Only One Old Garden Rose...by Ivy Bodin  If I could have a place for only one old garden rose, what rose should I grow? It is an ancient rose portending of success through the ages. Rose de Rescht is a strong bushy Portland Rose that repeat flowers well in Southern California.    It is a winning old garden rose for the San Diego environment. It was brought to England by Miss Nancy Lindsay from Iran or France in or  about 1941 and has the feel of an old Persian garden rose of ancient times.  Its purplish crimson blooms  of two to three inches are nicely placed usually  on short stems against ample rough-textured deep green foilage with signs of Gallica rose family influence in both flower and leaf.  The bloom assumes  a flatish quartered look as it opens and when fully open with dark yellow stamens showing, it resembles a full zinnia- like pompom.  The bloom exudes a wonderful perfume .  There tend to be many single perfectly formed blooms on long stems with overly large leaves in relation to the bloom size.  Occassionally there will also be clusters of blooms of 3 or more in size.  The bush makes a neat upright growth about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide and can be pruned to shape and control its size in this ideal rose growing environment.  It is a very easy care rose variety with healthy leaves always with only a slight propensity toward mildew when the fungus is all around.  Black spot is unheard of and rust exceptionally absent.   When we say roses, we tend to think of roses as those modern perfectly formed  triangular shaped blooms  growing on large modern bushes that are vigorously pruned here in our locale  regularly ,  and that we obtain from our corner nursery or   local merchandising center.  This is not the case with Rose de Rescht.  You will probably not be able to locate it in a usual rose retail outlet.    Some special local nurseries and gardens or outlets may have it.  Otherwise you must get one of those old garden rose catalogues and mail order it or order from a nursery on the internet.   Besides the dilemma of availability,  Old garden roses  when successful tend to prosper and grow into large or massive bushes, most usually 4 x 4 feet and larger. Their enormous size in this successful  growing environment is a vital consideration.  They tend to require a bit more room than modern roses as they are not pruned the same way or as regularly.  Most old garden rose bushes take 3 years to 5 years to mature and produce  the finest blooms and look  attractive in garden landscapes.  Usually the more minimum the pruning ,the more of a mature bush remains to produce blooms. An additional kudo for Rose de Rescht is that it shows nicely in  rose society shows usually as Victorian  Award.  Many blooms are usually readily available to enter shows and many nicely formed blooms of this rose variety  continue to win awards. If you are inclined to be attracted to this old garden rose, get it.  Very little is really known by rose historians  about this rose.  It is a stunning survivor of the ages and an extremely productive garden plant .  It has bloomed  in my garden many  months of this last year with some fertilizer and water and no chemical sprays.  It is very thorny. It can be grown in partial shade. The blooms as with most OGRs last only a few days.  My own plant has been in a large pot for 8 years, and continues to thrive.  ______________________________________________________________

Your Second Old Garden Rose...by Ivy Bodin Reine Des Violettes is another purple old garden rose that is highly recommended for San Diego gardens.  It is a member of the Hybrid perpetual rose family  dating back to 1860 and it  is  exhibited  in rose society shows in the Dowager Queen class.  This rose, like  its compatriot Rose de Rescht,  exhibits strong Gallica influences, that ancient family of roses   believed to be the oldest cultivated garden roses. and lending an influence to almost all roses since.  The 4 to 5 inch blooms are  full petalled rosette formation opening flat  and quartered and packed with hundreds of petals with an almost indescribable deep velvety purple shading towards magenta with hints of turquoise blue, lilac and lavender.  The roses have a slight fragrance and are born on long lax, thornless  stems that have a 4 to 5 feet upright growth pattern.  Foilage is of a rough textured soft and elegant  gray green type that seems particularly resistant to disease and pests. Some minor mildew may occur when the fungus is prevalent and likewise for rust. Blackspot is not experienced.  I have seen extremely tall lax plants ( 5 to 10 feet square) blooming profusely in our good rose growing environment and I also have seen heavily pruned treatment of this variety as a low hedge  in our locale producing a many bloomed hybrid-tea-like bloom effect.  This variety provides a very heavy Spring bloom with some  intermittent later bloom. It is semi shade tolerant.  Deadheading produces more bloom in this variety as in its described  companion Rose de Rescht.  Availability of this rose will  pose a dilemma as it too would not likely be handled by local rose nurseries.  Most probably a specialty nursery or mail order would be appropriate.  Relative to the garden friendliness of this variety--beware.  It can grow extremely large, but then too it can be pruned heavily and shape and size control be managed.  This pruning, however, does interfere with its reblooming propensity.  This is a rose variety with a lovely flowered bloom that all old garden rose enthusiasts should have in the San Diego area.

'A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.' Chinese proverb Photographs by Ivy Bodin