Product Description

This beautiful book features more than 1,500 roses of all types from all over the world. History and how-to text accompany more than 1,650 full-color photographs--the result of years of research and travel by a descendant of the author of the 1783 classic The English Garden.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #692583 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 472 pages

From Library Journal
This massive volume by world-renowned horticulturist Macoboy is encyclopedic in scope, portraying over 1500 roses selected for their beauty, fragrance, and popularity. Although it contains brief information on rose cultivation and a scattering of features on such subjects as the rose in music, the heart of the book is the three alphabetical sections describing individual roses. The author uses the 1979 classification of the World Federation of Rose Societies; his main categories are wild roses, modern and old garden roses grouped together, and miniatures. Each entry includes a color photograph; information on the rose's history, cultivation, and parentage; and whether it is repeat flowering or fragrant. Roses are listed according to the name under which they were first released; the index provides access by later names. Beautiful to look at, this book will be most useful to readers looking for more information about varieties than is provided in growers' catalogs. Recommended for large or specialized collections.
- Molly Newling, Piscataway P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Stirling Macoboy, who died in 2005, had a rich life in horticulture that took him around the world from his native Australia. He was the author and photographer of more than forty books on gardening.

Tommy Cairns is a frequent contributor to rose publications, including Botanica’s Roses and All About Roses, and is co-author of Ortho’s Complete Guide to Roses (2004). The Scottish-born Cairns lives in Studio City, California.

Customer Reviews

Big type, easy to read....
Lately, I've been on a rose book collection spree, and a gift certificate for Valentine's Day allowed me to purchase two new and relatively expensive rose books, THE ULTIMATE ROSE BOOK and BOTANICA'S ROSES. Reading the reviews, I wondered which one would turn out to be "the best" however, both are excellent, and both have qualities that will make them more or less appealing to a reader and/or gardener.

THE ULTIMATE ROSE BOOK is much larger (taller, not thicker), but both books are very heavy. The quality of the photos in both books is excellent. The paper stock is fine and thick, but BOTANICA's is slick and glossy, while ULTIMATE ROSE is less reflective of light making it easier to read. Both contain additional information rose lovers will enjoy.

ULTIMATE ROSE contains fewer entries per page, but the type is much larger, making reading a bit easier for the sight impaired. Entries are in alphabetical order within three categories: "Wild Roses", "Old and Modern Roses" and "Miniature Roses." For example, in the main section, "Old and Modern Roses", Stirling Macoboy lists 'Honorine de Brabant' a bourbon rose with 'Honor' a large-flowered rose (modern hybrid) and 'Hot Chocolate' a cluster-flowered rose (i.e., floribunda). The subtitle of Macoboy's book is "1,500 roses...selected for their beauty, fragrance and enduring popularity." His entries include some information about parentage, blooming pattern, and a bit of history. For example, I just purchased a 'Comte de Chambord' rose and ULTIMATE ROSE is the first of a dozen books to tell me the rose is named for the sad son of Charles X who refused the crown of France and died in exile.

BOTANICA'S also follows an alphabetical scheme, grouping roses into "Wild Roses" and everything else A-Z. BOTANICA'S lists 'Honorine de Brabant' with 'Honore de Balzac' and 'Hoot Owl', but also lists 'Honor' and 'Hot Chocolate' which ULTIMATE ROSE does not. BOTANICA'S also lists Growing Zones in addition to growing conditions and information about parentage and blooming.

In summary, if you can afford it, buy both books as they both contain useful and interesting information that surprisingly does not overlap. If you are more concerned with the nitty-gritty growing information, BOTANICA'S is the better buy. If you want an easy to read book with a bit of history and mythical lore, and a book that contians a select list of choices recommended by an expert rosarian, Macoboy's ULTIMATE ROSE is the better buy.

The Ideal Guide
This book has a picture for every single rose it lists. And it tells you about the certain aspects of every rose listed like: Is it fragrant?, Does it bloom more than once a season?, and is it known to get black spot?, mildew? or any other diseases roses can get? And it also includes a little history/backround of each rose. The book in addition to listing roses has a small section in the back that tells you how to grow roses from clippings and it tells you how to graft buds onto different bushes. Intersperced throughout the book there are also articals on stuff like the history of the rose in america and the search for the legondary blue rose which has still yet to be found. The only cons I found in this book were that it is hard to find some of the roses listed (I still can't find acouple of the roses shown in this book anywhere for sale)and the two other cons are that this book is HUGE so it is unlikely that you could take it with you for rose shopping and this book only covers roses that were avaliable up to about 1989 so newer roses like Black Magic from jackson & perkins are not listed.

This is an exhaustive treatment of roses for any plant lover
I purchased this book in 1994 for $50 I didn't really have and never regretted doing so. If you adore roses of any sort, want to know floribunda from grandiflora, or just want your two bushes to survive; you must have it. I am cheap and passionate about horticulture. If you need to know about roses, buy only this book! Anything else is about as useful as a government pamphlet.