For our Friday Flowers this week, let's continue our once-blooming theme that I started last week ... this time with some Old Garden Roses of European origin.
Apothecary Rose (Rosa gallica officianalis) is thought to be one of the oldest roses still in cultivation. There are references to is dating as far back as the Middle Ages.
Rosa Mundi is a striped sport of Apothecary's Rose. I think it's the standard against which all striped roses should be measured ... it's THAT good.
Charles de Mills (Gallica) is one of the best Old Garden Roses in the garden. It is thought to date from before 1811.
Henri Martin (Moss)
Many people immediately dismiss these roses because they only bloom once a year. I find this a bit puzzling, since we all readily plant azaleas, lilacs, forsythia, and other once-blooming shrubs.
"Old Homestead" is a found Hybrid China rose.
Shailer's Provence, Hybrid China, 1799, is one of favorite roses ... I know, I say that all the time. I mean it with this one, tho. It begins blooming earlier than most of the other roses in the garden, and it's one of the last Old Garden Roses to finish. It has a special place in my heart because it is one of the first roses I successfully rustled from a old house/construction site.
The Bishop. There are several roses in commerce called "The Bishop". I grow three of them. This one came from Vintage Gardens in 2007. I have another one that was given to me by my friend Robert, and one that was discovered by Leonie Bell in Maryland (or was it Pennsylvania?)
Autumn Damask is the ancient, reblooming rose known in Europe and the Middle East in Roman times. It blooms well in the spring and can have a modest rebloom in come climates in the fall. Autumn Damask doesn't have the graceful shape of most of the other Old Garden Roses here ... I grow it mostly for its historical significance.
Bella Donna is another ancient rose. It has been cultivated as a valuable source of Attar of Roses, which is used to make rose water.
I call this rose the Hazen Plot, because that's where the mother plant grows. It's a modest-sized shrub that blooms profusely in the spring and sets a nice crop of hips in the fall.
I'll finish with a rose that never fails to make me smile ...
Banshee. This rose is found in cemeteries and old home sites throughout North America, especially in the colder regions. It is exceptionally cold hardy, and has survived without care in many locations. We don't know the true identity of Banshee ... but it's widespread enough to have been a fairly popular rose in commerce in its day, and it appears to have been carried with settlers as they traveled across the continent. When Banshee is happy, which is most of the time, it will sucker into a lovely thicket. I use these suckers as gifts for rose friends ... which is how I got my first Banshee.
(written by Hartwood Roses. Hartwood Roses blog)
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