Knowing Your Heritage – and Old Garden – Roses

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Robert J. Dolezal

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Old garden roses boast marvelous scents and include very double flower forms.

What’s old is new again with old garden roses. These wonderful old beauties, around since before 1867, have started gaining in popularity again after decades of declining interest. That’s because these wonderful bloomers offer striking beauty, comely fragrance and a romantic link to the past.

Heritage roses are growing in popularity, too. This group describes old European varieties, several of the species roses, as well as tea, China and wild roses. Planting these historic species and cultivars in your yard is practically a history lesson brought to life. One can bend down to a damask rose to drink in its intoxicating dusky scent and imagine toga-clad Roman and Greek women of times long ago and places far away.

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Wild (or species) roses are very hardy when planted in hardiness zones that match their native region, and they’re great for creating arresting floral displays!

Here’s a bit about some of these wonderful roses:

Alba: Tall, upright, hardy plants bearing delicate foliage and many thorns, with nonrecurring, fragrant blooms in late spring.

Bourbon: Natural hybrid first found on Reunion Island, popular in 1800s France. Tall, upright plants bear recurrent, ruffled, pendulous blooms.

Centifolia: With blooms of 100 or more petals, they are aptly called “cabbage roses.” Most flowers are white, pink or violet in hue.

Facts

Old garden roses like ‘Madame Hardy’ (1832), ‘Old Blush’ (1752), ‘La Ville de Bruxelles’ (1849) and ‘Jacques Cartier’ (1842) can bring back thoughts of 18th and 19th century France.
There are some traditional roses that emerged after the 1867 start date of modern roses. These “old-garden style” roses add plenty of history to your garden. Some examples include ‘Ballerina’ (1937), ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’ (1892), ‘Cécile Brünner’ (1881), ‘Grüss an Aachen’ (1909), ‘Hansa’ (1905), ‘La Reine Victoria’ (1872) and ‘Mutabilis’ (1894).

Tips

Black spot is an ugly fungus that attacks a wide range of roses. One way to help avoid this problem is to keep your rose foliage dry when watering – so aim your hose toward the soil.
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If you plan to prune a once-blooming rosebush, do so immediately after the blooms fade. If you wait to prune, the plant might not flower the following spring.

Faqs

Q: What’s the difference between “modern” and “old garden” roses?
A: Technically, modern roses were introduced after 1867. All earlier varieties are referred to “old garden roses.”

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