Old Roses Greetings - American Rose Society

Volume 7, Issue 1, 2010
Volume 7, Issue 3
Old Roses Greetings,
Do you know that we have a Patron Saint of Rose Gardens and Rose Gardeners? She is Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, and a beautiful rose is named for her. See page 8 for our wonderful feature story,
―The Roses of Hungary‖ by Darrell Schramm.
Photo by Eva Kigyossy-Schmidt
11
Table of Contents
Old Rose Greetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Our Rose Varieties
and their Malmaison Heritage . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter III—The Malmaison Rose
Garden, A Memorial and a Symbol
by Edwin deT. Bechtel
Empress
Josephine
and Napoleon
Bonaparte
Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
at the New York Botanical Garden
by Marilyn Wellan
Above: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, recipient of the Great Rosarian
of the World Garden
Award 2010, on a recent
tour by GROW.
Left:
‟Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary‟ by G. Mark
FEATURED ARTICLE
The Rose in Hungary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
by Darrell g.h. Schramm
Know Our Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Jean Henri Nicolas –
by Betty Ellen Vickers
„Eclipse‟ by J.H. Nicolas
Old Rose News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Calendar of Rose Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE NOTIFIED
WHEN A NEW ISSUE OF THE OGR &
SHRUB JOURNAL IS POSTED TO THE ARS
WEBSITE, send your e-mail address to
[email protected]. Thanks.
Old Garden Rose Committee Members
and Editorial Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2
Our Rose Varieties and their Malmaison Heritage
1949—By EDWIN DeT. BECHTEL.
Submitted by Maureen Reed Detweiler from the Schorr Rose Horticulture & Research Library at ARS
Second in a series of four chapters to be published in this Journal.
Chapter III—THE MALMAISON ROSE GARDEN, A MEMORIAL AND A SYMBOL
American friends of France, including a member
of The New York Botanical Garden, made gifts to
the French Government of money and rare possessions which formerly belonged to Napoleon
and Josephine and thus did much to re-establish
the authentic character of the restoration of Malmaison as a memorial.
ITS SIGNIFICANCE:
Josephine‘s son, Prince Eugene, inherited and
owned Malmaison until 1828. He was unable to
occupy it, and in 1828 it was bought by a Swedish
banker who sold it to the Queen of Spain in 1848.
In 1861, Napoleon III bought it for a national museum and filled it with Napoleonic relics. During
the war of 1870, the garden was completely destroyed and the Chateau was damaged. Later the
buildings became dilapidated. It was then planned
to cut up a portion of the park into building lots.
Finally, when the property was about to be sold at
auction in 1896, it was bought by M. Jean Osiris,
a French philanthropist, who presented it to the
French Government in 1904.
M. Jules Gravereaux, exceptionally qualified by
his knowledge and research, re-established the
rose garden and replanted it in 1911 with most of
the 197 varieties of roses identified by him in his
monograph to which we referred. This living memorial to Josephine survived two great world
wars. It is the purpose of the government at the
restored Malmaison to continue the roseraie of the
Empress, commemorated by the Gravereaux
roses. Planted there are the dozen species roses
known in Josephine‘s time and about forty of the
Centifolia, Moss, and Damask varieties, twenty
types of Bengals and about a hundred Gallica derivatives and hybrids.
After M. Osiris presented Malmaison to the
French Government, it became a national monument. The restoration of the chateau and of what
remained of the park and gardens began just about
a hundred years after Napoleon and Josephine last
walked its paths together.
The new Malmaison rose garden is modest; it was
hardly magnificent in its prime. Although its
Bourbons and Gallicas are often spectacular and
Many donors helped in the restoration, and we
should not fail to mention that several well-known
3
„Rosa Imperatrice Josephine,‟
Gallica, Descemet, before
1815, photographed at Kew
Gardens, England by Marilyn
Wellan
Modern Roses lists this rose
as „Empress Josephine.‟ It is
one of three roses named
„Imperatrice Josephine‟ - for
the Empress: the Bourbon was
created in 1842 by Verdier;
the Hybrid Perpetual was hybridized in 1852 by Lartay.
the Damasks and other species are notable when
they are in flower, the garden even at its best
would not bear comparison with the color and variety of bloom of even a small modern rose garden.
certainly not a Malmaison rose, as it did not appear until 1843.)
Proof of identity of specific roses or the degree of
similarity between the varieties of the Malmaison
garden and roses grown today thus does not appear to us nearly as important or significant as
other factors in Josephine‘s contribution to rose
culture. Her renown does not rest on her safe custody of particular roses.
How many of these roses can we identify in the
Rose Garden of The New York Botanical Garden? By checking Redoute‘s Les Roses against
the names in Gravereaux‘s list, one may discover
among the Redoute roses about seventy-five
which probably grew at Malmaison. Thory attributes about a dozen originations to Descemet and
about the same number to Dupont. In addition,
about forty of Gravereaux‘s roses are named in
Guerrapain‘s Almanach des Roses, 1811. And, of
course, there are the roses of Andrews and of
Miss Lawrence and of Roessig and the other
sources of Gravereaux‘s published list. However,
any complete comparison between the two rose
gardens, as it depends upon the identification of
many unfamiliar varieties, is very difficult. And it
does not seem possible to say with any assurance
that there are more than about forty of Josephine‘s
roses in The New York Botanical Rose Garden.
