem into pots of moist soil and keep in a partially shaded location. Once rooted, pot up each plant and move it into the sun. As a plants grows, plant it out to the garden or move it into a larger pot.