Roses

Roses

We have over a 100 roses at this time, and the collection is growing every spring. The rose list below is our attempt to document the roses we grow. Most of them are old garden roses as they seem better suited to our regime of benign neglect, although we have added some English roses for variety. For several years, we tried to grow standard Hybrid Teas, but after no luck and a lot of money, we gave up on the fussy Hybrid Teas and just grow old roses (more or less).

This seems to be working as in 2001, our shrub rose, Dortmund won Best-of-Show Shrub rose at the New Bern Rose show. Our Victorian-era rose, Mme. Alfred Carriere, won Best-of-Show Victorian rose at that same show. Many of the older roses got blue ribbons. So it does work to have an organic garden. The birds really appreciate it, too. Bobwhite Quail are roaming around the rose garden, and Cardinals and Mockingbirds are eating the rose hips (or heps, whichever you prefer). One Bobwhite is nesting at the base of our old Bourbon rose, Mme Pierre Oger. And we have over 24 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, so it can't be all bad!.

For those of you who would like to grow roses and live in the South (zones 7-8 or deeper into the south), you may profit from our experiences. Especially if your soil is basically gray clay, highly acidic, and lacking in almost any nutrient you would care to mention. I'm going to include a few sources we have found for excellent, own-root roses, as well as photos and our recommendations.

Own-Root Roses: These are roses which are growing on their own roots, rather than the grafted roses you typically see at the hardware and grocery stores. Own-root roses have a lot of advantages. You don't get suckers (which are actually the root-stock trying to grow on it's own). And, the plants are hardier if they are grown on their own roots. I have found they are also less prone to disease or to be carrying a disease.

Number 1 Recommendation: If you live in the South, have poor soil, and don't want to spend your life spraying and cosseting your roses, don't buy standard Hybrid Teas. Buy "own-root" roses, preferably Noisettes, Teas, Hybrid Musks or Chinas. Floribundas are also pretty good in our climate.

Number 1 Rose for Beginners: Souvenir de la Malmaison. This rose is absolutely beautiful and I have found it very easy to grow. It has large white to pale pink flowers and a lovely scent. It is elegant and a wonderful addition to a rose garden or border. If you can't find it, then my second choice for a first rose is Old Blush. Both of these roses bloom very well and handle the climate in the South easily. You will not have to do any pruning, except for dead wood, and very little spraying. I don't spray these two bushes at all, although I do feed them with the formula on my main gardening page.

Chinas: As far as I am concerned, the number one rose class for the South is the China rose. They tend to be rather small, dainty roses and almost never need any spraying or pruning. They are all repeat flowering and in our garden, they are never without blooms from April through December. One lovely feature is that their blooms tend to get richer in color as they age, unlike most roses which fade. In the South, they can grow to be quite large, especially in the case of Old Blush and Mutabilis.

Resources

For books and mail order sources, click on the butterfly.

Rose List

Here are our roses, their pictures, and our observations. We have listed them in alphabetical order to make it easier for folks to find a particular rose. Some of our roses were purchased as "orphans" (they were cheaper) where the grower did not know what they were because they had lost their tags. We don't know what they are either, but have included pictures and descriptions. They are at the bottom of the list.

If you can identify the orphans, let us know via email. (If that link doesn't work, send mail to amy_padgett@hotmail.com.) We would love to know what they are.

The photos and more information on the roses can be accessed by clicking on the rose's name.

Rose Name	Variety	Comments
Abraham Darby	English	Easy to grow and can be used as a small climber. Flowers all summer. The roses are very double, pink blushed with apricot. Very good scent. Disease resistant but may have a little black spot occasionally.
Archduke Charles	China	Easy to grow, wiry bush with the delicate leaves associated with all China roses. Continuous bloom. The lightly fragrant double blossoms start out with pink centers and crimson guard petals. As they age, the entire flower turns deep crimson-red. The flowers have a purplish cast to them. It can grow up to 6' tall in a warm climate and it has few prickles.
Ballerina	Shrub	This graceful bush literally covers itself with small, single, light pink flowers with white centers. The clusters give the effect of hydrangea heads. Blooms repeatedly, after resting between each flush.
Basye's Purple	Hybrid Rugosa	This shrub can be a little coarse looking and will spread by suckers, but it has richly purple single flowers all summer long that make it worth growing.
Boule de Neige	Bourbon	The pure white blooms are very full and as they open, they form a densely packed ball of petals. This is a beautiful rose for borders or in a hedge.
Bow Bells	English	Easy to grow and very charming pink flowers.
Carefree Beauty	Shrub	This is a tough little rose and it has beautiful pink flowers tending towards mauve, with very few thorns. It grows about 4-5' and is great for a border planting. It does require a lot of soil amendments and mulching, as well as some watering during July and August.