But there is no good horticultural or historical reason, apart from sentiment, for worrying about the
exact identification of Gravereaux‘s Malmaison
list. (Incidentally one should mention that the
large, flesh-colored Bourbon rose, Souvenir de la
Malmaison, famous for its quality and perfume, is
Nor does the fame of the Empress in rose history
rest merely on the fact that she created a rose garden. Marie Antoinette had a garden at the Petit
Trianon; and Redoute who was employed by her
also, may have painted some of her roses. The
Comtesse de Bougainville (wife of the admiral,
explorer and discoverer of the Tahitian flowering
vine which was named after him) had a rose garden at her chateau at Suisnes before Josephine.
The Comtesse and the admiral started the Cochet
family on their famous career as rose-growers by
financing Christophe Cochet in establishing his
rose nursery in 1802. Rose enthusiasts, like the
well-known amateur horticulturist, M. Boursault,
in the early years of the nineteenth century, began
to import new roses, especially Gallicas, from
Holland as well as new species and derivatives
discovered by the English merchant adventurers
in the Far East. There were also a number of public rose gardens in and near Paris in Josephine‘s
4
„R. gallica versicolor; „Rosa Mundi‟, Gallica, before 1581, Linnaeus;
Photo at Roseraie du Val de Marne, Paris by Marilyn Wellan
time, including the famous gardens at the Luxembourg and at Sevres.
at Rouen; Laffay at Paris; and Vibert, first at Paris
and then at Angers.
Josephine‘s contribution to rose culture and rose
breeding was extraordinary because of her exhibition as a patron, her exacting requirements as a
collector and the authority of her high position.
She wished to have all known roses from all habitats at any cost, and the new varieties as they
originated. Josephine‘s patronage and example
were thus responsible for more than a rehabilitation or renaissance of the rose. Before Josephine,
roses were more exalted in poems than n gardens.
After Josephine, the reputation and popularity of
the rose became established as never before; and
hybridizing and the growing of seedlings supplied
ever changing objects of effort and new ideals of
quality, variety, and beauty.
The competitive ingenuity of the French rose
growers bore rich results. Progressively with the
next thirty years, according to Simon and Cochet‘s investigations, Prevost originated 183 new
varieties, Laffay 388 and Vibert about 600! Following them came the famous rose nurserymen of
France who descendants inherited their reputation
and some of whom practiced their skill in rose
culture and in new originations down to our generation. These rose families included the Cochets,
the Roberts and the Verdiers, and later the Guillots, the Pernets and the Pernet-Duchers. The development of rose varieties in the nineteenth century is a summary of what these great French rose
growers and hybridizers have accomplished.
THE VOGUE OF HYBRIZIDING:
Beyond France the quest for new types and combinations of color, form and habit as well as the
growing of seedlings, the budding on new understocks and the field production of roses extended
to the other countries of western Europe and to
England and then later to Ireland and still later to
Australia and the United States. With us these activities and especially the commercial growing of
roses have increased fabulously within the last
forty years until today the rose growers in the
Hybridizing by artificial pollinizing began with
Josephine‘s horticulturist, Dupont, who probably
learned the art from the Dutch. He originated
twenty-five new varieties and his confrere Descemet about eighty. Their contemporary horticulturists followed their example in growing seedlings and hybridizing: Cels at his famous garden
at Montrough; Godefroy at Fille d‘Avray; Prevost
5
United States supply a demand of an estimated
total of more than twenty million rose bushes a
year. And most of them are Hybrid Teas.
As commercial rose culture progressed intensively in France under the impulse that came
originally from the Malmaison rose garden, a cycle of originations and discoveries brought new
forms, colors, and qualities of growth. The reverse
of this development was the succession of revolutionary changes in public favor, as older varieties
were discarded or neglected for the form and
color, hardiness, or more continuous bloom of the
newer. First came the Gallicas, followed by the
Bengals or China Hybrids and the Bourbons and
Perpetual Damasks and Teas. Then, merging the
best of much that had gone before came the startling Remontantes or Hybrid Perpetuals which
were popular everywhere for fifty years. In the
meantime, they were crossed with the Teas to produce the Hybrid Teas. In 1900, the Pernetianas
appeared, introduced the strain of the yellow
roses, and were then absorbed by the Hybrid Teas.
The beauty, adaptability and continuous bloom of
the Hybrid Teas have made them preeminent.
They are so universally preferred and cultivated
that to many persons roses signify Hybrid Teas.
They are now supplemented by the varieties of the
gay and sturdy Polyantha Hybrids (or Floribundas, as they are called in many rose catalogues).
These latest varieties give proof, within their limitations, of healthy and abundant bloom at all
times, and give promise of surprises.
complex background of the roses one sees in the
collection of The New York Botanical Garden.
Let us review this succession of rose varieties
briefly.
The fourth and final chapter of Edwin DeT. Bechtel‟s monograph will follow in the next issue of
the ARS Old Garden Rose & Shrub Journal.
Above left: „Charles de Mills‟, Gallica, before 1790; above
right: „Souvenir de la Malmaison,‟ Bourbon, 1843, Beluze;
below: „Honorine de Brabant,‟ Bourbon, 1883. Photos by
Marilyn Wellan.
This is the confusing stream of successive types,
relations, and combinations that has made the
6
The Award-Winning Peggy
Rockefeller Rose Garden
AT THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
In the foregoing article, Our Rose Varieties and
their Malmaison Heritage, Edwin deT. Bechtel
made many references to the New York Botanical
Garden. The direction of his monograph was to
note the valuable contribution by Empress Josephine and her associates in the establishment of
rose collections, and in the growing number of
hybridizers whose roses we are enjoying today. In
1949, the date of Bechtel‘s monograph, the Rose
Garden of the New York Botanical Garden was
about thirty years old. (Review Bechtel‟s description of the garden in the ARS OGR & Shrub Journal, Volume 7, Issue #1.)
