Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Nuits de Young

"Nuits de Young", syns Black Moss, Old Black.

Bred by Jean Laffay (France, 1845).

One of the most famous Mosses.The English poet Edward Young (1683-1765) and his poem "Night Thoughts" are commemorated by the anglophile Laffay. The flowers, like his writings, are striking and dark, deepest burgundy velvet lit by golden stamens.

This rose wants to have a place in full sunlight, despite the very dark colour of its blooms, changing from deepest purple to blueish-grey with age, which is not unpleasant in this case. The flowers are quite small, but - what a show! The few visible bright yellow stamens do the trick (just like "Tuscany superb").

It is a small, not very strong-growing, bushy rose, best planted in groups or as a low hedge. It is (like all mosses) very susceptible to rust and mildew. It doesn't like too much humidity as well as in the air or in the ground.

Moss. Dark purple, lighter shading while aging, golden-yellow stamens.

Strong fragrance.

Medium, semi-double to double, cluster-flowered, in small clusters, flat bloom form.

Once-blooming spring or summer.

Mossed buds.

Short, bushy, upright.

Height of 4' to 5' (120 to 150 cm). Width of 3' to 4' (90 to 120 cm).

Zone 3. Can be used for garden or hedge. Prefers full sun.

Award fo Garden Merit in 2001 from the Royal Horticultural Society Show.

"Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy Sleep!

(...) And Midnight, universal Midnight, reigns."

The first and last verse of "Night Thoughts", Edward Young.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Caprice de Meilland

"Caprice de Meilland" bred, obviously, by Meilland :) in 1997.

Hybrid Tea, Shrub.
Very fragrant bengal pink.
Height : 100 cm - bloom size : 12 cm diameter on av.

Award for Fragrance Bagatelle 1997
Award for fragrance Geneva 1997
Gold Medal Hybrid Teas Roma 1997
Award for fragrance Roma 1997

Blooms in flushes throughout the season.
Zone 7. Can be used for cut flower. Heat tolerant. Requires spring freeze protection.

With so many awards for its scent, how do you think it smells? I tell you, just wonderful...

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Summer Song

"Summer Song" bred by David Austin (United Kingdom, before 2005).

This is a rose of beautiful and unusual colouring that is hard to describe – burnt orange

would be one possibility.

The flower starts as a rounded bud that gradually opens to a full cup

, with many inner petals arranged rather informally within a perfect ring of outer petals.

It has a lovely strong, mixed scent, which the Austin fragrance experts tell is ‘like a florist’s shop, with hints of chrysanthemum leaves, ripe bananas and tea’. In fact, the growers say it's the banana

mostly they sense in the fragrance...

It forms a bushy, upright shrub that can be pruned to grow tall or short, according to your requirements.

Shrub.

English Rose Collection.

Orange blend.

Strong, fruity, tea fragrance.

Average diameter of flowers - 3.75" - 9,5 cm. Large, very full (41+ petals), cluster-flowered, in small clusters, old-fashioned bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season.

Tall, bushy, upright. Medium, semi-glossy, dark green foliage.

Height of 4' (120 cm). Width of 3' (90 cm).

Zone 6.

Can be used for cut flower, garden or hedge.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Rosa Centifolia

In May, the absolute Queen of flowers is Rosa Centifolia.

Known also as Cabbage Rose, Hundred-Petalled Rose, Province Rose, Rose de Mai or Rose des Peintres (Painters’ Rose) because it was featured in so many medieval flower paintings, it is a splendid rose, adorning our gardens with beautiful, deliciously fragrant flowers.

Other names are: Holland Rose, Gul-i-sad-warg, Kohl Rose, Rosa provincialis maior, Rose a Cent Feuilles, Rose Chou, Rosa persica, Rosa incarnata, Common Provence, Rosa purpurea.

Probably originated in the Caucasus and first cultivated in Persia, it is said to have reached Britain in 1596 and has been used since in hybridizing and for its delightful fragrance.

Nowadays this rose is cultivated widely (mostly in the south of France and Morocco) to supply the perfume industry with attar of roses.

The full, globular, deep glowing pink flowers have numerous petals becoming darker towards the centre and appear in early to mid-summer (once-flowering). They are arranged in small clusters and emerge from tight feathery buds. They are flattish, very double and very fragrant.

