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| 17th January 1999 | The Rose Garden | |||
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| 17th January 1999 | The Rose Garden | |||
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| Of all the old roses, this small family often gets overlooked. This summer they were the undoubted stars of our garden, so I thought I'd share them with you. Albas probably arrived with the Romans, and continue to be strongly associated with England. In Latin, Alba means white, but there are now probably as many pastel pink hybrids as there are whites. A small family, with only 13 varieties available in New Zealand. Albas are believed to have originated as a cross between the thornless single white R. canina and R. damascena. The white Albas are the oldest, with the more recent pastel pinks probably being later hybrids. Albas have many unique and distinguishing characteristics.
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Celestial AGM 'Celeste', 'Minden rose' From Holland in 18th century. Warm soft silvery pink semi-double blooms, yellow stamens. Wonderful fragrance. Relatively thornless, but a few spiky thorns. Arching growth, shade-tolerant. Bluish foliage, super healthy. Didn't do much in our garden until we moved it to a shaded position . The undoubted star of our garden this year |
| Chloris 'Rosee du Matin' "Dew of the morning" Very old Smaller darker green leaves, thornless, big wide shrub. Double soft pink blooms are smaller than most. Incurving petals. |
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Felicite Parmentier AGM Pre-1834 Fat buds, soft flesh-pink blooms, white edges, very double, quartered, green eye. Soft greyish-green foliage. Well liked. |
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Jeanne d'Arc 1818 Blooms tinged creamish-blush, muddled, fading to white. Semi-double. Good fragrance, leaden grey-green foliage, quite thorny. One of our tougher and more reliable garden roses. |
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Konigin von Danemarck AGM 'Queen of Denmark' 1826 Reputedly a seedling from Maiden's Blush, but likely to have Damask influence. Blue-grey foliage, quite coarse but still attractive. Prickly. Deeper pink blooms, curved petals, with button eye, quartered. Later-flowering than most Albas. Exquisite fragrance. |
| Great Maiden's Blush 'Cuisse de Nymphe', 'Incarnata', 'La Virginale', La Seduisante' 1400s Victorian English couldn't cope with 'Thigh of the Passionate Nymph' so it became 'Maiden's Blush'. Bluish-grey foliage, flat warm blush-pink blooms, strong arching shrub to 2m. There is also a smaller version. |
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Maxima AGM 'Jacobite Rose', 'Bonnie Prince Charlie's Rose', 'Cheshire rose', 'Great Double White' circa 1400 Clusters of large flat double white blooms, prominent stamens. Grows semi-wild in the hedgerows of Britain. Luxuriant shrub, elegant growth. Good as a hedge. Possibly related to Semi-Plena |
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Mme Legras de St Germain 1846 Hybrid, possible with Noisette parentage. Smaller green leaves, soft to touch. Almost thornless. Clusters of flat double rosettes, creamy-white. Tall grower, will climb. |
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Mme Plantier 'Bridal rose' 1835 Possible has Noisette parentage, although some suggest R. moschata Smaller creamy-white flowers in clusters. Green eye, thornless. Often found in cemeteries.. Reputed to grow tall |
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Semi-Plena AGM 'White Rose of York' pre-16th century Tallest, hardiest of the Albas. Elegant long buds, Semi-double sweetly-scented. Near single white blooms with bright yellow stamens, grey-green foliage. Oval orange-red hips. Good as a hedge. Closely related to Maxima. |
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Shropshire Lass 1968 A modern hybrid from David Austin that deserves to be included here. HT Mme Butterfly x Mme Legras de St Germain Large single blooms of delicate blush, fading to white. Good hips, some thorns. Its HT parent, Mme Butterfly is a sport of the influential ivory-pink Ophelia, perhaps accounting for the delicate colouring of the blooms. Tall upright shrub to 3m, One of our enduring favourites that is always admired. Some of Austin's once-flowering roses are undoubtedly his best. |
| Copyright Lloyd Chapman Trinity Farm, Otaki January 1999 |
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More pictures of Old Roses from Trinity Farm in the Garden Gallery.
Lloyd would welcome questions and comments.
More articles by Lloyd Chapman
Purple Ramblers January 2002 |
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