Celsiana	Damask	Easy to grow with lovely grey-green foliage. The flowers are semi-double and a soft pink color. Strong fragrance.
Celine Forestier	Noisette	This repeat flowering Noisette has fragrant, pale yellow blooms. It needs a warm spot where it will reach 6' or more in height. Given proper care, it will repeat all summer.
Champagne Cocktail	Floribunda	This rose has beautiful semi-double flowers of yellow flecked with cherry red, but I have not found it to be an especially strong grower. It stays quite small at 3' tall.
Charlotte	English Shrub	Charlotte is an absolute gem of a rose. It has fragrant, pale yellow blooms that repeat constantly all summer. It grows very well, yet stays compact and is an excellent shrub for use in perennial borders.
Chapeau de Napoleon	Centifolia (sometimes mistakenly classified as a Moss rose)	Easy to grow with an enlarged calyx, similar to a Moss rose. The enlarged calyx gives the bud the appearance of a 3-cornered cockade hat, hence the name. Beautiful double flowers in clear pink. Strong fragrance.
Chianti	English	This rose was purchased without a tag, but we were able to identify it as Chianti. Gorgeous deep red double blossoms which darken towards purple as it ages. Blooms once a year in the spring. Lovely sweet wine fragrance. Its breeding includes Tuscany and the blooms look remarkably like this parent's blooms. It has very long, very thin canes here although elsewhere it may grow into a more manageable bush.
Cherokee Rose, Rosa laevigata	Species	Very large, evergreen climber that grows up to 15 feet tall. Needs a warm climate. The single flowers are scented with clear white petals and bright yellow stamens. It only blooms in late spring.
Chevy Chase	Hybrid Multifloria	This is a very vigorous climber in the south and although it can suffer from blackspot, it never seems to affect its vigorous growth. It blooms once in the spring, but it literally covers itself with clusters of crimson pom-pom blossoms. The clusters are very long lasting and make excellent cut flowers.
Comtesse du Cayla	China	Small shrub with single flowers in shades of coppery-pink. Slight Tea rose scent. Beautiful in a border garden. Height about 3'.
Cornelia	Hybrid Mustk	Lovely pink flowers flushed with apricot tints. This rose is a trooper and blooms all summer-long despite the heat and the occasional bout with blackspot. This is a rose of exceptional beauty and is effective as a pillar rose or cascading over a wall or veranda.
Cramoisi Superieur	China	Fragrant flowers in clear crimson, produced in small clusters. This small shrub looks fantastic in a border, especially with blue Sages and will tolerate clay soil very well.
Cymbeline	English	This rose is a little more difficult to get to thrive, but it has an unusual and beautiful color of greyish pink. It has a lovely myrrh fragrance and will attain a height of 4' if you plant it in fairly well amended soil and use a good mantle of mulch.
Distant Drums	Hybrid Tea	Hybrid Teas are difficult in the south and this is no exception. The flowers are a very interesting color, though, as they are coral in the center and pinkish on the outer petals. It has only bloomed once for us, but if it gets going it should bloom all summer.
Dortmund	Climber	Beautiful cherry red, single blossoms with white eyes. Very tough climber with shiny green leaves. Never suffers any disease and can take a little shade.
Double Delight	Hybrid Tea	Although the ARS gives this rose high ratings and says it is easy to grow, I have killed three bushes and have an awful time keeping this last, fourth bush alive. It is a pretty rose when it does bloom, however.
Dove	Shrub (English)	A very dainty, pale pink rose that blooms constantly and is quite beautiful in a white garden scheme.
Dr. Huey	Large-flowered Climber	This is the rootstock for many roses and when the Hybrid Teas they supported died, the rootstock took over. These roses were present when we purchased our home. Deep maroon red double blossoms on a medium-sized climber or loose bush. Does get black spot, but this doesn't seem to bother it, except that it loses its leaves during the summer. It gets fresh leaves in the fall, however, and always blooms faithfully, once a year, in the spring.
Ducher	Hybrid China	This hard working rose never quits blooming and has exceptionally graceful white blossoms, especially for a China.
Duchesse de Brabant	Tea	Tea roses (not Hybrid Teas) actually do pretty well in the South. This little rose has beautiful rosy pink flowers which are very fragrant. It is a fairly strong grower.
Edith Holden	Floribunda	This rose was planted in 2001 and is still alive. That's about all I know about it, so far.