The bushy, well-branched shrub can attain a height between 5' to 6' 11" (150 to 210 cm) in good soil and the width is up to 5' (150 cm), producing long strong shoots with numerous reddish thorns and prickles. Its leaves are coarse, both in appearance and to touch, and are grayish green. The zone were it thrives is from 4 to 9.

You can use the intoxicating fragranced petals in many recipes, as salads, jam, syrup, tea or potpourri. And, of course, it has such a vintage charm in the garden…

You’ll love this wonderful rose, despite its only once flowering.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - La France

La France is a rose bred by Jean-Baptiste Guillot le fils (1867). Seedling of Madame Falcot rose.

It is generally accepted to be the first Hybrid Tea rose, and for this reason, its introduction is considered to be the birth of the Modern Rose era. In fact, according to Mr Paul Barden, there were other two roses that preceeded La France and are considered to be Hybrid Teas: Cheshunt Hybrid and Madame Lacharme, both dated 1872.

The flowers are large, full, 60 petals, light pink and somehow pearled... Simply beautiful.

The fragrance is very interesting. Strong, yet elusive, it reminds me a very fine and subtle Parisian perfume. And I find there also some thalassic hints.

It blooms continuously throughout the season, even in late autumn. In my garden there were a few blooms surprised by the freeze in December.

Height of 3' 60 5' (90 to 150 cm). Width of 3' (90 cm).

Zone 7, it requires freeze protection.

There is also a climbing sport of this rose, discovered by Peter Henderson (USA, 1893), height of up to 12' (365 cm), zone 6.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Jude The Obscure

"Jude The Obscure" is bred by Davis Austin (UK, 1989). The breeder says about this rose:

"Its flowers are very large and of incurved chalice shape. Their color is a pleasing medium yellow on the inside of the petals and a paler yellow on the outside.

It has excellent, strong and almost completely disease-free growth. This rose is particularly fine in a dry climate, although it may ball in the rain.

A very strong, unusual and delicious fragrance with a fruity note reminiscent of guava and sweet white wine.

Named after the character in Thomas Hardy’s novel.

4 ft. x 4 ft. or 8 ft. as a climber ".

We simply can't argue with Mr. Austin. This rose is indeed magnificent.

So:

- shrub English Rose Collection

- medium yellow, apricot, cream shading colour, lighter reverse.

- 55 to 70 petals.

- full, borne mostly solitary or in small clusters, globular bloom form.

- blooms in flushes throughout the season.

- height of up to 4' (up to 120 cm)

- width of up tp 4' (up to 120 cm).

- as a climber - 8' or 250 cm.

- very disease resistant indeed.

- Zone 5 to 10.

Use minimal pruning, otherwise the growth will be diminished.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses: Rosa Damascena Bifera / Autumn Damask / Quatre Saisons

Also referenced as: Castilian Damask, Old Castilian, Trachyean Rose, Rose of Paestum, The Alexandria Rose, Semperflorens Damask, Rose of Castile, Tous les Mois, Rosa omnium calendarum, Rosa menstrua, Quatre Saisons Continue, Rose des Quatre Saisons.

Unknown origin, before 1633, likely originated in the Middle East. Seedling of rosa moschata, rosa gallica and rosa fedtschenkoana.

The bush is a bit sprawly and unkempt. The foliage is typical Damask, with soft, downy greyish green leaves which are reasonably disease resistant. It is supposedly very tolerant of pruning.

The height is 4' to5' (120-150 cm) and width of 3' to 4' (90 to 120 cm).

The clear pink blooms come in flushes through the summer and are double (17-25 petals) bloom form. There are some reports of blooming only twice a year though.

Intense Damask fragrance. Excellent rose for making pot pourri.

Zone 4.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Reine des Violettes

Hybrid Perpetual bred by Mille-Mallet, France, 1860. Seedling of Pope Pius IX (Hybrid Perpetual, Vibert, 1849).

Wonderful colour, violet with a lighter center. The fragrance is strong, in the Old Garden Rose way.

The flowers are 4.25 " - 10,8 cm, 50 to 75 petals, very large, very full, cupped, quartered, reflexed bloom form.

The bush is untidy, arching, often sprawling across the ground and producing bloom at the ends of long shoots. The remedy for this is strict pruning and/or training techniques. Often people will peg the long canes down to the ground, which will encourage the lateral buds to break into bloom.

Height of 4' to 8' - 120cm to 245 cm. Width of 3' to 6' (90 to 185cm).

