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: 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.

Rosa Gallica

Synonyms: Red Rose, French Rose, Rosier de France, Rose de France, Rosa Rubra, Rose of Miletus (Pliny).

Unknown origin (before 1554).

Deep pink, strong fragrance.

5 to 15 petals. Large, single, cluster-flowered, cupped bloom form. Once-blooming spring or summer.

Climbing, suckers on its own roots.

Height of 100-120cm, width of 80-100 cm.

Zone 4. Remove old canes or diseased wood. Prune after flowering is finished.

Tetraploid.

Same characteristics as Rosa Gallica Officinalis:

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. It is one of the earliest cultivated species of roses, 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 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.

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

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Rose de Rescht / Rose de Resht

"Rose de Rescht"

Exact origin unknown. From Rasht (Iran) to Europe via Lindsay, UK, 1940.

It is a wonderful Portland Damask rose that was rediscovered in Persia in 1945 by an English gardener by the name of Nancy Lindsay. It is one of the wonderful mysteries of the Old Garden Rose history.

Being of the Portland group, Rose de Rescht is capable of several flushes of repeat bloom throughout the season in distinct cycles.

It is quite disease resistant, and healthy.

It is a beautiful opening bud, that quickly grows to reflex into a pompon form.


The scent is exceptional in quality; pure sweet Damask with a hint of spices.

This is the rose that is often recommended to people who are contemplating buying their first Heritage Rose, as it is trouble free, well behaved, and very rewarding.

An outstanding rose that is quite easy to grow.

Royal Cultural Society Award of Garden Merit 1993.

Compact, dense bush. It suckers on its own roots. Healthy foliage.
Height of 3' to 4' - 90 to 120 cm. Width of up to 30'' - up to 75 cm.
Very full, over 41 petals bloom form, average diameter of 2.5'' - 6 cm.

One of my favourite roses, small but strong. I make a wonderful jam out of its petals :).

Intoxicating Fragranced Roses - Kazanlik / Rosa Damascena Trigintipetala

• Rosa damascena var. trigintipetala

• Trindafil

Also referenced as: Kazanlyk, R. gallica var. damascena f. trigintipetala, Trendaphil

Introduced in Germany by Dr. Georg Dieck in 1889 as 'Rosa damascena var. trigintipetala'.

Deep pink Damask.Unknown origin (before 1612).

Pink, white undertones, ages to lighter. 30 petals. Average diameter 2" - 5 cm. Medium, double, in small clusters bloom form. Occasional repeat later in the season. Small, glandular sepals, leafy sepals buds.

Armed with thorns / prickles, bushy, well-branched. Light green foliage. 7 leaflets.Height of 5' to 8' (150 to 245 cm). Width of 4' to 6' (120 to 185 cm).Zone 4.

Vigorous. Prune lightly after flowering is finished. This rose blooms on old wood. So, don't cut it down.

Strong, centifolia fragrance. PROBABLY THE MOST FRAGRANCED ROSE OF ALL!

'Kazanlik' seems to be the same Damask-type which is also cultivated in Isparta/Turkey and Isfahan/Iran for making the famous ATTAR. Supposedly it was brought to Bulgaria by the Turkish when Bulgaria was under Ottoman domination.

Cultivated extensively in the Rose Valley (Bulgarian: Розова долина, Rozova dolina), a region in Bulgaria located just south of the Balkan Mountains and the eastern part of the lower Sredna Gora chain to the south. Geologically, it consists of two river valleys, those of the Stryama to the west and the Tundzha to the east. The total area is about 3,300 square kilometers.

This valley is famous for its rose-growing industry which have been cultivated there for centuries, and which produces 85% of the world's rose oil. The extracts are used by perfumeries all over the world.

The centre of the rose oil industry is Kazanlik, while other towns of importance include Karlovo, Sopot, Kalofer and Pavel Banya. Each year, festivals are held celebrating roses and rose oil.

The picking season lasts from May to June

. During this period, the area gives off a pleasant scent and is covered with multi-coloured flowers. The gathering process, traditionally a woman's task, requires great dexterity and patience. The flowers are carefully cut one by one and laid in willow-baskets which are then sent to the distilleries.

Check these links for more information:

http://www.rose-festival.com/

valley-roses.shtml

http://rosevalleyoils.com/

bulgaria/

http://www.brilltravel.com/our-tours-general-information/special-interest-tours/rose-festival