Recently, there has been a great surge of interest in old roses. These consist of all the classes that were in existence before 1867, when the first hybrid tea rose called “La France” appeared. Gardeners of today are in love with the disease resistance, wonderful fragrance, hardiness and old-fashioned flower forms of the many beautiful varieties that are now widely available.
Alba Roses
Albas comprise an ancient group of roses that have been in existence since classical times and were widely grown in the Middle Ages for medicinal purposes. They are thought to have been brought to Britain by the Romans. A natural hybrid between the damask rose and rosa canina, they are tall, shrubby plants, disease proof, and extremely winter hardy. Although they bloom only once a year, in the late spring or early summer, they are very vigorous and pest resistant. aThe word Alba means white, but this lovely rose also comes in shades of pink. Albas have a tall, slender and upright growth habit reaching heights of 6 to 9 feet. They are wonderfully fragrant and have distinctive grey-blue green foliage. They have an ability to grow well even in the most difficult of situations, including light shade. However, they do require dormancy in the winter. Albas can be trained to grow as climbers, and appreciate some pruning of the longest and oldest canes once grown into a mature bush. This will result in new canes being produced from the bottom of the bush. Some Albas have showy autumn hips.
Examples of Alba roses:
Felicite Parmentier
Small Maiden's Blush
Semi-Plena
Queen of Denmark
Celestial
Damask Rose
The Damask rose also dates back to ancient times. It seems that it originated from the Eastern Mediterranean, and was introduced to the Europeans by the Crusaders. Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans all grew this extraordinarily fragrant, perfume-like rose. Although Damasks are thought to have a mixed parentage, it is likely that they originated from a natural hybrid between the Gallica rose and a wild rose species. They are quite hardy, very thorny and have a rather lax and arching growth habit reaching 3 to 7 feet. To show off the lovely pink or white blooms of the Damask rose, staking may be necessary. Most varieties only bloom once a year, and require good fertile soil if they are to look their best. Damask roses are pruned after flowering.
Examples of Damask roses:
Madame Hardy
Ispahan
Semi-Plena
Celsiana
Gallica Roses
Gallica roses are the oldest cultivated species that is still available today. Grown by the Persians as early as the 12th century B.C. they were also loved by the Greeks and Romans. These most ancient of roses have in some way influenced the development of all other families of roses. Empress Josephine's famous rose garden at Malmaison was mainly comprised of Gallicas. Even though they bloom only once a year in early summer, they give an amazing show. They are heavy bloomers and almost all Gallicas are fragrant. They are fairly hardy, and quite tolerant of poor soils. They have a strong, dense and upright growth habit of 4 to 5 feet. However, they are quite prone to mildew and have a tendency to spread by underground suckers. This can be annoying for the smaller garden; growing a variety that has been bud grafted onto an understock will alleviate that problem. Gallicas come in many shades of pink, deep red, purple, marbled and striped with white. In the fall you will be rewarded with beautiful, round, red hips. Mature Gallicas will benefit by pruning out some of the old wood to encourage new growth, and by shortening all the other canes by 1/3.
Examples of Gallicas roses:
Charles de Mills
Complicata
Rosa Mundi
Apothecary's Rose
Belle de Crecy
Belle Isis
Centifolia Roses
Centifolia roses seem to have originated early in the seventeenth century by Dutch breeders. Rosarians believe that they are a mix of about 6 different species of roses. Centifolia roses, which literally mean, “one hundred-leaved” were frequently used by Old Dutch and Flemish masters in their paintings. Also known as the cabbage rose, they have huge, richly fragrant blooms in shades of crimson, pink, and white that appears once a year in late spring or early summer. Ranging in height from 3 to 7 feet, they are a lax and thorny shrub with long arching canes that bend downwards with the heavy weight of the blooms. They can be susceptible to powdery mildew.
Examples of Centifolia roses:
Fantin Latour
Petite de Hollande
Moss Roses
A close relative of the Centifolia rose is the Moss rose. Resulting from a mutation around 1700 they are similar to Centifolias in their lanky growth and flowering habit. However, they have a unique characteristic that sets them apart from all other roses. Covering the stems, sepals and calyx of the rose is a sticky and fragrant moss-like substance. This mutation was hybridized and many new varieties were introduced. They bloom once in early summer and come in shades of white, pink, red and purple. Moss roses should be pruned back by 1/2 after flowering.
