Drive through a few neighborhoods and note the most predominant rose: most likely it will be a burgundy floribunda with long canes. It isn't because this is a popular rose and it isn't because everyone decided to plant the exact same rose. It's because most people plant hybrid roses and hybrid roses die. But their roots live on...the roots on to which they were grafted. Which invariably is the burgundy floribunda. Plant a hybrid Peace this spring and like magic, next spring it's a $#!+ burgundy floribunda.
I'm sick of wimpy hybrids morphing into burgundy floribundas. I have too many creatures in my home whining "Feed me, love me, bathe me, groom me" to enjoy a rose bush snivelling the same thing at me.
The answer? Own-root roses. If there's a hybrid you can't live without -- my weakness is Pristine -- (Beautifully formed, creamy white blooms, lightly brushed soft pink. Full blown flower will hold for days and is dazzling. The plants are spreading with very thick canes, enormous thorns, and gorgeous deep green foliage that laughs at disease.) if and when it dies back to its roots it will come back as the hybrid you chose.
Hedge your bet with an antique own-root rose. Think about it: these antique roses were scattered across the country by pioneers who didn't have Miracle-Gro or pesticides. Samples of these healthy roses from long ago have been rescued from abandoned homesteads and cemeteries. Healthy abandoned roses which have not been watered, dead-headed, pruned, wrapped, or fertilized. Now that's what I want blooming in my neglected backyard!
I bought antique own-root roses at the Antique Rose Emporium and planted them just in time for 1) the 1998 Texas heat wave*, 2) drought [2.21 inches vs. the normal 7.5], 3) our town's ban on outside watering, 4) my neglecting dead-heading, pruning, and fertilizing because of the triple digit weather heat advisories*. Each and every one of the A.R.E. specimens are thriving, blooming, and healthy. My Buff Beauty and Penelope antique own-root roses have scaled my Green Gables white lattice porch to a height of over seven feet, covered with blooms. If they looked that spectacular after four punishing hot months, I can't wait until they're established! The December 23, 1998 freeze zapped the blooms and most of the leaves, yet by the end of January, both are covered with small, new leaves.
Next on the must-have list is "Climbing Pinkie" pictured here on Pam's house. The Antique Rose Emporium has this to say about it:
'Climbing Pinkie' [1952] is one of our favorites for many garden niches. The nearly thornless canes are easy to work with when training it as a climber, but it will also grow without support as a graceful, cascading shrub. Once established, it is very difficult to catch this rose out of bloom and the flushes of scented, semi-double flowers simply smother the bush in bright rose pink. one plant on each side of your gate or driveway will turn your yard into a traffic hazard.Pam's "Climbing Pinkie" is only one year old. And yes, the rest of the house is just as charming. This has nothing to do with roses but I have to say it. You've seen signs and shirts that "Martha Stewart doesn't live here"? Pam's house needs a sign saying "Martha Stewart wishes she lives here."
* The summer of 1998, which ended [September 23], will be remembered for the 131 people who died at least partially because of the heat; the almost 600 square miles of Texas blackened by fire; the billions of dollars in agricultural losses; and the water systems that crumpled under record- breaking demands.
Compared to 1980, as all summers seem to be, this one was awfully close. It brought the second-hottest June through August on record, with an average temperature of 88.3 degrees [night-time and day-time temperatures mind you!]. Through [September 26], there had been 56 days over 100 degrees in 1998, including 29 consecutive days. -- 9-27-98 Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
There's more than roses at the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas,
right next to Brenham. Although it is a study in hardy, native, xeriscopic
plants, A.R.E. has an exhaustive selection of own root, antique roses for
purchase, and has established roses on the premises trained in some unusual
fashions.
Click on photos by the Domestic Web Goddess to link to informational
sites on the where, when, and hows of visiting the Historic Hairston-McKnight
homestead/Antique Rose Emporium
Antique Rose
Emporium
On F.M. 50,
just south of intersection with F.M. 390 and Independence
Route 5, Box 143
Brenham, TX 77833
Phone: 409-836-9051 or 800-441-0002
Fax: 409-836-0928
Catalog: $5 for "80 pages of wonderful pictures with info about zone, blooming
period, size, etc." A.R.E. has been mildly criticized for too-pessimistic
zone ratings (which is much to be desired!).
The ultimate old rose information site!
Michael's Premier Roses
Vintage Gardens Antique Roses
Edmunds' Roses
Own-Roots at Petaluma Rose Company -- O.R. and Grrrrafts
The Texas Rose Rustlers
The Old Lady of Old Roses-- "My goal is to grow roses that are vigorous and disease resistant (I ignore small ravages)...I retain in my garden only those roses that prosper without the use of chemical sprays...In the next few pages I offer my evaluations of the roses I've grown. The photo pages I hope to redo every few months."
The Garden Escape site has a useful hardiness zone locator by zip code as well as an online catalog, including roses from the A.R.E.
The Time Life Garden Encyclopedia is an excellent resource, too.
-- continually testing for disease resistance and heat tolerance. -- "Your local nursery will be selling the 1998 All-America Selection called Sunset Celebration for as much as $24.95 (more?). We sell it for $8.95. So try own root roses -- you'll be surprised how fast they can grow. You can get the satisfaction of "growing 'em from scratch" as one rosarian put it."
$$$ O.R. Charlotte Armstrong + S&H = N/A
$$$ O.R. Cymbeline + S&H = N/A
$$$ O.R. Pristine + S&H = 24.40 (two roses)
-- access to all 2,000 roses in their Catalogue Master List via search programs.
$$$ O.R. Charlotte Armstrong + S&H = $19.95
$$$ O.R. Cymbeline + S&H = N/A
$$$ O.R. Pristine + S&H = N/A
-- if you've got to have that certain hybrid...Pristine, Tiffany, White Delight...
$$$ O.R. Charlotte Armstrong + S&H = N/A
$$$ O.R. Cymbeline + S&H = N/A
$$$ O.R. Pristine + S&H = $20.45
$$$ O.R. Charlotte Armstrong, Cymbeline, Pristine = N/A
$10.95-12.95 + $8-10.95 S&H
-- An Organization Dedicated To The Collection and Propagation of Old Roses.
