"I wish people would stop patenting things that have been around for a long time."

'Maiden's Blush' is indeed several hundred years old, if documentation is to be believed. It isn't patented and never will be. There are rules about patenting something, and you cannot patent a plant that predates the concept of patenting by 300+ years!

Seriously I am part of a gigantic forum of un-patented plants. We only sell classics. You cannot patent a plant that's already growing. You just can't. They patented Lady's Mantle. Seriously? Really? That's been around as an herbal plant since the 1500's. This will mess up herbal medicine and it's unethical and dangerous. They have no right to patent a plant that already exists. Maiden's Blush is really really old and I'm ignoring that. It's an old old flower and I will find it and trade something I have for it. Tired of this crap. Thank you for understanding.

"You cannot patent a plant that's already growing. You just can't. They patented Lady's Mantle. Seriously? Really?"

Well, you're correct insofar as the species Alchemilla mollis cannot be patented, since it is a species. However, if some plant breeder develops a new cultivar of the species that has unique traits not found in the typical specimen, then it can indeed be patented. But lets be clear on this; patents of this nature do not apply to the entire species - only to a single variety as created by the R&D of some nursery/breeder. The typical form of Alchemilla mollis is not within the purview of any such patent.

"Maiden's Blush is really really old and I'm ignoring that. It's an old
old flower and I will find it and trade something I have for it."

Having grown this variety for twenty years I can tell you this much about it: its one of the most difficult roses to propagate from cuttings. Rather than expend much time and effort on obtaining and attempting to root cuttings, I would look for a supplier who can sell you a ready-to-go plant of it. Not once have I succeeded in rooting cuttings of this, or almost any other, Alba. Being closely related to Rosa canina, they are a difficult group to propagate.

rats.