„Audubon‟ one of the Texas Pioneer Roses by Mike Shoup,
Antique Rose Emporium.
weak and virused plants, freeing up space to bring
in new rose introductions from around the world.
The new collection includes substantial plantings of
these hybridizers:
Peter Kukielski, Curator of the Peggy Rockefeller
Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden,
recently told of the garden‘s history in The Sustainable Rose Garden, edited by Pat Shanley and
Peter Kukielski.
David Austin (David Austin was honored as a
Great Rosarian of the World in 2010).
The Italian Barni Roses.
The French Delbard Roses.
Texas Pioneer Roses developed by Mike Shoup
at the Antique Rose Emporium.
Griffith Buck Roses.
Kordes Roses.
EarthKind Roses.
―The eminent American landscape architect
Beatrix Jones Farrand laid out the historic design
in 1916. With a generous gift of David Rockefeller in honor of his wife, Peggy, the garden was
completed and named for her in 1988. With continuing support from Mr. Rockefeller, it was renovated in 2007. Nestled among beautiful established trees, the site offers some of the most
breathtaking vistas available at The New York
Botanical Garden.‖
Kukielski said, ―The above groups of new roses
have been added to existing rose collections, including many heritage classes, to reflect our effort,
in part, to modify our collection to better represent
the diversity of roses and yet have ―great garden
plants‖ for the public to learn about and enjoy.‖
In the renovation, Peter Kukielski chose plants
that were ―significant on a multitude of levels. . . .
This type of collection, spanning so much of historical and evolutionary history must be allowed
to be protected in a safe, reasonable fashion for
everyone to learn from as well as enjoy. This being said, it is probably correct to mention that
some roses are ―better‖ to display than others.‖
The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New
York Botanical Garden was presented the Great
Rosarian of the World Rose Garden Hall of
Fame Award at the 5th Annual New York Metropolitan Rose Council Dinner in New York City
in June, 2010. Peter Kukielski received the
award on behalf of the NYBG at the 2010 Great
Rosarians of the World event.
In replanting the renovated gardens, they made
―green‖ choices where possible, eliminating varieties that were disease-prone, non-performers, and
7
The Rose in Hungary
By Darrell g.h. Schramm
come the famous Charlemagne. Her death is recorded as the year 783.
St. Elizabeth of
Hungary—Patron
Saint of Rose
Gardens and Rose
Gardeners.
Thus we see that not only was Hungary a kingdom in the distance past, but also roses were already part of its consciousness. Indeed, as in
France, Hungarian rulers often planted a hedge of
roses around their castles as part of their defense
system. (In that practice, we detect the roots of the
Sleeping Beauty tale.)
Recently, on June
11th and 12th, 2009,
an international symposium was held in
Krupina, Slovakia (formerly Karpona, Hungary),
to celebrate the 180th birth-anniversary of the
Hungarian Rudolf Geschwind, a premier innovator and breeder of new roses between 1865 and
1910. In the mists of the Hungarian past, we can
discern a dedication to the rose that has continued
to the present day. Indeed, the rose in Hungary is
still alive, appreciated, analyzed and adored.
More well known is St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
Born in 1207, she wed Count Ludwig of Thuringia in 1221, a fourteen year-old bride, and lived
the remainder of her life in Wartburg Castle, Germany. While the Count was off fighting for Frederick II, famine and pestilence struck Thuringia.
In his absence, Elizabeth, a devoutly religious
young woman, established a hospital of 28 beds
for the poor and began to dole out food each day
to about 900 hungry subjects. Unlike the rest of
his family, for whom she was an embarrassment,
Ludwig approved of his wife‘s charitable acts.
The legend—or Miracle of the Rose, as it is often
called—describes Elizabeth wending her way
down from the castle heights with baskets of food
when she was surprised by a family member.
Asked what she was concealing beneath her
cloak, Elizabeth opened her mantel. Miraculously,
the food had turned into roses. Could those roses
have been the crimson ‗Conditorum‘, one of the
oldest of gallicas, also known as ―the Hungarian
Rose‖?
But the appreciation and love of roses in Hungary
goes back so far into its history that it bumps
heads with legend. The story of Berta of Hungary,
for instance, begins with the words ―On the day of
St. John when the roses are in bloom.‖ It was on
that day in the 700s that the French king Charles
Martel, wanting an excellent wife for his son
Pepin, decided to send a delegation to King Floire
(probably Count Charibert in real life) and Queen
Blancheflor of Hungary to ask for the hand of
their only child, Princess Berta. The radiance of
the princess had been compared to a wild rose.
Elizabeth of Hungary died at age 24 on 17th November 1231. Four years later, she was canonized
a saint. In the year 2000, contemporary Hungarian
rose breeder Gergely Mark won the Gold Medal
in Rome, in the climber and shrub category, for
his rose ‗Arpadhazi Szent Erzsibet Emleke‘ (In
Memory of St. Elizabeth). The ancient has become contemporary; a saint has become a rose.
The king and queen agreed to the marriage. A
complicated subplot ensued, which need not concern us here. (However, that subplot does seem to
be the source of the Grimm‘s‘ fairy tale ―The
Goose Girl.‖) After Princess Berta‘s marriage to
the new king, she bore him a son, who was to be-
8
tries, and of whom a fair amount has been written
over the last 15 years or so. Most definitely he is
one of the most important rose breeders in history.
