Roses have a place in history

Five years ago, neither of us would have considered planting a rose in our garden. Too much trouble - deadly chemicals, ugly styrofoam cones, bushes that look like spiky lollipops with diseased foliage, artificial-looking flowers with no scent. We would have none of that.

Then we discovered old roses - beautiful, soft-colored fragrant roses we didn't have to fuss over. We started hunting out every book we could find on old roses. Next came the catalogs - old roses weren't available locally at the time, so mail order was the way to go.

Throughout history, people have had a love affair with roses. Unfortunately, most gardeners do not share the same fondness. Because roses are often viewed as the one plant needing the most care - pampered through special pruning, winter protection and chemical sprays - gardeners are reluctant to grow them.

Roses are ancient. Fossils have been found in Colorado that are estimated to be 35 million years old. There are at least 200 known species of roses. For centuries, humans have been mixing species to create new forms and colors. Varieties that were first bred a few hundred years ago are enjoying a new popularity as classic or antique roses.

Antique roses differ from modern roses in that the flower has a looser form, is softer colored, more cupped or rounded, and has more fragrance. The more-modern hybrid tea rose dates from around the turn of the century and has a high-centered bloom atop stiff canes. These roses were bred to produce cut flowers, not a handsome shrub.

Antique roses are usually tucked into very leafy shrubs with arching canes and dull green leaves. But what truly sets them apart is that generally they are more winter hardy and more disease resistant than most modern roses. Indeed, the current rise in popularity of antique roses has spurred many new introductions with many of the same characteristics. But what these new introductions lack is the history that has been with roses for centuries.

Roses have been an important part of many cultures. Romans used roses in many rituals and celebrations. There was a vast trade in rose petals in ancient Egypt. In art, roses were depicted in ancient Chinese watercolors, as well as paintings from Persia and India. Roses appeared as a symbol of Mary in Renaissance paintings, in Western European churches. During the Middle Ages, towns centered their economies around the production and trade of rose products. Since the 14th century, using roses to produce oil for the perfume industry has been continuing unstopped in parts of Turkey and Bulgaria.

The United States has a large number of native varieties. In addition, immigrants arriving in the United States brought with them familiar roses from their homelands. In some areas of the country, it is tradition for each new bride to take a cutting of the family's rose bush with her to her new home.

Because of their toughness and adaptability, roses tend to out-live the structures against which they were planted. Many an abandoned farmstead or old tombstone still has an old rose clinging to' it. These are the qualities that have endeared roses to people for generations and that make growing antique roses so easy and rewarding.

Most antique roses require well- drained soil, moderate fertility and some sun. Some will grow in shade, for example, or less fertile soil. Most can tolerate our winters without protection. Few need more than a slight pruning each year.

There are many types or classes of antique roses that have been developed throughout the cen turies, each with its own distinctive look.

There are low growing mound- shaped roses, perfect for in front of a border, like those of the Polyantha class.

There are rounded shrubs with highly fragrant deep colors of great antiquity like those of the Gallica class.

The Damask roses -lighter colored, tall shrubs with intensely scented blooms - may have originated in the Middle East and been brought to Europe with the returning crusaders.

Albas came from the native rose of the British Isles, are usually softly colored with gray-green leaves and have a sweet fragrance and a tough constitution.

The famous Cabbage rose with hundreds of petals swirling round a center was a favorite of the Dutch masters in paintings, arid some of these Centifolia roses even developed a fuzzy growth on the stems and buds that became the Moss roses.

A great debt of gratitude is owed to Empress Josephine of France who collected all the known roses of her day to grow in her garden outside Paris.

By the mid-l800s, these were the most common types known but only a small percentage of these varieties are still available to gardeners now. Soon after that time, traders began bringing back roses from the Far East. These exciting new plants were soon being crossed with the European varieties to produce new colors and longer bloom periods.

New classes like Bourbon and Portland were developed, with big fragrant rounded blooms from summer into fall. Eventually, the hybrid perpetuals came into fashion with huge flowers.

The hybrid musks introduced short climbers with large cluster of fragrant small blooms by the 1920s.

With the advent of the first hybrid teas soon after, the public was in love with huge blooms on still stems and many of the older varieties became less popular. Soon the nurseries were no longer growing them and they became all but forgotten.

Some of these new roses came with a price -- less winter hardiness, even the absence of scent and the need for extra care to ward off diseases. But the public was willing to fuss with these for their unique look.

Today, many gardeners are less willing to immediately grab a chemical spray or a protective covering to keep their roses looking their best. Most would be willing to give roses another try if it were easier to care for them. Antique roses may be the alternative. They have beauty, fragrance, hardiness and enough different colors and shapes to fit any garden spot.
Besides, they've made it this far through history to prove they have staying power.

Now, five years after our discovery, neither of us would want to live without roses. In fact, we're at the point where we are always looking for another spot for a rose. Soon there won't be any grass to cut.
Lenore Gallucci Foster, a Penn State Master Gardener from Stormstown manages the greenhouse at Tait Farm Food in Boalsburg.

Mary Beth Ruby. a Penn State Master Gardener from Bellefonte, works at the nursery at the State College Agway.

You can arrange to speak with a Master Gardener by contacting the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office of Centre County at 355-4897.