Product Description

The American Rose Society's guide to the most beloved flower Roses are the floral embodiment of grace and romance. They express the love that occurs in many forms and between many types of people: lovers, friends, spouses, children, and parents. The many types of rose are as varied as the thoughts and feelings they convey. Ultimate Rose provides insight into all that roses are, both beautiful plants and legendary symbols. The Rose Spectrum: Created by the American Rose Society, the international registrar for the world's favorite flower, Ultimate Rose contains more than 400 photographs, featuring a wide variety of forms and colors. It provides a way for newcomers to understand how rose classes have emerged and evolved to create new ones. More than 60 two--page spreads feature introductory text and several examples of each class, and every flower is accompanied by insightful text on its unique characteristics or unusual origins. Complete Coverage: This gorgeous guide to every rose class is introduced by a general overview of rose history, explaining where roses came from and why they are so popular. The book closes with a concise section covering basic techniques for growing roses, as well as examples of arranging and drying roses, so that everyone can enhance their world by bringing more roses into it. Whether a long--standing fan of roses or a newcomer to the gardening world, Ultimate Rose appeals to any lover of elegance, color, and beauty. It provides the ultimate sense of the ultimate flower.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1362262 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.com Review
Dorling Kindersley publishes the most beautiful of illustrated books; their expertise with layout and color photography is especially welcome in books on plants and gardens. The minute you open the cover to find front and back end papers in rose pink, you get a clue about the quality of this volume. Four hundred color photographs celebrate the long history of the rose, paying tribute to this most beloved of all flowers.

What flower is more immediately recognized than the rose? Despite this icon status, there is much confusion about the various kinds of roses. Thus, choosing wisely for the garden can be a puzzle. It is far too easy to be seduced by those silky petals and sweet perfume, but do you really need another hybrid tea? This book can be enjoyed simply as a reference for identifying roses or as an exploration of the history and significance of roses. Because it's arranged by kind of rose, it makes clear the differences between species: noisettes, hybrid perpetuals, etc. The most stunning flowers of all (and of course you may well have a different opinion) may be the old moss roses, with their fuzzy stems and flowers so doubled as to appear ruffled. Pages are filled with close-ups of breathtaking roses, individual blossoms photographed against a black background to highlight form and color.

Whether Ultimate Rose is an art book or a garden book doesn't really matter. It has managed to capture the magic and compelling beauty of roses, identify each, compare the looks and virtues of the various types, and give clear and thorough information on how to place and care for them in your garden. --Valerie Easton

Review
Engaging information and full--scale photographs. -- Better Homes and Gardens: Garden Deck and Landscape Planner

Photos so rich you can almost smell them. -- homestore.com

About the Author
The American Rose Society is among the world's largest specialized plant societies, including approximately 25,000 members. It serves as the international registrar for all classes of rose as well as a nationwide base of support for over 400 local rose societies. Based in Shreveport, Louisiana, the Gardens of the American Rose Center is the nation's largest park dedicated to roses. Founded in 1892, the American Rose Society is a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the culture and appreciation of America's national flower ---- and the world's most beloved.

Customer Reviews

Ultimate Rose
This book is a must have for any rose enthusiast.

Much will be said about the dazzling color photography and it is the best I've ever seen. However, its chief virtue is organization and thoroughness.

Each classification is represented in order of development, accompanied by its history and tips on care and use. Even half forgotten old timers like Ayrshire and Boursalt get a nod.

It concludes with excellent advice from choosing a site to dry arranging.

There's only one fault with this book - it's too brief.

This is one time when the cliche "If you can have only one book ..." really works.

Beautiful photos but not a complete reference
This slim volume (160 pages) is filled with gorgeous photos and is a great picture book for people who wish to get acquainted with roses but it is not very helpful for an advanced rose lover seeking information about individual types of roses. Sections are divided by rose classifications (Albas, Bourbons, Gallicas, etc.) and includes a very small listing of roses in each class (usually less than 10) and only offers a brief (usually one sentence) description. Chapters in the back of the book show how to care for roses (planting, pruning, etc.), arrange roses and dry roses. Overall, a good introduction to roses but by no means a guide for selection. I would have left out the "ultimate" in the title!

Ultimate Pleasure
It is indeed an ultimate pleasure to look at the beautiful pictures of the American Rose Society's book the Ultimate Rose. It is clear looking through the book why the rose throughout the ages has seemed to hook and entice so many individuals into growing and breeding them.

The book is well organized with chapters on history, classification, growing, arranging and drying. Each section important and necessary for a book about roses.

The largest portion of the book is dedicated to the classification of roses with a description and history of each type of rose as perpetual, Bourbon, hybrid tea or other and numerous pictures of roses representing each type of rose. The pictures are exquisite. I look through the book and dream of more roses I could have and try to imagine where on my tiny plot I could plant one more. With each picture is a brief description as follows for the grandiflora rose "Queen Elizabeth", "The first to be classed as a grandiflora, this rose has won many top awards through the world"

As would be expected from a Rose Society book the chapter on growing roses is very useful and informative. Here the pictures help to illustrate techniques as pruning and planting roses. This chapter describes how to choose roses to purchases, proper planting techniques, maintenance, pest control and pruning.

For those of us with a rose habit, we not only want to grow them, arrange them, but learn everything we can about them. If you are starting a rose library this is one which should be included. It is simply a nice coffee table book to browse through and admire the photos, rose grower or not, it may induce you to begin planting roses.