Born in Bohemia in 1829, he lived in Teplitz until
age 18, then, after schooling, moved often in his
work for the Department of Forestry until he retired at age 77.
Rudolf Geschwind was the first master of roses to
write down a theoretical foundation for the process and problems of hybridizing new breeds. He
wrote three books on the subject: Hybridizing and
Growing Roses from Seed (1863), The Tea Rose
and it Hybrids (1884), and Roses in Winter
(1884). A prolific man, he also wrote many horticultural articles.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, (‟ Arpadhazi Szent Erzsibet
Emleke‟), 2007 by Gergely Mark. Photo by Eva KigyossySchmidt.
Using over thirty-five different species roses to
create his cultivars (among them Rosa alpina, R.
arkansana, R. californica, R. canina, R. lutea, R.
multiflora, R. roxburghii, R. setigera, the latter a
species used extensively), he bred about 140 different varieties of roses, many of them hardy
climbers. When he exhibited some of his climbers
at the World‘s Faire in Paris in 1886, he became
known for his ―Hungarian climbers.‖
Legend also tells us that Gul Baba, a Turkish Dervish who was the army‘s Iman during the 1541
conquest of Hungary, grew both yellow and red
roses, which bloomed in winter. This man so
loved roses that he wrote a series of poems entitled Guldeste (A Bunch of Roses). This legend
claims he introduced roses to Budapest and perhaps to all of Hungary. His tomb in Budapest, a
reminder of the Turkish rule, is situated in a rose
garden. Of course, if history already mentions the
rose in Hungary during St. Elizabeth‘s time of the
1200s, let alone Berta‘s time in the 700s, then the
Gul Baba story seems mere wishful thinking.
One of Geschwind‘s purposes in rose breeding
was to produce plants insensitive to freeze. These
winter hardy climbers he christened
―Nordlandrosen.‖ Another purpose may have
been to create a blue rose: his ‗Erinnerung an
Brod‘ (1886) can be found in the ancestry of
nearly every climber containing some purple.
Raymond and Therese Loubert of Loubert Roses
in France in fact credit him with being the first
rose breeder to attempt blue by way of his mauve
roses.
To avoid confusion in referring to Hungary, it will
be important to keep in mind that the historical
borders of that country, through wars and conquest, have often shifted.
Bohemia, Bosnia, Croatia, Romania, and Slovakia, for instance, were all a part of Hungary at one
time. The Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 1800s
and early 1900s was vast. Thus, while I may refer
to a certain rosarian of the time as Hungarian, today Slovakia or Romania or even the Czech Republic might claim him.
Nonetheless, despite his prolific output in breeding and writing, Geschwind was often in financial
straits. Consequently he sold some of his rose directly to the nurserymen J.C. Schmidt of Erfurt
and to Peter Lambert of Trier. (Lambert took
credit for Geschwind‘s ‗Ziguenerknabe‘—also
known as ‗Gypsy Boy‘—and later boasted having
acquired some of Geschwind‘s originals for a pittance.) Yet he continued to cultivate. His final
journal entry, eight days before he died, reads,
That ambivalence is certainly the case with Rudolf Geschwind, who is claimed by several coun-
9
―Today I ended
with God‘s help
the hybridization
of roses.‖
Today the Borova
Hora Arboretum
in Zvolen, Slovakia, grows and
displays about 50
I n t e r e s t i n g l y,
of Geschwind‘s
though he adroses. Rose colmired the rose
lectors such as
‗La
France‘,
Bill Grant of ApGeschwind intos, California,
sisted that it was
and Erich Unnot the first hymuth of Vienna,
brid tea. The
grow and preFrench hybridist
serve many of his
Lacharme and E.
roses as well. In
Gurney Hill of
fact, in 2007 Unthe United States Darrell Schramn on Rudolf Geschwind—”Perhaps his most famuth founded the
would
l a t e r mous rose, a deep crimson with a spicy scent, classed variously
Rose Cultivarium
agree. Given his as a bourbon, a hybrid china, or even hybrid tea—which I also
for preservation
own extensive grow—is „Gruss an Teplitz‟ (1897). Translated, it means
and research just
work in breeding “Greetings to Teplitz,” a spa town northwest of Prague . . .”
outside the city of
teas with spe- Photo by Marilyn Wellan.
Baden, a huge
cies, one wonacreage that conders if Geschwind himself was not the originator
tains over 2000 varieties of roses, many of them
of the hybrid tea.
bred by Geschwind, as well as several hundred by
the Hungarian Gergely Mark. The recent internaAmong his many roses is ‗Anna Schartional symposium on Geschwind (it is the 180th
sach‘ (1890). It is this hybrid perpetual, growing
anniversary of his birth) also did much to foster
in my own garden, whose elegant plant shape and
his memory, his roses, and his work.
beauty and scent of blossom inspired this article.