Euphrates	Shrub	This rose was planted in 2000 and was purchase as a bunch of orphaned roses that had lost their tags. It is actually a very pretty little rose and looks beautiful towards the front of a perennial bed.
Henri Martin	Moss	This red Moss rose blooms faithfully each spring for about a month. The blossoms are about medium sized and are a lovely shade of red. The Japanese Beetles are not a problem because it has finished blooming before they are out and they do not find the slightly leathery leaves attractive. It does not need spraying.and is altogether a very healthy plant.
Hermosa	China	Great rose. Looks somewhat like a Bourbon rose but is smaller and more delicate. It has small, lilac-pink flowers and will bloom all summer.
Hero	Shrub (English)	Clusters of satiny pink semi-double blooms just cover this rose bush. The bush itself can be a little awkward and many find it better to plant it in groups of 3 so that it forms a medium sized nicely formed bush.
Lady Banks Rose	Species	This is one large bush that needs a lot of room to spread out. It blooms once in the spring, but is so covered with flowers that you can't see any leaves at all. It is a great bush because it stays green all year around and has no thorns so you can place it near a walkway.
Leda	Damask	This rose was planted in 2001 so, other than the fact that it is growing nicely, there is not much to say yet.
Louis Philippe	Hybrid China	Although this rose was only planted in 2001, it just blooms like crazy. It has mauvish crimson blossoms with pink centers, that age to deep purplish crimson. It is a great rose for the South.
Louise Odier	Bourbon	One of the most floriferous roses of the old garden roses. This rose can tolerate some shade and if left unpruned, you can use it as a small climber or pillar rose. The huge pink flowers are exceptionally fragrant and have a hint of lavender on the center petals.
Mme Alfred Carriere	Noisette	This is a rampant climber with first rate pinkish white blooms that cover it in a continuous display over a long period during the summer. This rose won a Best-of-Show Victorian Rose award in the New Bern Rose show in 2001, and the rose bush was only one year old at the time.
Mme Isaac Pereire	Bourbon	Huge deep rose-pink blossoms with a fairly reliable repeat performance. The flowers are exceptionally fragrant and this rose does very well even in poor soil.
Mme Pierre Oger	Bourbon	The roses on this bush look like porcelain. They are a creamy white with a lilac reverse, giving the petals a dappled effect. The blooms are cupped.and loose, and very fragrant.
Mme Plantier	Alba	This is old rose can be used as a vigorous shrub or a climber. It is once-blooming, but has gorgeous clusters of white fragrant flowers.
Marie van Houtte	Tea	Nothing stops this rose. It blooms from April through December with no food, no water, no pruning and no spraying. It is huge, our specimen is over 6' tall and I occasionally have to trim to keep it within bounds. There is not much scent, but it has lovely blooms in lemon yellow with pale pink edges.
Mutabilis	China	Excellent garden shrub. Will get really huge in the right location (over 8'). The single flowers are yellowish-copper and turn to crimson with age. It flowers from spring until winter.
Nuits de Young	Moss	Moss roses are hard to grow in the south, but they are so beautiful it is hard to resist. This is one of the darkest of the Mosses and is a rich, deep purple. It tends to be a small, delicate bush and needs good feeding, but it is worth the effort. With good care, it can reach 5'.
Old Blush	China	Very easy to grow in clay soils. Flowers all summer and fall. The roses are pink and loosely formed with a subtle sweet-pea scent. Very disease resistant. Excellent rose for beginners. You simply can't miss with this one. It starts blooming in March and continues through November, here.
Old Pink Moss	Moss	Lovely Moss rose, but needs soil amendments and mulching to keep it going in our hot summers. The flowers are a beautiful rich pink and have a good fragrance. It has reach a height of about 4' in our garden. This variety may have been the original Moss rose.
Pretty Jessica	Shrub (English)	This is a smaller shrub rose that is well suited to perennial gardens. It is always in bloom and very easy to care for as it is extremely healthy.
Quatre Saisons	Damask	This is a very ancient rose and may have been the rose mentioned in ancient Greek writings. It is exceptionally hardy and does not require the least bit of care. The blooms are amazingly fragrant.
Queen Nefertiti	English	Beautiful, delicate rose in apricot, with a good scent. Like all English roses, this rose needs some soil amendments and mulching to keep it going in the summer. For this extra effort it will bloom all summer.

