BELLE PORTUGAISE
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Gigantea hybrids
Breeder Henri Cayeux
Year 1903
Place of origin France
Parent plants 'Souvenir de Madame Léonie Viennot' x R. gigantea
Flowering Single
Scent Slight scent of tea
“Belle Portugaise” was the first hybrid of Rosa gigantea cultivated in the West.
It was created by Henri Cayeux, a young Frenchman in charge of the Lisbon botanical garden whose ambition was to discover hybrids of R. gigantea capable of resisting the Parisian frosts.
The flowers of the rose “Belle Portugaise”, of a generous size, can reach 15 cm in diameter. It is a vigorous bush of creamy, thin and elegant buds that, if trained to climb, can reach up to 10 metres in height. In California it has had great success.
ROSA BANKSIAE 'ALBA PLENA'
Group to which it belongs A wild rose of Chinese origin
Flowering Single
Scent Violets
This is a wild rose that loves hot, dry climates.
The Banksiae Alba Plena was the first Banksia rose to be introduced from Subtropical China to the West in 1807 by William Kerr, who dedicated it to the wife of the then director of Kew Gardens, Baptisé Dorothea Banks. It is one of the very few thornless roses and is capable of reaching 15 metres in height in a short time. Of all roses, it is the first to flower, beating all the others by a couple of weeks. The scent of the little flowers is reminiscent of violets. It loves hot and dry climates. It has very thick and lanceolate foliage and is extremely vigorous and resistant. The flowers are double, pompom-shaped and pure white, while flowering is single, early and prolonged.
ROSA LAEVIGATA
Group to which it belongs Wild rose of Chinese origin
Flowering Single
Scent Violets
This rose is also mistakenly called “Cherokee”, as it has spread rapidly in North America, but in truth it originates in the lands of southern China, Indochina and Taiwan. It is a vigorous shrub that climbs up to 10 metres in height. Its evergreen and shiny leaves are beautiful all year round. The flowers are white and solitary, composed of five petals. The laevigata rose is undoubtedly one of the best roses for tropical gardens.
ULRICH BRUNNER FILS
Ornamental Group Repeat-flowering hybrid
Breeder Antoine Levet
Year 1881
Place of origin France
Parents 'Paul Neyron'
Flowering Re-flowering
Scent Strong and sweet
Ulrich Brunner Fils was one of the few successful re-flowering hybrids, obtained by the Lyonnais Antonie Levet at the end of the 19th century. For over fifty years this rose was grown for the production of cut flowers. Its scented blooms, rich in petals, flower profusely throughout the summer on long, rigid stems. The plant has a bushy and robust habit. It needs protection from the rain, the flowers being easily damaged by the wet.
CENTIFOLIA GALLICA
Ornamental group Repeat-flowering hybrid
Year 1596
Place of origin Spanish Flanders
Flowering Single
Scent Strong and sweet
The origins of this famous rose are unknown. It is probably a hybrid of Rosa gallica and Rosa x damascena that occurred at the end of the 16th century in the Netherlands. Its success was immediate and considerable. This Dutch rose appeared in the paintings of famous artists from the 17th century onwards.
This rose, especially appreciated for the size of its flowers and the quality of their perfume, was considered by botanists of the 18th century as a botanical rose, according the Rosa species a name to reflect this. The name “centifolia” was given to indicate the number of petals that make up a flower.
BELLE AMOUR
Group to which it belongs Rosa gallica
Year 1840
Place of origin France
Flowering Single
Scent Musky
No one knows the origins of this rose. Some classify it as belonging to the “Alba” roses, but due to its thorny habit and foliage it is also traced back to the Damask roses.
M.ME PIERRE OGER
Ornamental group Chinensis
Group to which it belongs Bourbons
Breeder Pierre Oger
Year 1878
Place of origin France
Parents Mutation of 'La Reine Victoria'
Flowering Continuous
This is a rose discovered by chance by Pierre Oger, a nurseryman from Caen and subsequently marketed by Verdier in 1878. It is a mutation of the rose “La Reine Victoria” to which it is perfectly identical in shape, except that the flowers appear more delicate in colour than those of the mother plant.