There is some speculation that one of GeschA contemporary of Rudolf Geschwind, Vince
wind‘s sons married a Scharsach. Recent correBorbas (1844-1905), a plant taxonomist, wrote in
spondence with a relative assures me that specula1880 a monograph on species roses found in Huntion is not true. Perhaps his most famous rose, a
gary. Because of their superb winter hardiness,
deep crimson with a spicy scent, classed variously
species roses intrigue the Hungarians. Like
as a bourbon, a hybrid china, or even hybrid tea—
Geschwind, Michael H. Horvath was also a Hunwhich I also grow—is ‗Gruss an Teplitz‘ (1897).
garian graduate in forestry and intrigued by speTranslated, it means ―Greetings to Teplitz,‖ a spa
cies and hardy climbing roses. After relocating in
town northwest of Prague, known for its thermal
the United States in 1890—incidentally, the same
saline and alkaline waters, where Geschwind
year a white sport of ‗Marechal Niel‘ appeared in
lived for a time and where Austria, Russia and
Hungary, named ‗Franz Degen Junior‘—Horvath
Prussia signed the Triple Alliance against Napobegan his hybridization projects, working with all
leon in 1813. As old roses go, it remains popular.
species available to him but primarily with Rosa
wichurana and R. setigera. Editor McFarland of
After his death in 1910, his records of roses vanthe American Rose Society considered him
ished. However, Marie Henriette Grafin Chotex
―strikingly original and independent in his conbought most of his stock and continued to sell and
ceptions‖ and scope of breeding new roses.
propagate his roses until the Great Depression
forced her to close the enterprise.
That Hungarian interest in species roses has continued to the present day. In his vastly informative
10
text of 1954 History of the
seems commercially available
Rose, Roy E. Shepherd names
today. On the other hand, his
one Old World species cultiroses ‗Alexander Marghilovated in Hungary by Kmet in
men‘ and ‗Professor Dr. Hans
1914 and another of the same
Molisch‘ are grown at SangerR. canina family, R. zagrabihausen. His ‗Dame Blanche‘
ensis. From 1996 to
can be viewed at Rosa2000, nineteen species
rium Quinta do Arco of
and three microspecies
Madeira, Portugal. And
from the Budapest region
his ‗Dr. Ernest Muhle‘
were studied by the
blooms in Hungary‘s
Szigetcsep Research Starose garden Budateteny
tion, with a special focus
as well as in the private
on rose hips and suitabilgarden of rose collector
ity for cultivation. AcSylvester Gyory of Slocording to the results, R.
vakia. In 1928 Arpad
inodora and R. zalana
Muhle helped to establish
were the most useful and
a huge rose park, well
valuable for both cultivaknown in most of
tion and vitamin content.
Europe, a rosarium still
In fact, according to the
open in Timisoara today.
Hungary boasts the largest rose hip acreage of
April 2002 issue of BioHe died in 1930. CoinciCentral Europe. Sixty to 70 tons of rose hips
resource Technology,
dentally, the ornate stone
from species are harvested each year to produce
Hungary boasts the largedifice built by Wilhelm
rose hip oil for medicinal use. Below: „Indira,‟
est rose hip acreage of
to house the business and
F. 1971 by Gergely Mark. Photos by Eva KiCentral Europe. Sixty to
family residence is now a
gyossy-Schmidt.
70 tons of rose hips from
flower shop and café in
species are harvested
Timisoara called Casa Cu
each year to produce rose
F l o r i .
( S e e
hip oil for medicinal use.
www.casacuflori.ro for
old and new photos.)
Wilhelm Muhle (18441908) is another HungarIn his early seventies,
ian deserving of recogniamateur rose breeder Syltion in the rose world.
vester Gyory currently
From 1893-1895 he edowns the largest private
ited and published the
rose collection in SlovaGerman edition of Rozsa
kia: some 600 roses. AcUjsag, the Hungarian
cording to him, it also
rose magazine. He also operated a nursery busicontains the largest number of roses ―improved by
ness in Temesvar, Hungary (now Timisoara, RoHungarians‖: about 100. In short, the rose in Hunmania) and became so successful that he was apgary is thriving.
pointed the royal supplier of flowers to the Court
of Franz Joseph.
Rose hybridist Jan Bohm (1885-1959), born in
Blatna, Bohemia (part of the Austro-Hungarian
His son, Arpad Muhle, a horticulturalist and rose
Empire until 1919), followed in Geschwind‘s
breeder, continued the business after his father‘s
footsteps, searching for an ever more hardy hybrid
death. Meanwhile, he also hybridized roses,
rose. Using R centifolia with ‗Geschwind‘s Nordmostly hybrid teas. Many of his roses became inlandrose‘, he created ‗Stratosfera‘ (1934), still to
ternationally recognized in the 1920s, but none
be seen at Sangerhausen, and the rose
11
‗Tolstoi‘ (1938), a
vigorous R. setigera
hybrid. He also used
R. wichurana to create
other climbers. His
most popular rose, a
dark red, largeflowered
climber
‗Demokracie‘ (also
known as Blaze Superior and Blaze Improved), is still commercially available.
Similar to many hybridizers, Mark often
names his roses after
people he has known
or after famous personages, such as
‗Ady‘, a rose named
for Hungary‘s most
famous poet; ‗Nagy
Imre‘, named in honor
of
the Hungarian
president executed in
the 1956 revolution; or
Thoroughly Hungar‗Arpadhazi Szent Erian, the contemporary
zebet Emleke‘ (Saint
rose breeder Gergely
Elizabeth of Hungary)
Mark is well-known to
—yes, St. Elizabeth
his countrymen, if not
whose concealed basfor creating Bukets of bread were
dat et en y,
whi ch,
transformed into roses.
claims rosarian Eva
This particular rose is
Kigyossy-Schmidt, is
grown throughout
Europe‘s second largboth Germany and
est public rose garden,
Hungary, in public
then for his own creaand privates gardens
tion of roses and the
alike. Useful as shrub
awards he has won. In
or climber, its flowers
1963 his hybrid tea
are a vivid purple‗Budateteny‘ won the Marton Aron, HT 1989; by Gergely Mark. Mr. and Mrs. Mark
pink, quite double, and
maintain the rose records. Photos by Eva Kigyossy-Schmidt
Gold Medal at the Ingrowing in clusters of
ternational Garden
three or five. Its scent
Exhibition in Germany. Gergely Mark has been
is musk. It blossoms from late spring until first
given the Hungarian Heritage Award, and in 2008
frost—but even in frost-time, its frozen blooms
was honored for his international accomplishhave been known to continue flowering after a
ments as a rose cultivator by the Museum of the
thaw! It tolerates not only temperatures of -25° F,
Hungarian People, and again for his life‘s work
but also 95-104° F in the shade. Not surprisingly,
by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Indeed,
‗Saint Elizabeth of Hungary‘ won, as already
in slightly more than fifty years, he has created
mentioned, a Gold Medal in Rome in the year
over 600 different varieties of Hungarian roses.