Examples of Moss roses:
William Lobb
Salet
Mousseline
Henri Martin
Portland Roses
The Portland Rose resulted from a cross between a China rose and the Autumn Damask Rose. It was this crossing that gave the Portland Rose the distinction of being the first family of roses that had a repeat flowering habit. Portlands opened the door to the hybridization of modern roses. They have a bushy, upright and compact growth habit of about 4 feet, with characteristically short-stemmed fragrant blooms. They are the perfect size for today’s smaller garden. Similar in many ways to the Bourbons, they are not quite as vigorous, but are more floriferous with darker and richer colored blooms. They are summer flowering and like to be pruned back by about 1/2 in the spring to encourage heavier blooming.
Examples of Portland roses:
Comte de Chambourd
Rose de Rescht
Jacques Cartier
The Portland Rosee
Bourbon Roses
Bourbon roses were very popular in the early nineteenth century. They originated from a small island in the Indian Ocean called Ile de Bourbon, and were first brought back to France about 1819. Rosarians believe the first Bourbon rose to be the result of a natural cross between R.chinensis and a variety of R.damascena. Bourbons have a tall, open and vigorous growth habit reaching heights of 6 feet or more. A profuse bloomer in the late spring and early summer, they boast large, old fashioned and very fragrant blooms in shades of white, pink, red and purple. Bourbons appreciate some support to show off their beautiful flowers. Some are repeat flowering until the autumn. They have a tendency to winter tenderness and pruning and fertilizing is especially important for them to look their very best. Bourbons should be pruned back by 1/3 after the first blooming to encourage a second flush of blooms.
Examples of Bourbon roses:
Louise Odier
Souvenier de la Malmaison
Boule de Neige
Boubon Queen
Madame Pierre Oger
Reine Victoria
Hybrid Perpetual Roses
No one really knows who the parents of these roses are, but it is most likely a mixture of Noisettes, Bourbons, Teas and Portlands. They were very popular during the later part of the 1800's, during Queen Victoria's reign. Considered to be the precursor to the modern rose, Hybrid Perpetuals are hardy and vigorous plants with large, fragrant blooms in shades of white, pink and maroon. They are repeat flowering, blooming in late spring or early summer and again in the autumn. They are not the best garden performers, being a little too tall and upright to be very attractive in the garden. They are heavy feeders and do need to be pruned vigorously to about 1/2 of their size.
Examples of Hybrid Perpetual roses:
Baroness Rothschild
Ferdinand Pichard
Frau Karl Druschki
Rugosa Roses
An ancient rose that was native to the Orient, Rugosa roses seem to have it all. Very disease and pest resistant, they are extremely hardy with a vigorous growth habit of up to 8 feet. They have a slight fragrance with purplish flowers that turn into large, red, showy hips in the fall. They are repeat flowering and easy to grow, needing hardly any attention at all other that a minimal pruning to remove old and weak wood.
Examples of Rugosa roses:
Blanc Double de Coubert
Hansa Fru
Dagmar Hastrup
Sarah van Fleet
Mrs Anthony Waterer
Pink Grootendorst
China Roses
Westerners discovered China Roses around the late 1700's. Because they flowered in early summer and again in the fall, they were a great improvement over most of the roses that were available at that time. They are not showy roses and not very hardy either. They like a moist, humus soil and have a light and twiggy growth habit that will reach 2 to 3 feet in height. They are repeat bloomers, but the pink and red blooms are small and not fragrant.
Examples of China roses:
Hermosa
Old Blush China
Tea Roses
Tea roses are the forerunners of our modern Hybrid Teas, originating from a cross between a China rose and various Bourbons and Noisettes. These very tender roses bloom throughout the summer and into the fall and as one might imagine have a distinctive tea fragrance. The full, large flowers come in shades of white, pink and yellow. They only like to be pruned lightly.
Examples of Tea roses:
Anna Oliver
The Bride
Catherine Mermet
Noisette Rose
Cultivated sometime before 1811 from a cross between the China rose and a climbing Musk Rose, they were the first hybrid rose group to originate in North America. Blooming in shades of white, pink, red, and yellow they are climbers, growing to a height of 20 feet or more. They are not very hardy but they are repeat blooming through the summer and into the fall and have a nice tea rose fragrance.
Examples of Noisette roses:
Blush Noisette
Mme Alfred Carriere
Bouquet d'Or
