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Photo Credit: Antique Rose Emporium

Developed in 1881, ‘Cécile Brunner’ is also known as the Sweetheart Rose.

The rose gets a bum rap when it comes to Xeriscaping. Maybe it’s because we put that plant up on a pedestal. Celebrated in poetry and song for centuries, the rose is all too often the standard for beauty. But while we prize the rose for its exquisite form, color and scent, we also see this queen of flowers as high maintenance, needy and delicate.

And sure, that’s true for some roses. And these fragile beauties have their devotees and a deserved place in the garden. But look to the West and Southwest, where there are some rugged older roses that have earned their keep over the years. Not only are these vintage types gorgeous, but they’re super-tough.

The revival of these old roses was led by the Texas Rose Rustlers. This loose confederation of rose lovers scavenged old cemeteries, homesteads and other abandoned sites for survivors from another era. Their finds had survived decades of neglect. And now, as rose lovers increasingly turn to plants less fussy than the fragile Hybrid Teas, scores of these antique types are finding their way into modern gardens all over Texas and beyond.

That’s because it’s not just the arid West and Southwest where drought-resistant roses are a plus in the landscape. Any region can experience dry times. (Take a look at the recent drought in Florida and Georgia.) The good news is that if you want a Xeric landscape, you don’t have to stop planting roses. The solution is to carefully choose your roses from the known survivors.

First, it’s good to know a little about the classes of roses, so you know how to fit these vintage beauties into your own garden:

China roses are repeat bloomers. These shrubs were brought from China in the 18th century and bred with European roses to take advantage of this characteristic.

Hybrid Bracteata roses are vigorous climbers hybridized from Rosa bracteata. They’re repeat bloomers with fierce thorns and glossy foliage.