The Peggy Martin rose is a beautiful, thornless, climbing rose with clusters of pink blooms. They are disease resistant and quite easy to care for. These roses can grow over 15 feet tall, so they need support – a trellis, a fence, a wall, or even a garden shed.
These roses have been around for a while – spread by cuttings gifted from one gardener to another. Peggy Martin, for whom the rose is now named, received cuttings in 1989 from a friend, Ellen Dupriest, who received her rose cuttings from her mother-in-law, who had gotten her cuttings from a relative’s garden in New Orleans.
Peggy Martin was a long-time member of the New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society. She lived in Louisiana when Katrina devastated the area. Two years before the storm, a visitor, Dr. William C. Welch, a rosarian, and professor at Texas A&M University, admired the rose and received cuttings.
Peggy’s house and garden were under about 20 feet of saltwater following the hurricane. When she was able to visit the property later, she was greeted by lush growth on her pink climber. Only one other plant survived – a crinum lily.
The rose became an inspiration and a symbol of hope. Dr. Welch was already convinced that this rose should be available to gardeners in other locations. He had a middle-of-the-night inspiration to grow the Peggy Martin Rose as a fund raiser, and $1 from each plant was donated by various participating nurseries to the Garden Restoration Fund.
Peggy Martins bloom twice a year, in spring and fall, and does not require dead heading. (That’s a good thing, because ours reaches the bottom of the second story windows. I don’t fancy climbing a ladder with pruning shears.)
The rose is drought tolerant but welcomes watering during extended dry periods. Plant in well-drained soil and fertilize twice a year. These roses are easy to grow from cuttings, so if you know someone with a Peggy Martin, you can cultivate one of your own.
It’s a fast grower and prolific bloomer – as these pictures show.
by Lea Sandoz, ECMG