Rose Notes

Vintage Gardens Roses and Flickr Tips

Buff Beauty

Mrs. Oakley Fisher

Dr. Brownell

Crepescule

Perle d'Or

All these luscious roses grow in my garden and were purchased at Vintage Gardens. This renowned mail-order nursery, owned by Gregg Lowery, is located in Sebastopol, California. Rare, antique, hard-to-find, and modern roses are included in the Vintage Gardens nursery collection. More than three thousand cultivars make the collection the largest in the world.

I'm ever grateful for this unique nursery, but gratitude can't keep a business afloat during these challenging economic times. On October 31st, Gregg Lowery sent out a newsletter stating that Vintage Gardens would be scaling back production in the future.

In Gregg's words copied directly from the newsletter: The very good news for today is that Vintage Gardens is extremely well-stocked with roses, most of which will not see a return to our inventory for many years to come. We hope this will help you to make the easy choice between a latté on monday morning and a lifetime with a rose in your garden, and in your heart.

To take advantage of this rare opportunity, download the availability lists on the Vintage Gardens home page.

Vintage Gardens also has a catalog (only $15.00) that is one of my favorite rose research tools. It's invaluable, not only for its three thousand rose descriptions, but also for its rose lineage information. And the line drawings, showing shrub size in relation to human figures, have helped countless times in my rose planning.

'Perle d'Or', the last rose photograph in the group above, has the #5 growth habit.

The Unknown Rose

Now, if Gregg pops in to see this post, I hope he can tell me the name of the rose, above. It's a climber by the hybridizer, Poulsen. I'm sorry to say, I misplaced the label.

Gregg got back to me right away; it's not a Poulsen rose after all. This is 'Opal Brunner', a Polyantha Climber bred by O. C. Marshall in 1948.

F L I C K R

All the roses in this post are in my Flickr Rose Faces Set. I added more roses to the set recently, and thought it might be a good idea to post the Flickr Tips for you again. Most of the roses, and all the rare ones, in the group are in the Vintage Gardens collection.

Flickr Tips

When you click on a rose picture (in the flashing flickr box), in the sidebar at the left of the post, above, you’re taken to that rose’s flickr page, which has a number of choices– starting from the top right at my picture:

1. If you click on my pic, you’ll be at home page. Don’t go there at this point.
2. The “Carolyn Parker’s photostream” thumbnails are all the pictures I’ve loaded to flickr; some are not roses. Don’t go there yet either.
3. The next set of thumbnails “Rose Faces (Set)” are where I’d like you to experiment. If you click on a picture, you can see the roses one-at-a-time, and the captions, and helpmefind links.
4. If you click on the little screen icon where it says, “­­­­__ items,” the slide show will begin. Before you click, get the popcorn or a cup of tea . . .
5. See where it says “Tags” in pale gray? Try clicking on a rose color, say “peach rose,” you’ll be taken to a page that shows all the peach roses in the set. How great is that?
6. Now, click on the title (also in pale gray) that says “Rose Faces (Set).” Voila, there they all are.
7. Last but not least, simply placing the curser on a rose in the set grid, will flash the rose's name.

Enjoy!

November 4

Rose Faces (rose portraits)

One has silvery undersides; another is unknown (to me– ouch, I thought I knew the name); one is ancient Chinese; another is Persian (also very old); the French one was named after a village on the outskirts of Paris; one almost stops my heart; another was a hybridzer’s dream come true; and yet another is a perpetual prize winner.

One of these roses is only 1.5-inches across; another measures 7-inches; one has more than a hundred petals; two have only five; seven of these beauties are fragrant; one is renown for its “bad smell”–– rose diversity will always be a miracle to me.

If you can’t guess their names, click on the little flashing flickr box (in the sidebar) and enter what Camilla calls “the rose spa.” You’ll not only find the rose names, you can learn more about each rose by clicking on the helpmefind  link under each picture, or just bliss out in the slide show.

Flickr Tips

When you click on a rose picture (in the flashing flickr box), you’re taken to that rose’s flickr page, which has a number of choices– starting from the top right at my picture:

1. If you click on my pic, you’ll be at home page. Don’t go there at this point.
2. The “Carolyn Parker’s photostream” thumbnails are all the pictures I’ve loaded to flickr; some are not roses. Don’t go there yet either.
3. The next set of thumbnails “Rose Faces (Set)” are where I’d like you to experiment. If you click on a picture, you can see the roses one-at-a-time, and the captions and helpmefind links.
4. If you click on the little screen icon where it says, “­­­­__ items,” the slide show will begin. Before you click, get the popcorn or a cup of tea . . .
5. See where it say “Tags” in pale gray? Try clicking on a rose color, say “peach rose,” you’ll be taken to a page that shows all the peach roses in the set. How great is that?
6. Now, click on the title (also in pale gray) that says “Rose Faces (Set).” Voila, there they all are.