2000.
As Griffith Buck did in Iowa and as EarthKind
Roses does in Texas, Gergely Mark cultivates his
new roses outdoors without water or winter protection. Because most of his roses are drought,
heat, and frost resistant, they are earning an international European reputation. Like others before
him, he has used some of Rudolf Geschwind‘s
roses in the breeding of some of his own. Remarkably, most of his roses are fragrant.
As of this writing (2009), Gergely Mark is 86
years old. Accordingly, collectors like Eva Kigyossy-Schmidt and Erich Unmuth, as I mentioned above, are making efforts to collect and
preserve his many varieties. Indeed, the rose in
Hungary is alive and well.
In fact, every year in June, the Hungarian town of
Szoreg celebrates the rose for a three-day week-
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end. Festivities last until daybreak. A
rose queen in crowned. A procession
decorated in several hundred thousand roses parades down the streets.
Concerts, cultural programs, staged
events, exhibits, and fireworks entertain the crowds. The rose fields surrounding Szoreg are open to visitors,
as is the nation‘s first Rose Museum,
displaying tools and other objects,
cultivation methods, and old documents pertaining to roses. The most
beautiful front garden of someone‘s
home is honored with an award.
Bread has turned into roses.
Images: Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
The legend—or Miracle of the Rose, as it is often called—describes Elizabeth wending her way down from the castle heights with baskets of food
when she was surprised by a family member. Asked what she was concealing beneath her cloak, Elizabeth opened her mantel. Miraculously, the food
had turned into roses.
Above: Gergely Mark at work with his roses. Photos this page by Eva Kigyossy-Schmidt
13
Jean Henri Nicolas
cial, to bring
them to show or
exhibition size;
for that purpose
they are given,
outdoors,
very
much the same
treatment as forcing roses receive
und e r
gl a ss.
These varieties
generally
are
poor garden roses
in
that
they
bloom but little,
in crops far apart,
generally two,
often only one, in
a season. These
roses in shows
never fail to obtain the gold
medal or blue
ribbon, but …
exhibition varieties are not recommended for general garden use.
KNOW OUR WRITERS
by Betty Ellen Vickers
J. H. Nicolas was Director of the Research Department of the Jackson and Perkins Company;
Honorary Life Member of the Société Nationale
d‟Horticulture de France; Fellow of the Royal
Horticultural Society of England; Vice President
of the Société Française des Rosiéristes; and Consultant to the American Rose Society.
In addition to The Rose Manual, which Nicolas
wrote in 1934, he wrote two additional very interesting books about roses: A Year in the Rose
Garden (1936) and A Rose Odyssey (1937).
Mr. Nicolas was a man who knew his roses.
Knowing them as he did, he was very much aware
of and found value in their differences. While he
was very proud of his prize-winning
„Eclipse‟ (Introduced in 1935, it received the
Portland Gold Medal and the Rome Gold Medal
in 1935, the Bagatelle Gold Medal in 1936, and
the American Rose Society's David Fuerstenberg
Prize in 1938), he recognized that this rose, and
other superb exhibition roses did not in themselves
a garden make. In The Rose Manual, Mr. Nicolas
had this to say about the different uses to which
we may put our roses:
The omission of the word ‖exhibition‖ from some
American catalogue descriptions altogether alters
the descriptions and misleads the public. A rose
vendor, for example, describing ‗George Dickson,‘ says: ―… and claimed by the originators as
their ideal of a perfect red rose.‖ The originator
never said that, but wrote in 1912 that it was ―the
finest exhibition rose they had yet produced.‖
This statement proved correct, as every year
‗George Dickson‘ wins gold medals for exhibitions of perfect specimens. But it is acknowledged
by the originators and everybody else that as a
garden rose (decorative or bedding) ‗George
Dickson‘ is worthless. The same mistake was also
made in the introduction into this country of the
exhibition rose ‗Dame Edith Helen‘ through like
A garden rose is a variety which is at its best under normal outdoor conditions. The garden roses
are subdivided into ―exhibition‖ and ―decorative‖
varieties.
The ‗exhibition rose‘ is a variety producing large,
well-formed blooms in limited numbers that are
amenable to special treatment, more or less artifi-
14
descriptions. This rose, a producer of a few superb exhibition flowers, is conceded an
utter flop as a decorative garden rose by its originator and
all who have tested it abroad
and in America.
their best effect when grouped in masses in a bed,
either of one variety or with others of the same
type (not necessarily of same color); of a medium
or low growth, their bushy, spreading, sometimes
sprawling, habit almost interweaves the plants.
Occasionally a variety combines the decorative
and exhibition qualities insofar that with special
treatment (close pruning, pinching, and heavy
feeding) it will produce bloom of exhibition quality, and for that reason ranks high and is in great
demand by those who participate in rose shows.‖
The ‗decorative‘ rose is the
only useful garden rose, since
this class includes not only
bush roses but also climbers,
etc., for decoration not only of
the garden but also the house
or the boutonnière, even.
