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Antique Roses 
What is an Old or Antique Rose? Classes
or Families of Roses Unique
Characteristics Care of
Antique Roses Finding
Antique Roses
What goes around, comes around, is an old, but true statement. If you look at
the cost of what our mothers considered "junk" or the clothes today that looked
like what I wore in junior high, you'll find the craze for the past is up and
going. Antiques aren't just for furniture and clothing, they are also big in the
plant world. Heirloom plants are finding a niche market and filling it.
Everything from vegetables to flower varieties are being brought back to our
gardens. And roses are high on the list of antique flowers.
Beloved for centuries for their wonderful scents, and their unique and
beautiful flowers, rose lovers everywhere are adding antique roses to their
gardens, in the hope of having their cake and eating it too - or in other words,
having roses without weekly spray programs. For while all antique varieties
aren't immune to the dreaded black spot disease, most of them don't get it or
suffer little from its effects. But why did they go by the wayside, and are just
now returning, if they are so wonderful? Several things can be considered.
First, hybrid tea roses came on the market and offered much larger blooms in
many cases, and almost constant bloom throughout the growing season. Their
flowers were more defined and lasted longer. So we went with the new plants to
get bigger and more flowers. We traded scent in many cases, and ease of growing.
We now spray weekly, prune severely yearly and are much more tied to our gardens
than before. Who today has time to devote to weekly pesticide sprays? And, many
having the time, choose not to spray.
What is an old or antique rose?
The American Rose Society classifies an "old" rose as any rose introduced
before 1867. Many gardeners consider it old if it has survived 75 years or more.
Many of the antique roses are pastels, you won't find many bold colors. They
almost all have good fragrance, and often have a season of bloom - not all
season. There are some who have a repeating bloom period. They don't need the
drastic yearly pruning, tending to be shrub or climbing in nature. This too
makes them easier to handle. There has been a great deal of research on old
roses, and you can find many books on the subject as well as entire nurseries
devoted to propagating and selling old roses. So they aren't nearly as hard to
come by as they used to be. While there is still an active "rose rustler" group
out there, who scours old cemeteries, home sites and abandoned fields, in search
of new "old" varieties, we have a good collection of plants that will do well in
our gardens. Antique roses by growth habit lend themselves to blending in with
existing landscapes, or creating wonderful archways or flowing lines in our
gardens. We don't have to devote entire beds to roses because of their special
needs, they can be mainstreamed into our gardens. A few naysayers, have asked
why they would want a rose bush that only blooms four to six weeks? Yet their
gardens are comprised completely of azaleas, a plant we're lucky to get four to
six weeks of bloom.
Classes or families of roses
Antique roses are divided into classes or families of roses. These include:
- Chinas
- Noisettes
- Polyanthas
- Musks.
- Old Europeans
- Bourbons
- Teas
- Species
- and the miscellaneous - those that haven't been classified.
Unique Characteristics
Each division has unique characteristics, but still offers a wide variety of
color and bloom. If you are new to the antiques, visit your local nurseries and
see what is available. Visit the local rose growing societies, and visit with
gardeners who have them. Then experiment. Some possible starters include:
- 'Mermaid' which is a vigorous and thorny plant. It blooms from late
spring until frost with large, single yellow flowers. It grows quickly,
blooms long, but does have big thorns.
- "Old Blush" is a common old rose, with again, a long blooming period. It
blooms profusely with double light pink blossoms in the spring, then slows
down a little during the hot dry summer, and bounces back in the fall. This
vigorous shrub rose gets five to six feet in height and spread.
- 'Zephirine Drouhin' is a wonderful climber with thornless stems. It is
extremely fragrant with semi double dark pink flowers primarily in the
spring, with a smaller show occasionally in the fall. The growth habit,
coupled with thornless stems makes this one a winner.
- 'Cecile Brunner' is one of my all-time favorites. Both bush and climber
varieties are available in this durable and long blooming plant. The flowers
begin as a pink bud and open to a cluster of light pink flowers. The
profusion of blooms in the spring is followed all summer by a few blooms all
summer and again a show in the fall. Highly disease resistant, it can't be
beat. The climber is tougher and a better plant I think than the bush form.
- 'The Fairy' has been available and popular for a long time. This
sprawling bush gives off hundreds of sprays of tiny double rose pink
flowers, which fade with heat, giving you a white bloom. It begins blooming
in late May but will continue to bloom provided it has ample moisture.
- 'China Doll' is a small border or edging rose, growing no taller than
eighteen inches. It begins blooming late in the spring and continues through
fall, with clusters of pink blooms. It has a nice compact growth habit and
has good disease resistance.
- 'New Dawn' has pale pink flowers which bloom heavily in the spring,
scattered blossoms in the summer with another show in the fall. It is a wide
growing rambler rose, and bears the distinction of being U.S. Plant Patent
No. 1, the first rose patented under federal regulations. It has been touted
as good hedge material.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of old roses out
there. While most roses perform best in full sun, there are some antiques that
tolerate light shade. Good drainage is important, and preparing your soil prior
to planting can insure success, as with any other planting. Find out the
eventual size of your roses when you plant them. If they have the potential to
spread fifteen feet, allow for it. Give them time to grow and fill in. Allow a
little air space around them for better air circulation to help with diseases.
If you have a fence or need a living arbor, plant climbers that can spread, but
give them their support from the beginning.
Care of Antique Roses
Antique roses are not as demanding as the hybrid teas for fertilizer and
water -- many will do well with little fertilizer and once established, may be
drought tolerant, but especially with the ever bloomers or repeat bloomer, you
will have more flowers if you pay attention to watering and fertilize
occasionally.
Diseases and insects usually don't plague these plants much, but as with any
plants in your yard, nothing is resistant to everything. Monitor them
occasionally for problems, and catch them early. They will not require the
weekly sprays of other roses. For pruning, you need to know the growth habit of
the plant and its season of bloom. For spring only bloomer, treat them like
azaleas, and prune after bloom. For ever bloomers, shape as needed before growth
begins.
Finding Antique Roses
Read the catalogs or information that comes with the plant to see what to
expect. If you find an old rose in your yard, do nothing the first season, to
see when it blooms naturally. Antique roses are grown on their own root
system-they aren't grafted. They root easily and with care, can be rooted almost
any month of the year. Keep the cuttings moist and make sure there are no
flowers, buds or hips attached to insure quicker rooting. Use a rooting hormone
to speed things up. This is an easy way to find new plants, find friends who are
willing to share. If you can't find friends, ask your nurseryman what he has and
what they can get. Some good mail-order companies, or even good catalogs to use
as reference materials, include:
- The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas, 409-836-9051
- Roses of Yesterday and Today, in Watsonville, California
- Heritage Rose Gardens, Ft. Bragg, California
- Wayside Gardens in Hodges, South Carolina and Jackson and Perkins both have
antique rose catalogs.
If you gave up on growing roses, because black spot wiped you out year after
year, think again. The antique roses can give you graceful forms, interesting
textures and color, with an added bonus of fragrance, and for the most part, you
don't have to spray.
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