The Roses in My Garden

I never knew that I loved roses. Even though, as a child I adored the Peace Rose in my mother's garden, I was always confused because it didn't smell like a rose. It smelled sort of like black tea. I found hybrid tea roses to be pretty, but boring. When I began to garden, I focused on everything but roses, and for a while I explored the world of poppies. But 17 years ago we moved to an old, crumbling farmhouse in the midst of the wheat fields. The house had been built around 1900. In the remnants of the abandoned garden there was a pink, fully-petaled rose that exuded a heady true rose fragrance. I joked that it survived on abuse and neglect, so it was perfect for my garden. I was smitten. I began to water and care for this tenacious beauty. When we moved, I took cuttings and managed to root one at our new house. It remains my favorite rose of all time.

The bush that I grew from a cutting has taken off with the care and water I've provided. Last year I chose not to prune it after blooming. It has grown beautifully. I just wish I had the room to let it grow to its natural size.

The best I can guess from my internet search is that this rose is a Desiree Parmentier rose, an 1848 variety.

Cultivating this rose led me to explore other old rose varieties, and I found plenty at Heirloom Roses. I looked for the oldest roses I could find. My first purchases were

Rosa rugosa alba, perhaps the oldest rose available,

Rosa apothcarius, a medieval variety used medicinally,

and Rosa Mundi, a variant of Rosa apothacarius.

I planted these three together at the back of an oval bed, which is gloriously pink and white:

Besides those that I purchased from Heirloom Roses, a number of roses were planted at our house when we bought it. The gardener who planted them had taste similar to mine, so there are a variety of centifolia roses whose names I don't know. They were in pretty bad shape when we moved in. I cut away the dead branches and kept them weeded and watered and they've really recovered well. My favorite is this stunning true lavender-colored rose. It was a single stick when we moved into this house:

It is now part of a group of cascading climbers along the fence, which includes an Alexander Mackenzie (a completely awesome, super cold-hardy climber):

an Alchemist - one of the most beautiful roses on the planet:

 And a few others.


These are just a few of the roses in my garden. This has been the best year ever. The roses are abundant. The colors are spectacular. If you know where I live, come by and I'll give you a tour.