A rose by any other name wouldn't smell like much

by Doctor Science

I used to think I didn't like roses. The standard roses of my youth in the 60s and 70s were Hybrid Teas: gorgeous, large flowers without much scent, from plants that are magnets for bugs & diseases. Ugh, not worth it.

What really changed my mind was a particular rose. It grows in front of the Sullivan Real Estate office on Water Street, Block Island, at the south corner of their garden. It's been there for well over 10 years, but I can't find a picture of it. It's a light-to-medium pink, many-petaled "old rose" type, repeat flowering and salt tolerant, with the most wonderful, full, rose-and-lemon scent. The people there don't remember what the name is, but I figure it's a David Austin rose introduced no later than 2000 (might be "Gertrude Jekyll").

Every time I go to Block Island, I make sure to stop by this rose at least every other day and stick my nose into it, snorting the delicious scent until I feel almost drunk. "Roses might be worth growing!" I said to myself, "too bad my garden is all shade, all the time."

Now, though, I have a new garden with some sun. So last Monday a friend and I went to the van der Goot Rose Garden and sniffed pretty much everything they have that might tolerate partial shade. We discovered:

1. many roses smell strong or good to one of us, but not to the other
2. there's a "soapy" quality to a lot of rose scents that we do not care for
3. I'll probably have at least one Rugosa rose (for trellis around propane tank?), possibly Blanc Double de Coubert

   

   or Thérèse Bugnet

   

4. I really like Westerland, too:

   
   Maybe for the sunnier spot where I plan to have peonies & phlox?

5. They don't have nearly enough David Austin roses, and too many Hybrid Teas. Of course, that's partly because no others can compare to HTs for color varieties and for their long, cutable stems.

I've been thinking about roses, but what I've been putting in are some native plants plus a whole lot of Sedums:

Though the hill we're on top of is only about 150 ft. above the village, it's so dry and windy (by the standards of central NJ) that we have very few mosquitos and almost no poison ivy. We'll have to terrace the front to make a garden that can grow things like Garden Phlox, but meanwhile I'm trying all kinds of supposedly shade-tolerant Sedums to see which will grow.

I've put my pots of herbs on the front porch, because that spot actually gets the most consistent sun:

That's: basil, basil, parsley, mint, parsley, basil, basil, parsley. Next summer I'm going to really try to get some more kinds of basil, especially lemon -- it makes the *best* tuna salad.

I'll take a picture of the front garden after the annuals have had a little time to settle in. Other garden developments: there are several places around the house where leaves have apparently been piling up for years. When the top layer is removed, wonderful leaf mulch like you pay for is revealed! My garden elf is making a screen to get out the gravel so we can use even the bottom layer.

We're also collecting old pallets to use in making a compost bin. Following suggestions I found online, I discovered that the local lawnmower & power equipment store, just as they predicted, often has pallets to get rid of. My biggest problem: we don't have a station wagon like we used to, so we can only get one pallet at a time and it has to be the small size. We've got two so far, and the elf thinks he'll only need 3 (or maybe 4) to make a double compost bin.

So what's up in your gardens?

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ETA: It turns out Sprog the Younger has a picture of the Block Island rose I love:

Any idea what variety it might be? I'm pretty sure that's *not* "Gertrude Jekyll". "Abraham Darby", perhaps?

Comments

[Girl from the North Country]

The David Austin catalogue has been some of my favourite reading at times - so many roses, so little space. We planted a couple of ramblers (cannot now remember their names) in the tiny, communal back garden in London a couple of years ago, and they are really starting to get going. Funnily enough, it was only yesterday that I mentioned to Mr GftNC that we should order some more for under the kitchen window in the North Country. I wouldn't have a hybrid tea under any circs (there was one when I came here, but it died and I was glad). I cannot really see the point of a rose without a scent, and they are much too rigid and regimental, whereas to me the charm of roses is their relaxed, sometimes blowsy generosity, a bit like fin de siecle courtesans.

[CBB]

Perhaps a Tiffany?

http://www.allaboutrosegardening.com/Tiffany-Rose.html

[wj]

I actually prefer Old Garden (or Heirloom) roses. They don't produce the long straight stems that would make putting them in vases easy. But they look (at least to my eye) much better in the garden/yard. And smell better, too.

[russell]

just came home from big sister's house in southern NH. she has knockouts. smell great, look good, tolerate partial shade, easy peasy to maintain. she just cuts them way back in spring.

[Lurker]

The wild variant of Rosa majalis, the cinnamon rose, is both beautiful and sturdy. It grows naturally throughout Northern Europe and Siberia, so it will probably survive in New Jersey, too. Here in Finland, I is commonly used as a decoration of public spaces because it forms pretty, but impenetrable barriers and does not require much maintenance. For example, planting roses by a wall is a good way to avoid graffiti. (The bushes only seem impenetrable, though. A child or a small adult can easily crawl under the bush if they are willing to soil their clothes. I've spent many a hide-and-seek game in a rose bush.)

My garden philosophy is that you should only grow plants that can survive without extensive care. Pruning once a year should be enough. Then, the point will be to find a mixture of plants that are both pretty and can live in constant competition with each other.

[Katie from Katy]

It does look like a David Austin ... colors yellow through peach to pink, you don't get that in the real Old Roses, but the very double shallow cup shape is just what he breeds for. So ... check out an old David Austin catalogue, 2006 to be safe. The online catalogues don't show the years developed, and the color of the bloom varies a lot depending on temperature and time of year.

[Yama]

Mmmm, Block Island. Great for a day trip, or a bike ride around the island. Do the locals still hate mopeds?

[ABW]

I have honeysuckle in my yard that I love. Beautiful scent fills the air when it's damp out.

[Doctor Science]

Yama:

Yes, but not as much as they used to, because there aren't very many any more.