I just had to list all the above, because it took me so long to figure it out. I hope this is helpful when you are wishing and dreaming up rose lists, as the leaves fall or the snow flies.

Enjoy! 

Tea Roses Part I

A Visual Feast from Jocelen Janon

        Kauri Creek Bouquet– the light rose is 'Baronne Henriette de Snoy', the other is most likely  'Archduc Joseph' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

When I saw this photo on Jocelen Janon’s Facebook page, it made my head spin with even more love for Tea Roses. The picture also reminded me of how much I look forward to studying the roses gathered each year at The Celebration of Old Roses. Eight-foot tables display collections from each rose family – Gallicas, Damasks, Albas, Centifolias, Mosses, Chinas, Portlands, Hybrid Perpetuals, Teas, and many more are poised to be passionately observed. It’s a unique opportunity to see the special characteristics particular to each group. It’s also a great time to compile your wish list.
The 2009 Celebration of Old Roses is on May 17, from 11:00 to 4:30 at the Community Center in El Cerrito, CA, at Moeser and Ashbury.

At the 2007 Celebration, I was newly infatuated with Tea roses, and had a wonderful time  choosing the roses I wanted in my garden. Since my Teas are small, and I don't have that many photos, I asked Jocelen if he would like to share his Tea images and be this post's guest photographer. He generously agreed. 

'General Gailieni' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

        'Papa Gontier' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

I particularly enjoy how Jocelen likes to photograph roses both in the garden and in the vase. His work is exquisitely represented on his website, Rosarosam, which is a vast treasury of roses, rose gardens, and beautifully illustrated articles about roses.

'General Schablikine' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

        'E Veryat Hermanos' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

'Jeanette Nicol' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

'Comtesse de Labarthe' photographed by Jocelen Janon.

Jocelen Janon was born in France, and has lived in New Zealand for the last six years. He has a fine arts degree and began his photography career with architecture and events, and now includes horticulture and food. He was a contributor to the recently published Australian book, ‘Tea Roses: Old Roses for Warm Climates.’

Thanks Jocelen !

Sacramento Cemetery – Open Garden

'Gloire des Rosomanes', a Bourbon rose also known as 'Ragged Robin', is seldom without a bee in its bonnet.

I often write about cemeteries as the source of old rose discoveries, but I’ve rarely shown cemetery pictures. Since the Sacramento Old City Cemetery is having its big Open Garden on Saturday, April 18, I thought it would be fun to post a few photos that I’ve taken there in the past two years.

   

Festive tents behind a massive shrub of the China rose, 'Mutabalis', are a meeting place for information and rose sales. Rosarians, from all over California, gather to kick-start the rose season and enjoy Sacramento’s early blooming historic roses.

        A photographer, with a rose in her hat, is focused on  Rosa banksiae banksiae 'White Lady Banks', which is the double form and smells of violets. Really.

Many roses at the cemetery grow without bounds and can be seen frolicking high into tall trees. The garden contains more the 500 historic roses gathered from sites throughout California.

       My friend Mary Knowles is caught between the white 'Fortuniana', a Banksia hybrid also smelling of violets, and the vigorous Tea, 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' (a rose on my wish list).      

The cemetery was built on high ground as a protection from floods. Brick retaining walls, forming large square plots, raise the ground even higher, and have become ideal canvases for rose beauty and prowess.

        Rosa Brunonii 'La Mortola' [Himalayan Musk Rose] can easily scale a 40' tree.

California poppies scatter their seed amongst the roses as an appropriate and ideal underplanting.

       'De la Grifferaie' a Rambler whose name I love. Can anyone translate it? Let me know.

When Barbara Oliva and Anita Clevenger discovered that the city was storing old iron fencing pieces, they cleverly put them to use as fanciful tuteurs and arches.

        This is a foundling Rambler collected by both Joyce Demits and Fred Boutin. Joyce called hers 'Raspberry Ripples' and Fred called his 'North Bloomfield Raspberry' (the name it is labeled in the cemetery). Some think it could be 'Flora', a French rose from 1830. A plant from this rose will be in the silent auction.