Surely in your visits to wineries you will have noticed that in many occasions there are rows of rose bushes planted next to the vines. The reason for this goes beyond aesthetics; in fact, the function of roses is to serve as a warning device against possible pests and diseases.
An old saying states that nature is wise, and that is why natural elements often offer us simple solutions to the problems of grape growing. As we all know, grapevines can be affected by various diseases and pests, the appearance of which can result in the loss of the year’s crop.
In view of this, the plants and flowers surrounding the vineyard can provide us with information about their diseases, phenology or climatology. Both roses and grapes are susceptible to the same fungal diseases. And roses show symptoms before they appear on the vines, so they serve as an alarm for winegrowers before the appearance of these diseases.
In this way, if they are detected early, they can be tackled with the appropriate treatments and thus avoid crop loss.
Fungi, a shared danger
Vines are very sensitive to the fungus Oidium, which is very dangerous due to its virulence and effects. They can also be attacked by molds, either powdery mildew or downy mildew. In all these cases, the rose bushes give early warning of the appearance of the pest.
Powdery mildew, known as “ash“, affects the vine leaf and its fruit, producing spots covered with a powder similar to ash, which can ruin the harvest if not treated in time. This disease arrived in Europe in the mid-19th century, specifically in England, and devastated the vineyards of the islands, leaving them completely devastated. It was in Burgundy, France, where monks who used to plant rose bushes near their vineyards noticed that roses showed symptoms of the disease earlier than vines.
Wine and roses, beautiful show
Although aesthetics is not the main reason for planting roses in vineyards, the decorative aspect they provide is also an important factor.
In short, roses add a touch of color to the vineyards and, in addition, many winegrowers match the color of the roses with the color of the grapes planted, as a kind of visual warning of the variety grown. Thus, white roses are used to accompany white varieties and red roses for red varieties.
At
Finca Valpiedra
we have planted rose bushes next to the vineyards and we can testify that, in addition to their usefulness against possible pest attacks, they add a remarkable beauty to the vineyard as a whole. Its image is so attractive that the picture of the roses blooming next to the vines is a postcard that sticks in any retina.
Also in
Finca Antigua
we use plants, such as the gamonita, which grows spontaneously on the estate, to predict the rainfall of the season and to anticipate the budding of the vineyards, since this plant flowers at the same time as budding.
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