Roses have been around about as long as civilization. The Sumerians wrote about them in cunieform on clay tablets; the ancient Egyptians buried them with their dead; and the Greeks used a species known today as Autumn Damask (figure A) to make rosewater. Yet when today's rose lovers refer to "old roses," they're speaking in relatively modern terms. The appellation can have different meanings depending on whom you ask. According to the American Rose Society, old roses are any varieties hybridized or grown before 1867. At the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, however, the term refers to any rose grown before 1900, according to Huntington rosarist Clair Martin. Whatever their age, though, all old roses have a few things in common: they come in all the shapes of modern roses but with considerably less formality of appearance, they generally bloom only once a year and they are among the most fragrant flowers to be found anywhere. (It's interesting to note that rose perfume is produced by oil glands on or around the petals. Because it's oil based, the fragrance tends to evaporate as the day warms up.) In the early 8th century the emperor Charlemagne declared that roses should be grown in every garden in his empire. Then, as now, roses were propagated by taking cuttings from plants, so when you plant an Autumn Damask, for example, you are actually planting a piece of the original rose. Be sure to show your roses some respect: the plant in your garden could have pricked Julius Caesar's finger, or it may have brushed the skirt of the Empress Josephine as she strolled in the garden of the Chateau de la Petite Malmaison outside Paris in the early 19th century. A true American old rose is the Harrison's Yellow (figure B), which was discovered on a farm on Manhattan in 1837 (before the island was taken over completely by the city of New York). So popular was this sunny flower that pioneer women routinely took cuttings to carry with them across the wilderness to their new homes in the west. In fact, it would almost be possible to follow the progress of the pioneer trail by observing the plantings of Harrison's Yellow across the country!
RESOURCES :
Easy, Practical Pruning: Techniques for Training Trees, Shrubs, Vines, and Roses
Model: 0395815916
Author: Barbara Ellis
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com
Taylor's Guide to Roses
Model: 0395404509
Author: Steve Schneider
1995
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com
Roses for Dummies
Model: 0764552023
Author: Lance Walheim
February 2000
Roses: A Growing Guide for Easy, Colorful Gardens
Model: 0028626362
Author: Mary C. Weaver & George Ball, Jr.
December 1998
| 
)
)