Remontant, it blooms in flushes throughout the season. Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom.

Feed this rose well. Plenty of manure in the soil both at planting time and as a seasonal mulch is recommended. You may want to supplement with Epsom salts and Alfalfa tea as well.

This rose will do well in partially shaded location.

It is thornless.

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Star of the Nile

Introduced in USA by Heirloom Roses, bred by John Clements (USA, 2000).

It is a strong and healthy shrub of typical English rose habit, growing rather upright. It blooms profusely in small clusters.

It has a height of 4' - 120 cm and a width of 4' - 120 cm as well.

Zone 6, or zone 5, if it's in a protected area.

The colour is a blend of deep pinks and a paler pink or even with touches of orange backside on the petals. The flowers are 4'' - 10,2 cm and have 80 petals.

The most beautiful feature of this lovely rose is the FRAGRANCE. Incredible fragrance, one of the most extraordinary fragrances encountered. It has a very intense, heady Anise fragrance. The fragrance is strongest at 3/4 open stage of flowers.

The breeder says "the blooms are an intense, deep pink that ages to the blended colours of an Egyptian sunrise" and it bears a myrhh fragrance that is also in its parent The Yeoman - Austin English Roses.

You can buy it for $17,50 from here http://www.heirloomroses.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=STAR+OF+THE+NILE

Rosa Alba Maxima

This beautiful rose is one of the most subtle and simple of the Albas, and yet also a sophisticated shrub of great character. Also known as the 'Jacobite Rose', or the 'White Rose of York'.
The shrub form is upright and arching, or fountain shaped. 

The foliage is typical of the Albas: grey-green and dark, generally disease free, although rarely this rose will get rust.

Blooms are white when fully open, but depending on the weather, they will have a cream or blush pink tone at the center at the beginning. They are produced in small clusters of 3 or as many as 8, and are very strongly, and sweetly scented.
R. alba maxima is not an ordinary rose....it is a sublime beauty that works very well in cottage gardens. Just remember that Albas are best left unpruned so that they may develope their true shrub form, so don't plant one unless you can allow it the room to grow as it pleases.
Alba Roses are hybrids whose antiquity may go back further than the Roman Empire. Plinius, who lived from 23-79 A.D., mentioned white roses in his Natural History. Botanists believe these roses may have been Albas.
Graham Thomas supports Dr. C. C. Hurst's theory that Albas are derived from the dog rose, Rosa canina, and the Damask rose, Rosa damascena. Others say it's born from Rosa canina and Rosa gallica. 

They have a penetrating pure rosy fragrance with tones of citrus. 

They are resistant to disease for the most part. Many can tolerate shade, drought, and are winter hardy.
Many prominent artists including Botticelli, Luini, Crivelli, Shoengauer, da Zevio and van Spaendonck illustrated Albas.

Zone 3 to 9

Rosa Rugosa

Rosa rugosa (rugosa rose, Japanese rose, or Ramanas rose) is a species of rose native to eastern Asia, in northeastern China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Siberia, where it grows on the coast, often on sand dunes.
In Japanese, it is called hamanasu, meaning "shore eggplant" and also hamanashi meaning "shore pear". In Korean, the species is called haedanghwa, literally "flowers near seashore".
It is a suckering shrub which develops new plants from the roots and forms dense thickets 1–1.50 m tall with stems densely covered in numerous short, straight thorns 3–10 mm long. The leaves are 8–15 cm long, pinnate with 5–9 leaflets, most often 7, each leaflet 3–4 cm long, with a distinctly corrugated (rugose, hence the species' name) surface. The flowers are pleasantly scented, dark pink to white, 6–9 cm across, with somewhat wrinkled petals; flowering is from summer to autumn (June to September in the northern hemisphere).
The hips are large, 2–3 cm diameter, and often shorter than their diameter, not elongated like most other rose hips; in late summer and early autumn the plants often bear fruit and flowers at the same time. The leaves typically turn bright yellow before falling in autumn.
Rugosa rose is widely used as an ornamental plant. It has been introduced to numerous areas of Europe and North America. It has many common names, several of which refer to the fruit's resemblance to a tomato, including beach tomato or sea tomato; saltspray rose and beach rose are others.
The sweetly scented flowers are used to make pot-pourri in Japan and China, where it has been cultivated for about a thousand years.
This species hybridises readily with many other roses, and is valued by rose breeders for its considerable resistance to the diseases rose rust and rose black spot. It is also extremely tolerant of seaside salt spray and storms, commonly being the first shrub in from the coast. It is widely used in landscaping, being relatively tough and trouble-free. Needing little maintenance, it is suitable for planting in large numbers; its salt-tolerance makes it useful for planting beside roads which need deicing with salt regularly.
Numerous cultivars have been selected for garden use, with flower colour varying from white to dark red-purple, and with semi-double to double flowers where some or all of the stamens are replaced by extra petals. Popular examples include 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' (pink, single), 'Pink Grootendorst' (pink, semi-double), 'Blanc Double de Coubert' (white, double) and the more common 'Roseraie de L’Haÿ' (pink, double), which is often used for its very successful rootstock and its ornamental rose hips.
Syns:
• Apfel-Rose
• Beach Rose
• Hama-nashi
• Hama-nasu
• Hedgehog Rose
• Japanese Rose
• Kartoffelrose
• Nordische Apfelrose
• Ramanas Rose
• Rosa andreae Lange synonym
• Rosa ferox Lawr. synonym
• Rosa rugosa f. rugosa
• Rosa rugosa Thunb.
• Sea Tomato
• Shore Pear
• Tomato Rose