So, Mr. Nicolas realized that roses served different needs for different people in different situations. He also realized another simple truth, best
expressed by Reverend Pemberton, creator of the
Hybrid Musk, as described, again by Mr. Nicolas:
Decorative roses are seldom of
exhibition size and in competition would not score as high,
but the profusion and rapid
succession of bloom (among
the Teas, Hybrid Teas, and
Pernetianas) make them highly
decorative both on the plant an
as cut flowers.
―Reverend J. Pemberton (deceased February,
1926), whom it was my privilege to visit in July,
1925, struck a genial expression when he exclaimed while taking me through his field of seedlings, ‗What the people want in roses is activity.‘‖
Indeed we do.
Among these decorative roses,
some are designated as
‗bedders‘ or ‗bedding varieties‘ because they produce
The Rose Manual
By J. H. Nicolas
Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1934
Garden City, New York
„Eclipse‟ HT. J. H. Nicolas, 1935.
Joanna Hill x Federico Casas. Gold
Old Rose News
Honoring Those Who Make Outstanding Contributions to the World of Roses— the 11th
Annual GREAT ROSARIANS OF THE WORLD Honors Ruth Knopf in NYC.
Friday, June 10—11am to 1pm– A Symposium: "The American Rose Society and the Rose Industry: The Enduring
Partnership in the 21st Century" followed by lunch in honor of ARS Exec. Director Jeffrey Ware.
Friday, June 10—6th Annual New York Metropolitan Rose Council Dinner. 6 pm Reception; 7 pm Dinner honoring
Ruth Knopf, 2011 GROW Recipient—Opia Restaurant, 130 E. 57th Street.
Saturday, June 11, 2010—THE GREAT ROSARIANS OF THE WORLD™ XI—Queens Botanical Garden
43-50 Main St., Flushing, NY 11355 www.queensbotanical.org
Morning Session: 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.—The Sustainable Rose Garden in the 21st Century!
Afternoon: 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Award Ceremony and Lecture by the Great Rosarians of the World™ 2011 Honoree
Reception 4:00 - 6:00 pm in The Rose Garden immediately following. Contact Pat Shanley [email protected]
15
Old Rose News cont’d.
LETTER to Jim Delahanty written by Robert B. Martin, Jr. on Delahanty‟s article: Roy Hennessey: An Appreciation published in the last issue of the OGR & Shrub Journal (Volume 7, Issue 2)
Jim, I just finished reading your article on Roy Hennessy in the latest issue of the OGR & Shrub Journal. I
write to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the article and consider it one of the best written rose articles I
have read in a long time. (I would say ever but I am now at the age where I have forgotten many of the rose
articles I have read over the past 40 years.) Your research is meticulous, and your language that of a craftsman. Thank you for writing it and to Marilyn, who I have copied on this message, for publishing it.
In looking at the picture of Roy Hennessy I was struck by the idea that he looked like a young Will Rogers,
but on pulling up some pictures of Will Rogers on the internet, I think the comparison does not quite work.
I probably made the association with the idea that the man who never met a man he didn't like looked like
the man who never met a man he did. Or perhaps because I vaguely remembered the following from Will
Rogers that might have application to Hennessy: "There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by
reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out
for themselves." In any event, I am moved to remove from my shelf my unread 3rd Edition of Hennessy on
Roses and find out for myself. Thanks again for the article and your contributions to the intelligent world of
roses. Bob
WYCK HISTORIC HOUSE AND GARDEN PRESENTS THE OLD ROSE SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, May 21, 2011 - 9:00 to 4:00 - Lectures, tours, rare rose auction, lunch—$95. Wyck Historic
House and Garden will celebrate its extraordinary rose garden with its 3rd Old Rose Symposium, co-sponsored by the
Heritage Rose Foundation. Wyck‘s rose garden c.1820s is the oldest rose garden growing in its original plan in the
US. Address: 6026 Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, PA. Information at www.wyck.org or call 215-848-1690.
Speakers include:
Jane Baber White is Restoration Chairman, Director, and Director Emerita of the Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg,
Virginia. Jane undertook rehabilitation of the long-neglected Old City Cemetery after a major storm did extensive
damage there in 1993. It is now the nation's only arboretum of 19th century plants, and the collection of rare antique
roses there is of national importance. Jane is the author of two books about the cemetery. Her talk, "Pushin' Up
Roses", will describe how the Old City Cemetery is not only an old rose mecca, but is a place where old roses are
revered, preserved, interpreted, and propagated for the future.
Jennie Watlington is former president of the Bermuda Rose Society, formed in 1954 by a group of rose lovers who
gave themselves the task of identifying all the roses growing on the island at that time. Her presentation ―Bermuda
Roses‖ will explore old roses in Bermuda and the fascinating search for the identity of Bermuda‘s Mystery roses.
Stephen Scanniello, well-known author, President of the Heritage Rose Foundation, is the gardener known for
transforming the Brooklyn Botanic Garden‘s rose garden into one of the world‘s most acclaimed. At the Old
Rose Symposium he will look at Philadelphia‘s long-time relationship with roses with his presentation:
―Heritage Roses in America: the Philadelphia Story.‖
The Reverend Douglas Seidel is a prominent expert in the field of roses; consultant to the Thomas Jefferson Center
for Historic Plants at Monticello. He worked with the late rosarian Leonie Bell on Wyck‘s rose garden in the 1970s.