CELESTIAL
Ornamental group Caninae
Group to which it belongs Alba
Breeder Unknown
Year 1759
Place of origin France
Scent Strong and sweet
Flowering Single
This is a very old and very famous rose. Its peculiarity lies in the moment of flowering when the buds burst in delightful cup-shaped corollas and then slowly open into a saucer, revealing a shell pink colour with transparent veils.
Its grace and delicacy could make one think that it is fragile, but in truth it is a very healthy rose, resistant to cold and tolerates shade well.
LAURE’ DAVOUST
Group to which it belongs Noisette
Year 1834
Place of origin France
Scent Strong and musky
Flowering Single
This rose is difficult to classify because for some authors it might be an early multiflora, for others instead it could be a hybrid of Rosa sempervirens and a noisette.
This rose was probably dedicated to the Marshal of the French Empire, Louis-Nicolas Davout (1770-1823), but there are no certainties handed down as to its origin.
MUTABILIS
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Year 1900
Place of origin Italy
Scent Light
Flowering Continuous
It is thought that this variety arrived from China or India on the ships of the French East India Company to the Isle of Bourbon and from there it was transferred to Italy towards the second half of the 19th century. It was cultivated in the gardens of Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore in Italy, owned and created by the Italian Prince Vitaliano IX Borromeo, a great lover of botany, who gave it the name of “Ideal Type”. It was the prince's son, Gilberto VI Borromeo, who sent some specimens to an exhibition in Geneva in 1894. On that occasion it was noticed by the Swiss botanist Henri Corrévon who established that it was a new species and called it Rosa mutabilis (precisely because of its ability to change colour during the entire flowering process) before introducing it to the market only in 1933. It soon spread throughout Europe and overseas, where the American taxonomist Alfred Rehder suggested the Chinese descent of this plant and changed its name to Rosa chinensis mutabilis.
ROSA BANKSIAE ALBA PLENA
Group to which it belongs A wild rose of Chinese origin
Flowering Single
Scent Violets
This is a wild rose that loves hot, dry climates.
The Banksiae Alba Plena was the first Banksia rose to be introduced from Subtropical China to the West in 1807 by William Kerr, who dedicated it to the wife of the then director of Kew Gardens, Baptisé Dorothea Banks. It is one of the very few thornless roses and is capable of reaching 15 metres in height in a short time. Of all roses, it is the first to flower, beating all the others by a couple of weeks. The scent of the little flowers is reminiscent of violets. It loves hot and dry climates. It has very thick and lanceolate foliage and is extremely vigorous and resistant. The flowers are double, pompom-shaped and pure white, while flowering is single, early and prolonged.
AIMEE VIBERT
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Noisette
Breeder Jean-Pierre Vibert
Year 1828
Place of origin France
Parents Champneys's Pink Cluster' x a hybrid of R. sempervirens
Flowering Single and prolonged
Scent Strong and musky
Gazing on its first flowering, the nurseryman Vibert, gave this wonderful rose the name of his daughter. Even the great British writers and connoisseurs considered this rose the most beautiful sarmentose with white flowers.
GOLDEN WINGS
Group to which it belongs Pimpinellifoliae
Ornamental group Pimpinellifoliae (Scotch Roses)
Breeder Roy E. Shepherd
Year 1956
Place of origin U.S.A.
Parents (Soeur Therese x R. pimpinellifolia altaica) x Ormiston Roy
Flowering Continuous
Scent Fruity
The American Roy Shepherd, an amateur nurseryman, obtained the Golden Wings rose, trying to take advantage of the qualities of “Altaica” to obtain bushy roses, with continuous flowering and above all resistant to cold, wind and rain.
YORK AND LANCASTER
Group to which it belongs Gallicanae
Ornamental group Damask
Place of origin Great Britain
Year 1551
Scent Strong and sweet
Flowering Single, summer
It is a rose obtained by an unknown hybridiser in Great Britain around Year 1550. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that some of its scented and semi-double flowers are a fleshy pink colour and others white on the same plant. This characteristic gave the variety its name 'York and Lancaster' in memory of the War of the Roses, a bloody dynastic struggle fought in England between 1455 and 1485 between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. In the Lancastrian coat of arms there was a red rose, in that of the Yorkists a white rose. For the first time in thirty years, the white rose and the red rose were linked and, to symbolize this union, this particular rose was created.
