Product Description

As he did for English Roses in 100 English Roses for the American Garden, the preeminent rosarian Clair G. Martin demystifies the world of Old Roses-those hardy, fragrant, versatile, and historic roses introduced before 1901. The first section presents the different classes of Old Roses-Gallicas and Damasks, Portlands and Bourbons and Albas and more-and describes the essentials of selecting, planting, watering, pruning, training, feeding, and disease control. Following is a field guide to 100 varieties best suited for American gardens. Each rose is stunningly photographed by Saxon Holt, and each entry includes a detailed description of the cultivar, along with its often colorful history ('Autumn Damask' was listed by Virgil; 'Old Blush,' ubiquitous in California gold rush country cemeteries, was influential in creating modern reblooming roses) and information on availability, fragrance, uses, stature and habit, hardiness, and time of bloom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #368067 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.com Review
While gardeners often start out with hybrid tea roses, they most often end up growing the healthier and supremely fragrant old roses. Who can resist their crumpled petals in soft watercolor shades and their penetrating fragrance of baby powder and cold cream, let alone their lengthy and flamboyant histories? 100 Old Roses for the American Garden has pulled together a selected hundred of the best, with stunning color photographs and cultural information.

And the names--who could resist 'Alister Stella Gray' (a golden rambler), or 'Enfant de France' (a rose-pink hybrid perpetual dating from 1860)? You might want to track down 'Sydonie,' a shell-pink damask described as having deep, pervasive perfume and generous rebloom. This task will be made easier by the appendices at the back of the book listing mail-order sources for old roses, and public gardens that display them.

One reason so many gardeners end up enamored with old roses is that they don't need to be grown in a "rose ghetto" as do hybrid teas, but rather enjoy being mixed into borders with other plants. A chapter on companion plantings suggests perennials that work well as skirting for old roses, enabling the gardener to mix roses seamlessly into the garden picture. --Valerie Easton

Review
"Richly illustrated, informative and portable, this handy volume introduces you to the grand dames of the rose world." -- San Diego Union Tribune

From the Publisher
Also in this series: 100 English Roses for the American Garden,100 Orchids for the American Gardener, and 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.

Customer Reviews

Successful survey of Old Roses for most gardeners
Clair G. Martin has produced a successful survey of old roses for most gardeners. His prior work, 100 English Roses for the American Garden is the preferred reference work for American Gardeners of the ever popular Austin Roses. This book gives a terrific survey of old roses for those unfamiliar with the subject. The book follows the same easy to use format as its predecessor. The opening section provides a useful review of the old roses and their history. Interesting side bars, such as the biography of Pernet-Ducher, give a lively and informative view of the area. The most popular part of the book will be the field guide. Saxon Holt's lush photographs illustrate each of the roses. The text is clear concise and informative. Again the information below the text provides essential guides to size, as well as hardiness, based on region. All in all, a most useful book for the casual gardener who seeks to begin to grow old roses or even the more dedicated rosarian seeking a concise overview of the subject. For the more serious OGR aficionado, this book will be the source of many arguments based on the field guide choices. For readers of Brent Dickerson's tomes on the subject, or Graham Thomas's seminal works this book will lack the exhuastive information of those works, but should be pleasing because of its convenient size and breezy prose.

With details on the rose's growing needs
Saxon Holt's color photos embellish nearly every page of this gardener's guide to old rose varieties. Unlike many rose books which assume prior knowledge, this advises a range of gardeners with details on the rose's growing needs and methods accompanying the full-page color photo of its flower. Highly recommended: 'the' pick if only one or two rose books were to be included in a home gardening collection.

There is a fine line between hobby and obsession......
As others have previously mentioned, this is by no means the "authority" on the old roses, but what a wonderful little book it is! You don't have to work out twice a week in order to lift it and thumb through it, and it will fit in the back pocket of your overalls. The field guide is the area of the book I use most- the pictures are of a rose branch, often including buds, partly opened flowers and plenty of leaves, so you get a good idea of what the flowers, leaves and cane colors look like together, and that is not something many books offer. The pictures are taken on a clean white background and show the true form of the rose bloom. I like the author's style of writing and the fact that he often gives his opinion of the rose and the nature of it's scent, as well as the facts of it's growth habit. He also lists the roses by color in the back of the book, and that is a nice reference touch.

This is is a great reference book to take to the nurseries or on garden expeditions because it is so portable and offers so much information on each rose. We all know how vague some of those nursery tags can be, and if you don't have a photographic memory the easily found details quickly let you know if the rose you are considering will grow 4X4 or 10X10 in your area and whether or not it *really is* the rose that you want to plant beside the steps going to the back door! (I know- it would be just lovely there, wouldn't it....)

I have this book as well as the "100 English Roses" by the same author. They are not the books I reach for on a rainy day when I am looking for design inspiration, but they *are* the ones that I constantly reach for when I am doing the actual planning and planting and need the facts, and also the ones that my friends love to borrow. These are not expensive books, and it will be money well spent.