Collecting Roses

Blooming collections bring surprise

 

Clockwise from left, CONSTANCE SPRY with parents DAINTY MAID and BELLE ISIS.

By Carolyn Parker

IT COULD be Elvis memorabilia, 1950’s lunchboxes, ceramic frogs, orchids, roses. Many of us love to collect–one friend told me she was born with a collecting gene. Me too!
I began collecting roses, because I couldn’t resist a pretty face and I became addicted to observing their growth process. Watching a spindly cutting or a bare root shrub transform into a leafy beauty covered in blooms, provides endless entertainment for me.
My friend Marilyn’s father collected Jackson & Perkins Hybrid Teas. He treasured his roses and ordered a new one, each year, from the much-anticipated catalog. After a day working in the garden, he’d harvest a single bloom and place it in a bud vase on a table, next to his recliner. Then he’d sit down with a beer to enjoy, commune, and watch his rose unfurl.

Collecting old cemetary roses

Some rose lovers collect cuttings of heritage roses from cemeteries. From the early 1800’s, families commemorated parted loved ones by planting roses at their gravesites. Many lovely Chinas and Teas, which went out of fashion with changing times, can still be found thriving on neglect in old cemeteries. The China rose, HERMOSA, is one I’m especially fond of. I was delighted to find out that my friend Pamela had collected cuttings of HERMOSA from three different cemeteries. Now, as a tribute to historic preservation, all three are growing together in her garden.
As a child living in San Miguel, Anne Belovich loved collecting butterflies and sea life. Ed Ricketts, the biologist who inspired Steinbeck’s famed character, Doc, even hired her to collect seaweed. Later, she became a marine botanist and instructor, contributing specimens to the herbarium at UCLA. After retiring and moving to Stanwood, Washington, roses caught her attention. Before long a stunning collection of David Austin roses encircled the beds surrounding her home.
When Anne discovered antique or heritage roses, her collecting gene really kicked in. To her dismay, she found that many of the roses she read about and wanted were unavailable in the US. She applied for an importing license, and for the past twelve years, has continuously received rare roses from Europe. When Anne becomes interested in the roses bred by particular hybridizers, she tries to collect them all.

Collect roses by their hybridzer

Her collections include roses by Barbier, Van Fleet, Walsh, and Geschwind. She also has a collection of KIFTSGATE hybrids that climb into vast trees, on her property. Nineteen of Alberic Barbier’s gorgeous pastel-colored ramblers cover a progression of five pergolas creating an enchanted walkway. In Anne’s garden, her collections provide a unique opportunity for studying characteristics and appreciating the various groups she’s amassed.

Collect roses by their geneology

While researching my book R is for Rose, rose parentage became an intriguing subject when I learned that ICEBERG'S parents were a white Hybrid Tea named VIRGO, and a red Hybrid Musk named ROBIN HOOD. A red rose helped parent the famed white ICEBERG? Curious, I wanted to grow them both and see for myself the characteristics they passed on. VIRGO has never thrived in my garden, however her pretty blooms do look similar to Iceberg’s. ROBIN HOOD, vigorous and cluster flowering, is obviously responsible for Iceberg’s fast repeat and lush bloom clusters. The three roses are fun for show and tell in the garden.
Stanwell Perpetual is another rose I had to have. While still a teenager, this one inspired David Austin to try hybridizing. Since it was a fragrant old rose that rebloomed, he wanted to try for the same, but with more modern colors. The pink climber CONSTANCE SPRY was the result of his first cross. A huge commercial success, and she had such interesting parents; again, I wanted the whole family. CONSTANCE climbs at the southwest corner of our house–parents BELLE ISIS and DAINTY MAID grow nearby.
There are as many ways to collect roses, as there are individuals. Research especially seems to encourage collectors–it’s natural to want to know more, and from first hand experience. When my deer fence was complete, I had the opportunity to collect climbers and ramblers. There are so many to choose from. Exploring the possibilities attracted me to Tea roses, which I have yet to indulge in the way I dream of.
Collecting within color stories is also interesting. Amassing the ideal white or red, the best pink, yellow or peach roses from each family, leads down pathways I won’t even begin to describe. Collecting roses is great fun; you never know where it will lead you. Surprises are a constant when you have the collecting gene.    http://www.rosesfromatoz.com/collecting.html