BALLERINA
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Hybrid musk
Breeder Ann Bentall
Year 1937
Place of origin Great Britain
Flowering Continuous
This rose was created by one of the very few female hybridisers, called Ann Bentall.
Together with her husband John, they were both gardeners for the Reverend Joseph Pemberton, well known as the creator of the hybrid musk roses.
Ann Bentall learned all the techniques of hybridisation and propagation of roses so that she was able to create some such as “Ballerina”, the “The Fairy”, the “Buff Beauty” and many others.
The Ballerina is a bushy shrub, erect and dense. The branches are pleasantly arched, so much so as to remind us of the sweet moves of a dancer.
ALBERIC BARBIER
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Wichurana
Breeder Barbier Frères & Compagnie
Year 1900
Place of origin France
Parents R. luciae x 'Shirley Hibbard'
Scent Delicious and musky
Flowering Summer, single
The history of this rose began around 1900 when René Barbier, the son of the founder of the Barbier Frères & Compagnie nursery, decided to create the most famous and most appreciated rambler rose in the world: the Alberic Barbier. It was obtained from the hybridization of Rosa luciae, a climbing species native to Japan, used for its evergreen foliage and characterized by its shiny dark green colour, with the Shirley Hibbard rose to exploit the colour and size of its flowers.
From this moment on, the Barbiers were committed to creating different varieties of roses, such as Albertine and Paul Transon. These varieties of rambler roses, appreciated for the beauty and size of their flowers, take their names from members of the same family.
LADY HILLINGDON CLIMBING
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Tea
Breeder Hicks
Year 1917
Place of origin Great Britain
Parents Papa Gontier' x 'Mme Host'
Scent Strongly of tea
Flowering Continuous
This rose was created in 1910 by the English hybridisers Lowe and Shawyer, crossing the Papa Gontier and Madame Hoste roses, giving life to the Lady Hillingdon bush rose, but only in 1917 did the climbing mutation appear as a result of work by the hybridiser Hicks. It is part of the tea rose group and can be considered the most refined and elegant of them. It was dedicated to Alice Marion Harbord (1857-1940) the wife of the conservative banker Lord Hillingdon. The first thing that strikes one is the barely noticeable gesture, typical of tea roses, of bowing their flower heads towards the viewer, creating a very beautiful effect, particularly enhanced by the climbing shape. The flowers, produced in great abundance until the first frosts, open from tapered buds in open cups that invite the viewer to get closer to enjoy the sweet scent, often described as “tea with a touch of apricot”.
TUSCANY SUPERB
Group to which it belongs Gallicanae
Ornamental group Gallica
Breeder Thomas Rivers & Son Ltd.
Year Before 1837
Place of origin Great Britain
Parents Mutation of Tuscany
Scent Light and sweet
Flowering Summer, single
The curiosity of this rose is that it was one of the few Gallica roses obtained in England. The “father” of this hybridisation was Thomas Rivers, very well known as a fruit tree hybridiser. The petals have the tendency to fold back on themselves in the heart of the flower. It produces large and rich flowers of a very intense purple colour.
MME. ISAAC PEREIRE
Ornamental group Bourbon
Breeder Garçon
Year 1881
Place of origin France
Scent Very strong and sweet
Flowering Continuous
The rose Mme. Isaac Pereire was dedicated to the wife of the most prestigious and well-known French banker of the time.
Obtained by the French hybridiser Garçon, it is one of the most hated and at the same time most loved varieties. Thanks to its very powerful sweet scent, it is still used today for the extraction of rose essence, and this quality earned it a special prize in 1993 from the Royal Horticultural Society. Its thin and very thorny branches throughout the summer season host rich and heavy cup-shaped flowers, which during the autumn take on carmine tones.
SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Bourbons
Breeder Beluze
Year 1843
Place of origin France
Parents Mme Desprez' x a hybrid Tea
Scent Strong, sweet and fruity
Flowering Continuous
For the creation of this rose, we can trace back to Josephine Bonaparte and her strong desire to enrich the garden of her palace with beautiful roses.
Josephine was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, from 1796 to 1809. While the emperor was leading the Egyptian Campaign, Josephine bought a palace near Paris, the Malmaison. When she arrived at the residence she was not at all satisfied with the roses present as they were small and did not re-flower. At that time, the first roses arriving from Persia were beginning to be marketed, so she ordered her husband's army to buy about two hundred of them. She called John Kennedy of the Hammersmith Vineyard Nursery in London, as an advisor for her garden. She commissioned the Belgian painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté to reproduce the roses in her garden to preserve and pass on in a publication, entitled “Jardin de la Malmaison”, the illustrations accompanied by the explanations of the botanist Etienne-Pierre Ventenat. As you can well imagine, roses were her greatest passion and motivated her to create something that could survive over time together with her name. In honour of his great passion and the rose garden he created, in 1843 the French hybridiser Jean Béluze dedicated a cross of the Mme Desprez' rose with a tea rose to the Empress who loved roses so much, giving life to a delicate but at the same time very refined and very beautiful rose: the Souvenir de la Malmaison.
MOZART
Ornamental group Hybrid musk
Breeder Peter Lambert
Year 1937
Place of origin Germany
Parents Robin Hood x Rote Pharisäer
Scent Delicate, sweet and musky
Flowering Continuous
The Mozart rose was the last creation of a hybrid musk rose launched by the hybridiser Peter Lambert. Its white and pink flowers at the height of flowering enrich the plant with large bouquets of flowers. It is very reminiscent of the Ballerina rose, but has a greater resistance to fungal diseases.
ALCHYMIST
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Modern climbers
Breeder Reimer Kordes
Year 1956
Place of origin Germany
Parents 'Golden Glow' x R. eglanteria hybrid
Scent Strong and fruity
Flowering Single, summer
An unusual and beautiful climbing rose of medium habit, with deep green foliage. Robust and very thorny, the flowers are double, in quarters with a rich mix of colours from yellow to orange with a strong scent. It survives well on poor soils and in semi-shaded positions.
GUINÉE
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Large-flowered climbing hybrid tea
Breeder Charles Mallerin
Year 1938
Place of origin France
Parents Souvenir de Claudius Denoyel x Ami Quinard
Scent Decisive and sweet
Flowering Repeating or reflowering
This is a rose that does not like prolonged exposure to the sun very much. Its great peculiarity lies in its wonderful flowers that seem to be made of a carmine velvet that emanate a strong sugary scent.
MOONLIGHT
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Hybrid musk
Breeder Rev. Joseph Hardwick Pemberton
Year 1913
Place of origin Great Britain
Parents Trier x Sulphurea
Scent Musky and sweet
Flowering Continuous
The father of this rose was the Reverend Joseph Hardwick Pemberton who is remembered for having created the hybrid Musks, as in this case, with the rose “Moonlight”.
In 1914 he retired from ecclesiastical duties, dedicating himself exclusively to the cultivation of roses with the intent of recovering the “grandmother's roses” that had fascinated him so much in his childhood.
He founded the Pemberton Nursery where he kept all the roses created from his studies. Upon his death he left his creations to the gardeners Jack and Ann Bentall who continued his work, creating new rose varieties.
The rose “Moonlight” takes its name precisely because at the moment of its flowering it recalls the full moon, dictated by the ivory white colours.
CLAIR MATIN
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Modern climbing
Breeder Meilland
Year 1960
Place of origin France
Parents (Fashion x Independence) x Nameless Multiflora seedplant
Scent Sweet
Flowering Continuous
The Meilland family has been creating roses for more than six generations. Their incessant research led them to success around 1930 when the son, understanding the requirements of the American market, introduced their creation “Mme. A. Meilland” which was sold under the name “Peace” in the United States. From this success also came the rose “Clair Matin” (literally “Morning Light”) which recalls the pink colours of the first light of the morning. It is a vigorous climber with abundant flowering and continues until the first frosts of winter.