Also referenced as: R. andreae, Rosa rugosa flore simplex, Wild Beach Rose.

Purple or red. Or white. Strong fragrance. 5 petals. Large, single (4-8 petals) bloom form. Occasional repeat later in the season.
Armed with thorns / prickles, sends out runners, suckers on its own roots. Wrinkled (rugose) foliage.
Height of 90 to 245 cm. Width of up to 185 cm.
Zone 2b through 9b. Produces decorative hips. Shade tolerant. Disease susceptibility: very disease resistant.
Author: Lange
Diploid
Rosa rugosa was first described by Thunberg in 1784 and introduced to Europe 50 years later, also by Thunberg. Prefers sandy or gravelly soils with average pH, although soils range in pH from 4.7 to 8.5. Salt and drought tolerant. Rosa rugosa actually performs best with periodic burning of the top growth in fall.

Native to Hokkaido and Honshu, Korea, NE China and Kamchatka, and the Russian Far East, where it's native habitat is sand dune and shores near the coast the low elevations.

Rosa rugosa is an invasive species in northern, central and western Europe and in parts of North America - New England, in Canada from Ontario to Newfoundland, and in Washington.

Rosa Gallica Officinalis / Apothecary's Rose

Rosa gallica (Gallic Rose, French Rose, or Rose of Provins) is a species of rose native to southern and central Europe eastwards to Turkey and the Caucasus. The cultivar Rosa gallica officinalis is also called Apothecary's Rose.It is a deciduous shrub forming large patches of shrubbery, the stems with prickles and glandular bristles. The leaves are pinnate, with three to seven bluish-green leaflets. The flowers are clustered one to four together, single with five petals, fragrant, deep pink. The hips are globose to ovoid, 10–13 mm diameter, orange to brownish.The species is easily cultivated on well drained soil in full sun to semishade; it can survive temperatures down to −25 °C. This is possibly the oldest rose to be cultivated in Europe, being cultivated by the Greek and Romans and it was commonly used in Mediaeval gardens. It has been used for medicinal purposes ever since its birth and it is also part of the story of the War of the Roses.
It is highly disease resistant.
It serves well as erosion control on steep sites.
And it has an intense fragrance...

In the 19th century it was the most important species of rose to be cultivated, and most modern European rose cultivars have at least a small contribution from R. gallica in their ancestry.
Cultivars of the species R. gallica and hybrids close in appearance are best referred to a Cultivar Group as the Gallica Group roses.

The ancestry is usually unknown and the influence of other species can not be ruled out.
The Gallica Group roses share the vegetative characters of the species, forming low suckering shrubs.

The flowers can be single, but most commonly double or semidouble. The colours range from white (rare) to pink and deep purple. All Gallica Group roses are once flowering. They are easily cultivated.The semidouble cultivar 'Officinalis', the "Red Rose of Lancaster", is the county flower of Lancashire.

In 2004, a cultivar of the Gallica Group named 'Cardinal de Richelieu' was used as a starting point for genetic engineering to produce the first blue rose.The cultivar known as Rosa gallica forma trigintipetala or Rosa 'Trigintipetala' is considered to be a synonym of Rosa × damascena.

