Old glories - growing old roses

Sunset, Fall-Winter, 1996 by Kathleen Norris Brenzel

GROW ANTIQUE ROSES FOR THEIR BEAUTY, FRAGRANCE, AND HISTORY

On a warm spring day, delicious fragrances float in the air above a sunny clearing in a valley near the Northern California coast. It's bloom time, and in this 1-acre display garden at the Wiley family's Roses of Yesterday and Today, roses are unfurling with perfumed madness.

Much of this heady fragrance comes from the Wileys' collection of antique roses - ones belonging to classes that were developed before 1867. As with other growers of old roses, the Wileys' love of these historic beauties grew into a business. And now, visitors from around the world come here to amble among the blossoms, sniff, and take photographs.

As bustling as their garden is on this bright spring day, for the Wileys, winters are the busiest time of year. That's when they ship some 95,000 bare-root plants, grown in fields near Wasco, California, to gardeners everywhere.

What accounts for the renewed popularity of old roses? "There's such an interest in old things now - art, furniture, family heirlooms," Pat Wiley says. "I get calls from couples who are restoring Victorian houses in San Francisco. They want roses that are in keeping with the period architecture, and gingerbread trim, and the lace curtains."

Indeed, there's magic to growing roses so steeped in history: the musk rose immortalized by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream, for example, or the Rose of Castile brought to California by Spanish missionaries in the 1700s (hardly a mission garden was without one), or the Harison's yellow rose pioneers brought West.

The names of many old roses suggest regal elegance and romance: 'Prince Camille de Rohan', 'Empress Josephine', 'Belle Amour'. But their names don't begin to describe the delicious fragrances of many of these old charmers - the fruitiness of ripe apples, the spiciness of cloves, or the heady sweetness of the most floral perfume. Neither do they evoke the beauty of their blooms - big, loose cabbages, short-petaled powder puffs, or single-petaled starbursts - or their range of colors, from creamy white to bright orange to pink striped with cherry red, like ribbon candy.

There's a stately grace to the plants themselves, and many kinds possess the toughness and disease resistance that have made antique roses survivors.

CHOOSING THE BEST TYPES FOR YOUR GARDEN

Old roses range from compact, 4-foot shrubs with wide clusters of small flowers (China roses) to taller, 5- to 8-foot shrubs with big, opulent, often very fragrant flowers (hybrid perpetuals). You'll also find vigorous, somewhat gangly shrubs with cup-shaped blooms (Bourbons).

Some old roses (albas, damasks, gallicas, centifolias, and most moss roses) bloom only once a year. Others, including most Bourbons, Chinas, hybrid perpetuals, hybrid musks, rugosas, and teas, are repeat bloomers; choose these for prominent spots in the garden.

Choose roses that are most suited to your climate. China, noisette, and tea roses, for example, are somewhat tender and thrive only in mild-winter climates or in greenhouses. Bourbons, hybrid perpetuals, and Portlands are somewhat hardier but still need protection in cold-winter areas. The hardiest ones for the West's coldest climates (Alaska, Colorado) include autumn damasks, gallicas, centifolias, and species roses such as Rosa rugosa and its hybrids.

Order plants in late fall or winter and plant as soon as you get them (for sources, see page 96).

RELATED ARTICLE: ROSARIANS' OLD FAVORITES

UNFORGETTABLY FRAGRANT

'Baronne Prevost' (hybrid perpetual, 1842). "Big, open flowers with many small, tightly packed rose-pink petals that are very perfumy." - Pat Wiley, California

'Boule de Neige' (Bourbon, 1867). "Everybody's favorite. Snowy white, camellia-like blooms smell like cold cream." - P. W.

'La Reine' (hybrid perpetual, 1842). "Heavy damask fragrance is very pleasing to the nose." - P. W.

Musk rose (Rosa moschata, ancient). "Pungently fragrant single white blossoms smell spicy - like allspice or cloves; the scent lingers with you long after you've left the flowers." - Joyce Demits, California

R. eglanteria (sweet briar, before 1551). "Should be in every big garden against a back fence where its marvelous, fruity, ripe-apple fragrance can waft across to patios and into open windows." - P. W.

'Sombreuil' (climbing tea, 1850). "The most fragrant of all teas. One bloom will fragrance a room." - P. W.

STANDOUTS IN DESERT HEAT

Lady Banks' rose (R. banksiae, 1824). Vigorous climber with small yellowish blooms. "Well known in the desert; will take off and cover a fence in no time." - Peggy Jones, Arizona

'La Reine Victoria' (Bourbon, 1872). "Stands regal and unwilted in spite of high temperatures and little rain." - P. W.

COLD-HARDY FAVORITES

Austrian copper (R. foetida 'Bicolor', before 1590). "Huge old plants have been known to overwinter without protection." - P. W.

Harison's yellow (R. foetida hybrid, 1830). "Vigorous bush with cheerful blooms. It's one of the first to bloom in Colorado." - William Campbell, Colorado