COCKTAIL
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Modern bush
Breeder Meilland
Year 1957
Place of origin France
Parents (Independence x Orange Triumph) x Phyllis Bide
Scent Fruity
Flowering Continuous
The Meilland family has been creating roses for more than six generations. Their incessant research work led them to success around 1930 when the son, understanding the needs of the American market, introduced their creation “Mme A. Meilland” which in America was sold under the name “Peace”. The “Cocktail” rose, a name given to it perhaps inspired by the bright colours of the cocktails served at that time, is a plant that can be grown as a bush or as in this case as a climber. Its flowering brings joy to everyone
NEW DAWN
Ornamental group Wichurana
Breeder Somerset Rose Company
Year 1930
Place of origin U.S.A.
Parents Mutation of the 'Dr Van Fleet'
Scent Sweet
Flowering Continuous
The elegance and charm of this rose, dictated by its pale pink colour and its habit rather like that of old roses, is the basis of all modern climbing roses. Created in 1930 in the Somerset Rose Company in the USA, it is a cross between a Rosa wichuriana and a hybrid Tea, easy to grow in any garden.
ALBA MAXIMA
Group to which it belongs Caninae
Ornamental group Alba
Breeder Unknown
Year Before 1500
Place of origin Europe
Scent Sweet and strong
Flowering Single
This is one of the oldest roses, which, with its elegance, manages to produce approximately 1000 flowers per season. It is said that this rose was already cultivated by the ancient Romans and most likely the white rose on the coat of arms of the York family can be traced back to this variety. Like almost all ancient rose varieties, the spectacle of flowering, can only be appreciated once a year.
CORNELIA
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Hybrid musk
Breeder Pemberton
Year 1925
Place of origin Great Britain
Scent Decisive, sweet and musky
Flowering Continuous
The father of this rose was the Reverend Joseph Hardwick Pemberton who is remembered for having created the hybrid musks, as in this case, the Cornelia rose.
In 1914 he retired from ecclesiastical duties, dedicating himself exclusively to the cultivation of roses with the intent of recovering the "grandmother's roses" that had fascinated him so much in his childhood.
He founded the Pemberton Nursery where he kept all the roses created from his studies. Upon his death he left his creations to the gardeners Jack and Ann Bentall who continued his work, creating new rose varieties. The parentage of the “Cornelia” rose is not very clear, but it was certainly hybridized from a hybrid tea. Its pink flowers that intensify their shade in autumn, appear in bunches that sometimes, as a result of their weight, cause the branches to arch over, making them look like waterfalls.
BELLE VICHYSSOISE
Ornamental group Noisette
Breeder Lévèque
Year Late 1800s
Place of origin France
Scent Intense
Flowering Reflowering
This rose was discovered by Lévèque around 1895 in a garden near Vichy, France.
It produces many small semi-double flowers of a pinkish white colour. The very fragrant bunches of flowers are carried by long branches that climb up to 4 metres. In winter it offers a show of small red rose hips.
ROSA COMPLICATA
Group to which it belongs Gallicanae
Ornamental group Gallica
Breeder Unknown
Place of origin Unknown
Year Before 1800
Scent Light and sweet
Flowering Single, summer
The name of this rose is really an oxymoron, as the simplicity of its flowers does not correspond to the name “complicated”.
It is a hybrid between a dog rose and a Gallic rose. Of French origin, it has enjoyed a great success in Britain.
It is one of the few roses that closes when it senses nightfall, and then reopens during the hours of daylight. It blooms only once a season. Its flowers, in bunches of two to five, are large and very simple, cup-shaped and bright pink with a white heart and a crown of golden pistils. It can reach up to 4 metres in height.
VARIEGATA DI BOLOGNA
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Bourbons
Breeder Massimiliano Lodi
Year Before 1909
Place of origin Italy
Scent Strong and sweet
Flowering Repeat or recurring
If today we are able to admire this spectacle of a striped rose, we owe it to the skill of the hybridiser Massimiliano Lodi who, at the time, was in charge of the production of cut roses for the florists of the city of Bologna. Hired by the Bonfiglioli company, founded in 1883, he dedicated himself to the creation of new plants for the market. In 1909 he created the “Variegata di Bologna”.