Syns:• Essig-Rose• Red Rose• Rosa gallica L.• Rosa rubra Lam. synonym• Rosier de FranceAlso referenced as: Rose of Miletus (Pliny), Anglica rubra, Rosa rubra Anglica, Rose commun rouge, Roth Rose, R. rubra, Rosa rubra praenestina, Rosa rubra simplex, French Rose, Rose de France (gallica, before 1554)

Deep pink. Strong fragrance. 5 to 15 petals. Large, single (4-8 petals), cluster-flowered, in small clusters, cupped bloom form. Once-blooming spring or summer.
Climbing, suckers on its own roots.
Height of 100 to 120 cm. Width of 80 to 100 cm.
Zone 4b through 8b.
Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood.
Prune after flowering is finished.
Tetraploid

Rosa Gigantea

Rosa gigantea (diploid) is a species of rose native to northeast India, northern Myanmar and southwest China (Yunnan) in the foothills of the Himalaya at 1000–1500 m altitude. As its name suggests, it is the largest species of rose, climbing 20 m or more into the crowns of other trees by means of its stout, hooked thorns, and with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter.

The flowers are white, creamy or yellow, the largest of any wild rose, 10–14 cm diameter. The hips are yellow or orange, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, hard, and often lasting through the winter into the following spring, often still present at the same time as the next years' flowers.

Wonderful fragrance too. Mild to strong, clove, honeysuckle fragrance.

Syns:
- Rosa gigantea Collett ex Crépin
• Rosa gigantea macrocarpa
• R. macrocarpa
• Rosa macrocarpa G.Watt ex Crép. synonym
• R. odorata gigantea
• Rosa odorata var. gigantea Rehder & Wilson
• Rosa X odorata gigantea
• R. xanthocarpa• Rosa xanthocarpa G.Watt ex E.Willm. syn.

White to butter-yellow, yellow stamens. Buds - light yellow [Warm creamy to lemony white]. 5 petals. Large, single (4-8 petals), borne mostly solitary, flat bloom form. Moderate, once-blooming spring or summer. Large, long buds.

Tall, arching, climbing. Medium, glossy, light green foliage.

Height of 245 to 1525 cm. Width of 185 to 305 cm.

Zone 8 and warmer.
Very vigorous.
Benefits from winter protection in colder climates.
Flowers drop off cleanly.
Prefers warmer sites.
Shade tolerant.
Disease susceptibility: very disease resistant, very blackspot resistant, very mildew resistant, very rust resistant.
Can be grown as a climber in mild climates.
Prune lightly or not at all.

R. gigantea was collected in the Shan Hills of Burma at about 20 degrees N.latitude at an altitude of about 4000-5000 feet by General Collett.
Rosa macrocarpa was collected in Manipur State, in North east India at a higher altitude of about 6000-7000 feet and about 5 degrees further north, by Sir George Watt.
Though Sir George Watt considered R. macrocarpa to be a new species distinct from R.gigamtea of Collett, the great Belgian taxonomist, Francois Crepin considered them to be identical, after examining specimens of both. In the absence of DNA we should probably follow Crepin's observation. From the common sense point of view, it appears to [Viru] that R.macrocarpa is yellower because it grows further north and at a higher altitude, i.e. less bleaching of flower color occurs in cooler temperatures. Crepin observes that in the Shan hills district where R. gigantea grows, frosts are almost unknown, whereas when Girija [Viraragavan] and [Viru] collected R. macrocarpa in Manipur on Mount Sirohi at an altitude nearing 7000 feet. There was a fair amount of frost on the ground, in places frozen into fairly substantial lumps which could not have been merely overnight dew frozen. From the seedlings raised from the Manipur seed collected by [Viru & Girija they] noticed considerable variation in flower color especially at the bud stage. Some of the seedlings are quite a dark yellow at bud stage whereas others are just cream. This color difference does not persist when the flower opens and all the kinds are creamy yellow by the second day. "So to distinguish R.macrocarpa from R. gigantea by adopting flower color as the criterion seems to be incorrect. Pending further investigation we should perhaps consider R.macrocarpa of Manipur as only an eco -type of R. gigantea Collett. But I am hoping that the Manipur rose will prove somewhat cold hardier than the Burmese collection."

Rosa gigantea is recognized by its distinctive drooping, mahogany-colored new foliage, a characteristic it shares with Rosa chinensis var. spontanea.]
Information from Viru Viraraghavn