There are a lot of old things in San Benito County, but resident
Sally Aronson Haydon said she’s got roses that have been here for
more than 35 million years.
There are a lot of old things in San Benito County, but resident Sally Aronson Haydon said she’s got roses that have been here for more than 35 million years.
More than 10 years ago, Haydon was shopping at a nursery that only housed native Californian plants when she spotted a bush with tiny pink flowers and leaves that resembled rose leaves.
“I just couldn’t figure it out,” she said. “The leaf looked just like that of a rose, but the flowers were so small.”
Haydon brought the flower to her Family Golf Park on San Felipe Road, and for the past 10 years she’s read book after book and researched the existence of the rose bud. According to her studies, a paleontologist was curious as to why there are fewer fossils of roses than other prehistoric plants. The paleontologist concluded that the roses may have flourished in dry climates. Fossilization usually happens in wet, muddy areas where roses don’t grow. The only four rose fossils that have been fossilized and rediscovered were buried in volcanic ash which allowed them to last without decaying, according to Haydon.
The leaves on the bush of small blooms Haydon purchased 10 years earlier matched the fossilized flower and it was recently named and copyrighted “Dino Rosa.”
“I thought that was a fitting name because it could have very well been around when the dinosaurs were here,” she said.
Not only is the flower drought resistant, which makes it a great plant in hot, dry climates, but it’s also insect repellent, which Haydon said is unheard of in the rose kingdom.
“Obviously something that has survived this long has to be hardy,” she said. “For the longest time, I could never figure out how my roses over there had aphids and these ones didn’t.”
Along with being easy to maintain, the flowers help stop erosion and prevent flooding, so Haydon’s started planting them along a creek by the Family Golf Park.
Gina Renz, an employee whose been pruning the Dino Roses and working in horticulture for years, said the flowers are amazing.
“It’s so interesting,” she said. “It’s so old and it doesn’t even look like a rose.”
Because of the new found glory of the flower, Haydon has decided to redesign the entire Family Golf Park with a dinosaur theme.
Employee Michelle Guiterrez said the prehistoric rose will stir a lot of new interest.
“It’s going to be our trademark,” she said. “I think it will help bring the park to a new place.”
Visitors to the park can buy a Dino Rosa bush and have their very own piece of history in their backyard.
“It’s great to have one of these in your yard,” Haydon said. “I mean how many people can say they’ve got the oldest flower in history growing in their backyard.”
Christine Tognetti can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 330 or at [email protected].