He and Nicole Juday will present ―The Legacy of Wyck—An Enduring Heritage of Roses.‖
Nicole Juday is Wyck‘s Horticulturist and Curator of the Living Collections. Besides her work at Wyck, she writes
and speaks about urban gardening, old roses, and historic plants, and writes a garden column.
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Calendar of OGR Rose Events
February 19, 2011
Stephen Scanniello will lead PRUNING, PLANTING, and Preparing the Garden for Spring Bloom.
Heritage Rose Foundation Garden at the American Rose Center, Interstate 20, Exit 5, Shreveport. Come to
witness the progress and to be a part of this important project. Beginning at 8am.
April 16, 2011—9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
OPEN GARDENS, Experience the splendor of heritage roses in a unique 19th century setting.
The Old Sacramento City Cemetery Historic Rose Garden will be in full bloom for the annual Open Garden on Saturday. Join one of the free tours of the beautiful roses, and visit the perennial and California native plant gardens, all within the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery, 10th Street and Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818. Sale of historic roses and rose-related merchandise, and a silent auction will raise funds
for maintenance of the rose garden. The Heritage Rose Group, the Old City Cemetery Committee and the
City of Sacramento sponsor the event. Contact Barbara Oliva at 916-443-2146 or [email protected]
www.cemeteryrose.org
April 16, 2011
CHAMBERSVILLE HERITAGE ROSE GARDEN EVENT (No details at this writing-more to follow)
Sunday after Mother‘s Day. May 15, 2010
CELEBRATION OF OLD ROSES, hosted by the Bay Area Heritage Roses Group
El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane El Cerrito, CA 94530-2392
For complete information, check the Heritage Roses Groups website.
www.theheritagerosesgroup.org or contact [email protected]
May 21, 2010
OLD ROSE SYMPOSIUM , Wyck House, an historic Quaker family home circa 1690, in the
Germantown section of Philadelphia. Heritage Rose Foundation is co-sponsoring. www.wyck.org
JUNE 2-6, 2011
AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY SPRING NATIONAL ROSE SHOW & CONVENTION—WINSTONSALEM, NORTH CAROLINA Of interest to Heritage Rose enthusiasts: Rose Show Classes for Old
Garden Roses, Shrubs, Climbing Roses. Find full schedule and registration forms at www.ars.org
June 10-12, 2011
GREAT ROSARIANS OF THE WORLD, EAST New York City
honoring RUTH KNOPF www.greatrosarians.com
June 18-19-20, 2011
HERITAGE ROSE FOUNDATION EVENT—Programs & Tours
Lyon, France (tentative) www.heritagerosefoundation.org
Please submit your Old Garden Rose Events for the Journal‘s calendar to [email protected]
17
MARILYN WELLAN, OLD GARDEN ROSE & SHRUB JOURNAL EDITOR
American Rose Society Old Garden Rose Committee Chair
3853 Rue Left Bank, Alexandria LA 71303 ~ E-mail: [email protected]
COMMITTEE MEMBERS & EDITORIAL BOARD:
ANNE BELOVICH, Stanwood, WA - Collector of Rambling and Climbing Roses; Former member of
Heritage Rose Foundation Board of Directors; Contributor to HRF Journal Rosa Mundi.
JAMES DELAHANTY, Sherman Oaks, CA - Chair of American Rose Society Editorial Advisory Committee; former Chair of ARS Local Society Relations Committee; Editor and Writer.
MAUREEN DETWEILER, New Orleans, LA - Preservationist, Historian, Writer; One of founders of
the New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society; Member ARS Library Board.
CLAUDE GRAVES, Richardson, TX - Leader in EarthKind and Modern Rose Research Programs; Former Chair of ARS OGR Comittee; President of Dallas Area Historical Rose Society; Photographer.
CHARLOTTE HARING, Shreveport, LA - Leader in establishing and maintaining heritage rose gardens
at Gardens of the American Rose Center; Long-time Member ARC Committee; Member ARS Library
Board.
MALCOLM MANNERS, Lakeland, FL - Professor of Horticulture; Founding Member of Heritage Rose
Foundation, Board Member; Writer; Leader in Collection and Preservation of Old Roses.
PEGGY MARTIN, Gonzales, LA - HRF Vice President-Membership; New Orleans OGR Society Officer; OGR Chair for ARS Gulf District; Frequent Speaker on Old Roses; Leading efforts in Found Rose
Identification.
GEORGE MEILING, Columbus, OH - Chair of ARS Rose Classification Committee; ARS Leader and
Benefactor; Sponsor of Earthkind Garden at Columbus; Writer.
STEPHEN SCANNIELLO, Jersey City, NJ - President Heritage Rose Foundation; Gardener; Leader in
Rose Conservation and Preservation efforts; Speaker; Author of numerous books.
PAT SHANLEY, Glen Cove, NY - Member ARS Executive Committee and Board of Directors; ARS
Membership-Marketing Chair; Founder of Great Rosarians of the World-East and Manhattan Rose Society.
BETTY ELLEN VICKERS, DeSoto, TX - HRF Leader; HRF Board Secretary; Chair of ARS Library
Board; Writer and Editor of Yellow Rose for Dallas Area Historical Rose Society.
GENE WAERING, New York City and Jacksonville, FL - Publisher of The Sustainable Rose Garden;
Leader in Sustainability Movement; Co-Founder of Great Rosarians of the World-East; Writer.
ARS President Jeff Wyckoff — E-mail: [email protected]
ARS Executive Director Jeffrey Ware — E-mail: [email protected]
18