Hip Old Roses for Sustainable Landscaping

Believe it or not, you can grow roses in a sustainable garden. Many old or antique roses and native roses are low maintenance, require no pesticides or frequent watering.

Texas A&M University Agriculture System has been conducting a hardiness study of many kinds of roses. In the study they plant many rose varieties out in a field in the hot Texas sun. Once they are established, the roses are left on their own and receive no watering, spraying or pruning. It's sink or swim for them. After 3 years, the ones that survive are designated "EarthKind" Roses. These roses possess the high level of landscape performance coupled with outstanding disease and insect tolerance and resistance required for this special designation. Very few (if any) of these trademarked EarthKind roses are hybrids. Almost all of them fall into the old rose category. These rose cultivars retain the resilience and fortitude that was programmed by nature.

Buy Old Fashioned Pink Rose Poster Print by naturalilly

This means that these roses will not require the use of harmful pesticides or fungicides so they are perfect for sustainable and eco-friendly landscaping. Unlike modern, hybrid roses, these beauties do not require hours of devoted attention. Old rose varieties will give the rose loving homeowner a rest from heavy fertilizing, spraying and nurturing that their hybrid cousins demand. Some old roses prefer a minimum amount of pruning. Many specimens were found living on their own in old cemeteries and home sites, untouched by human hands for years.

The new modern hybrids were bred for the size and shape of the individual flower, with little or no attention to the shape or form of the bush, so frequent pruning is necessary to make them look nice. Old roses have a natural beauty of form, a quality which does not diminish over the years. The colors of old roses are a little more muted that the more showy hybrids, but we prefer the soft pinks, yellows, whites and beautiful reds of the older varieties. And the fragrance of the old roses beats the modern hybrids, hands down.

Many of the old roses also have interesting foliage and colorful hips. These hips are a source of vitamin C and are quite delicious in tea, jelly and many other foods. Rose petals are also edible and have been used in aromatherapy for hundreds of years.

 

References: Chamblee's Rose Nursery and the Antique Rose Emporium. Both offer free catalogs which contain valuable information about old roses and their care.

Trailing Roses by xtinec1

Dwarf Shrubs
Mairie Daly - pink double blooms from April through November; mature HxW: 3'-4' x 3'- 4'; Category: Polyantha
The Fairy - light pink semi-double blooms from April through November; mature HxW: 2'-4' x 4'; Category: Polyantha

Small Shrubs
Caldwell Pink - Lilac Pink double blooms from May - November; mature HxW: 3'-4' x 3'; Category: China
Perle d'Or - Apricot Yellow, semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-6' x 3'-4'; Category: Polyantha

Medium Shrubs
Belinda's Dream - Pink, semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-6' x 3'-4'; Category: shrub
Carefree Beauty - Pink double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 4'-5' x 4'-5'; Category: shrub
Ducher - Pure white double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-5' x 3'-4'; Category: China
Duchesse de Brabant - Rose pink semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 4'-6 x 4'; Category: Tea
Else Poulsen - Pink single blooms from April-November; mature HxW: 3'-5' x 3'-4'; Category: Floribunda
Georgetown Tea - Pink blend double blooms from April- November; Mature HxW: 3'-5' x 4'; Category: Tea
Knock Out - Cherry red single blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-6' x 3'-6'; Category: Shrub
La Marne - Pink/White semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 4'-6' x 4'-5'; Category: Polyantha
Mme. Antoine Mari - Pink Blend double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-5' x 4'; Category: Tea
Souvenir de St. Anne's - Light Pink single blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 3'-4' x 2'-3'; Category: Bourbon

Large Shrubs
Mutabilis - Yellow/Pink/Orange single blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 4'-10' x 6'; Category: China

Climbers
Climbing Pinkie - Rose Pink semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 8'-12' x 6'; Category: Climbing Polyantha
New Dawn - Blush Pink semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 15'-20 x 8'-20'; Category: Shrub
Sea Foam - Creamy White double blooms from April-November; Mature HxW: 2'-8 x 4'; Category: Shrub

• Practice enlightened methods of bed preparation prior to planting flowers and woody plants.
• Get your soil tested. Contact your local County Agricultural Ectension Office for more information..
• Base choice of fertilizer on current soil test..
• Ensure 50 percent of nitrogen is in the slow-release (controlled release) form..
• Based on soil test, eliminate unnecessary, environmentally detrimental nutrients. That is, only add what your soil test says that you need..
• Practice year-round mulching using organic materials, preferably those that are on-hand..
• Practice good irrigation, using drip irrigation whenever possible and making use of on-site water..
• Change programming of overall irrigation system from automatic to manual..
• Modify irrigation system so that turf areas and landscape beds are in separate irrigation zones..
• Water thoroughly, but less frequently..
• Dramatically reduce pesticide usage by using it only as a last resort..

