Hello Cass,
I am writing a monthly column on roses for my tiny local newspaper, the 'Karri Pigeon'. May I use this picture for my next column on R. laevigata? And can someone tell me why it was named so? The buds are hairy, the stems are thorny. Was it those smooth leaves?
Patricia

Later - yes it was those leaves. Peter Harkness 'The Rose. A Colourful Inheritance', p58.
"Its Latin name means 'polished smooth', with reference to the lustrous dark leaves"