Reve d'Ohr'	Noisette	Gorgeous climber with healthy foliage and always in bloom. Along with Old Blush, it is the first rose to bloom in March. Beautiful pale yellow flowers with a good scent, smelling somewhat of the tea scent you find with some Tea roses. The flowers show a faint touch of pink in the centers as they open.
Rose de Rescht	Portland	Very small, neat bush with double flowers in purplish-crimson. It is fragrant and only grows to about 3' and it generally flowers once in the spring, sporadically during the summer, and again in the fall if it has enough watering and feeding. It is a healthy bush, however, and worth the effort.
Rose des Maures	Gallica	This Gallica rose was reintroduced in 1947 and called Sissinghurst Castle. It is a beautiful deep-plum color with a moderate fragrance and vigorous growth.
Rosa Roxburghii	Species	Better known as Chestnut Rose, this rose has beautiful buffy brown stems that flake and peel with age. The leaves are composed of 7-15 leaflets and look rather fern-like. The name comes from the prickly fruits that look like small chestnuts in their husks.
Rosa Rugosa	Species	Rugosas prefer sandy soil, so they can be a little challenging to grow unless you provide them with good drainage and lighten their soil with gypsum and maybe some sharp sand and peat moss. They are a great "beach" rose, though. They do have good, hips and wildlife like them. These would not be my first choice for a garden plant, but do very well in wilder areas. Rugosa roses are easily recognized by their crinkly leaves.
Salet	Moss	One of the few repeat-flowering Moss roses. Some say it has a coarse appearance, but I don't know what they mean by that. I find it beautiful as it grows in clay and has double, pink flowers with a good fragrance. It is about 4' in our garden. It blooms a lot in the spring, then puts out flowers sporadically during the summer, and a more heavy flush in the fall. If you give it a lot of water, it will produce flowers fairly regularly all summer.
Scabrosa	Hybrid Rugosa	One of the best of the Rugosa clan. This rose has beautiful, large mauve single flowers and generally blooms reliably all season.
Shailer's White Moss	Moss	Very beautiful white Moss rose. About 4' tall, and once blooming. It needs a little soil amendment, but is worth it for the fragrant flowers. One of the most beautiful of white Old Roses. This is a difficult rose to get started and does not like shade or root competition. Our specimen pouted after being planted in our perennial border, but I have since moved it away from neighbors and it is growing strongly now.
Slater's Crimson China	Hybrid China	This is the rose that introduced true red into the world of roses. Without it, there would be none of the romantic red Hybrid Tea roses. But, aside from the historical importance of this rose, it is a simply beautiful little garden plant that just covers itself with delicate, vibrant red roses.
Sally Holmes	Shrub	This rose was planted in 2001, so our information is limited at the moment.
Sombreuil	Climbing Tea	A great white climber for the South. Will not do well in the colder North. Pure white flowers adorn this climber.
Souvenir de la Malmaison	Bourbon	As far as I am concerned, this is the most beautiful and easiest to grow roses in existence. It is a short shrub, about 3' tall, with delicate blush-pink double flowers which can be 5" across. Lovely fragrance. Reliably repeats. Has very few problems with disease. Plant this in groups of three in your border and you won't be disappointed. Even planting one is wonderful.
St. Swithun	Shrub (English)	This is a large bush with gracefully arching branches. The flowers are pale pink and very double, almost globular. Very fragrant.
The Nun	Shrub (English)	Tulip-like white flowers are always blooming in clusters on this rose. It is a beautiful specimen and well worth the garden space.


Wife of Bath	English	My favorite English rose. It is a small (3') shrub with warm pink flowers. It is very tough and disease resistant. The flowers smell of myrrh and repeat fairly well.

Dog Rose, R. Canina	Species	This rose was purchased without a tag and later identified as a white version of the common Dog Rose. Lovely single white blossoms in the spring, followed by an abundance of orangish-red urn-shaped hips in the fall. Some fragrance. Soft greyish-green leaves. Long canes which bend outwards in a becoming manner, to make the bush have a sort of weeping effect. Very few large thorns along the thickest part of the stems with none towards the ends. Stems are green.
Wise Portia	Shrub (English)	This lovely, deep mauve rose is very difficult to photograph as the rich colors do not show well. This little rose blooms continually and is very healthy.