Old Roses
Louis Phillipe - Fragrant Crimson red double blooms from April-November; Mature: 3 to 5 feet, China Rose

Louis Phillipe Rose by naturegirl7

Noisette Roses - Cottage Rose that could be Champneys' Pink Cluster or Blush Noisette - pink semi-double blooms from April-November; Mature: 4 to 8 feet

Pink Noisette Roses by naturegirl7

Cherokee Rose - White single flowers in spring followed by large golden hips; This climbing rose from China has naturalized all over Southeastern Louisiana; Mature 5 to 15+ feet.

Cherokee Old Climbing Rose by naturegirl7


The Fairy - Light pink semi-double clusters blooming from April-November; Mature HxW: 2'-4' x 4'; Category: Polyantha and EarthKind

The Fairy Rose by naturegirl7

Jessie's Rose - Found near Coushatta, La on an abandoned homesite. Unknown very fragrant purplish-pink draping bush Rose that could be a form of Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris scandens) or "Maggie" (William C. Welch, Heirloom Plants of the South) It blooms in spring.

Jessie's Unknown Old Rose by naturegirl7

Duchess de Brabant - Fragrant Light Pink repeat blooms from April to November; Mature: 4 to 6 feet; Tea Rose and EarthKind

Caldwell Pink - Pink blend clusters repeat bloom from April to November; Mature: 3 to 4 feet, found Rose and EarthKind

Unknown Hardy Red Rose - Very fragrant, deep red double rose that was on the property which blooms from April to November; bright red rose-hips

Old Red Rose by naturegirl7

Small red cluster that I got at Albertson's 25 years ago. It is probably Happy, a polyantha Rose, Currant red tiny semidouble blooms from April-November. Mature: 2 to 3 feet.

Happy Old Rose by naturegirl7

Native Roses
Carolina Rose (Rosa Carolina)- single pink flowered shrub that grows in groups and is seldom over 3 feet tall.

Native Carolina Rose by naturegirl7

Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris) - More leggy shrub rose with pinkish-purple semi-double fragrant flowers.

During Victorian times young ladies and gentlemen made bouquets called "tussie mussies" which used the "language of flowers" to express their feelings about another. In 1884, Kate Greenaway published, "Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers". It is a remarkably complete listing of flowers, with their symbolic meaning, made more remarkable by Greenaway's illustrations. The following is an excerpt from Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers.

The Rose in the symbolic meanings of flowers:

Rose....Love
Rose, Austrian...Thou art all that is lovely.
Rose, Bridal... Happy love.
Rose, Burgundy... Unconscious beauty.
Rose, Cabbage... Ambassador of love.
Rose, Campion... Only deserve my love.
Rose, Carolina... Love is dangerous.
Rose, China... Beauty always new.
Rose, Christmas... Tranquillize my anxiety.
Rose, Daily... Thy smile I aspire to.
Rose, Damask... Brilliant complexion.
Rose, Deep Red... Bashful shame.
Rose, Dog... Pleasure and pain.
Rose, Guelder... Winter, Age.
Rose, Hundred-leaved... Pride.
Rose, Japan... Beauty is your only attraction.
Rose, Maiden Blush... If you love me, you will find it out.
Rose, Multiflora...Grace
Rose, Mundi... Variety.
Rose, Musk... Capricious beauty.
Rose, Musk, Cluster... Charming.
Rose, Single... Simplicity.
Rose, Thornless... Early attachment.
Rose, unique... Call me not beautiful.
Rose, white... I am worthy of you.
Rose, white (withered)... Transient impressions.
Rose, Yellow... Decrease of love. Jealously.
Rose, York and Lancaster... War.
Rose, Full-blown, placed over two Buds... Secrecy.
Rose, White and Red together... Unity.
Roses, Crown of... Reward of virtue.
Rosebud, Red... Pure and lovely.
Rosebud, White... Girlhood.
Rosebud, Moss... Confession of love.

For information about how to make a Victorian tussie-mussie go to Eras of Elegance - How to Make a Victorian Tussie-Mussie

Relax in your rose garden while drinking rose hip tea from these old rose mugs designed by naturegirl7.