Its peculiarity, which makes it exotic, is the characteristic streaking that it has on the large, globose flowers.
ROSERAIE DE L’HAY
Group to which it belongs Cassiorhodon
Ornamental group Rugosa
Year 1901
Place of origin France
Scent Strong, sweet and fruity
Flowering Continuous
Juls Gravereaux created a rose garden called Val-de-Marne in l’Hay, a small French town. His aim was to collect all the roses of the Empress Josephine, so that they would not be lost over time. He managed to create a collection with about 8,000 species and varieties, for a total of about 13,000 plants, open to the public. Today this rose garden is home to about 3,300 varieties. The rose “Roseraie de l’Hay”, which takes its name from the famous rose garden of the grower Jules Gravereaux, is a rose much loved for the strangeness of its flowers, because of the petals that look like crumpled tissue paper of a very intense purple-red. In autumn it is enriched with special colours.
KATHLEEN HARROP
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Climbing Bourbons
Breeder Alexander Dickson II
Year 1919
Place of origin Great Britain
Parents Mutation of Zephirine Drouhin'
Scent Light and sweet
Flowering Continuous
This is a Bourbon rose of British origin. It is a natural mutation of the Zephrine Drouhin rose.
The semi-double corollas have a very pleasant shell-pink colour and it boasts being one of the few roses without thorns.
ZEPHIRINE DROUHIN
Group to which it belongs Chinensis
Ornamental group Climbing Bourbon
Breeder Bizot
Year 1868
Place of origin France
Scent Very strong and sweet
Flowering Continuous
This rose was created by the French hybridiser Bizot, combining a Boursault rose and a repeat-flowering hybrid rose. The birth of this rose was dedicated to the wife of a rose grower from Semur-en-Auxois, on the French Riviera: Mme. Zephirine Drouhin.
ALBERTINE
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Wichurana
Breeder Barbier Frères & Compagnie
Year 1921
Place of origin France
Parents R. wichuraiana x 'Mrs Arthur Robert Waddell'
Scent Strong and sweet
Flowering Single
The history of this rose began around 1900 when René Barbier, the son of the founder of the Barbier Frères & Compagnie nursery, decided to create the most famous and most appreciated rambler rose in the world: the Albéric Barbier.
From this moment on, the Barbiers committed themselves to creating different varieties of roses, such as the Albertine. These varieties of wichurana rambler roses, appreciated for the beauty and size of their flowers, take their names from members of the Barbier family.
The Albertine rose, with the refinement of its pink flowers, enriches the air with a unique fragrance during its brief, single flowering.
RAMBLING RECTOR
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Ornamental group Multiflora climbers
Place of origin Ireland
Year Before 1912
Scent Strong, musky and delicious
Flowering Single, summer
No one knows the origins of this rose, but its tenacity. even reaching 6 metres in height, is famous. It is said to have been found in the garden of an Irish priest in 1912, but its origins lie much further back.
Its white flowers, gathered in many bunches on its very long branches, are very fragrant. In the autumn and winter period it is covered with very small orange rose-hips.
LAURE’ DAVOUST
Group to which it belongs Noisette
Year 1834
Place of origin France
Scent Strong and musky
Flowering Single
This rose is difficult to classify because for some authors it might be an early multiflora, while for others it may be a hybrid of Rosa sempervirens and a noisette.
This rose was probably dedicated to the Marshal of the French Empire, Louis-Nicolas Davout (1770-1823), but there are no certainties handed down as to its origin.
KIFTSGATE
Group to which it belongs Synstylae
Breeder E. Murrel
Year 1954
Place of origin Great Britain
Parents Mutation or form of R. filipes
Scent Strong and musky
Flowering Single
This rose appeared spontaneously for the first time in the garden of Kiftsgate Court Gardens, in Great Britain, which is why it is given the name of “Kiftsgate”. It is probably a variant of the Chinese Climbing Rose “Filipes”. Today the original plant has reached 25 metres in height and stands on a beech tree. Its small, elegant white flowers give way to lovely orange rose hips in autumn.