Antique Roses

Sumptuous blossoms, cascading from lavish shrubs; garden bowers filled with heavenly fragrance and delicate colors; blooms packed with petals arrayed in swirls or quarters--if these images are in your dreams, you need to know the antique roses. Reaching their zenith in the 19th century, then becoming eclipsed by the newer hybrid teas, these roses are once again in fashion. With shrubs usually considerably larger than hybrid teas, they are nevertheless appreciated for their hardiness, their fragrance, and their generally healthy foliage.

Many experts disagree on the use of the term "antique" or "old" roses. Some say it is any rose family that predates hybrid teas. Others give a date e.g., 1880, after which a group of roses is considered modern. But most think of the following groups: Gallicas, Damasks, Albas, Centifolias, Mosses, Portlands, Bourbons, Boursault, Chinas, Noisettes, Teas, and Hybrid Perpetuals. Also included by such authors as Trevor Griffith are Species, Rugosas, Musks, Climbers and Shrub-Climbers, Polyanthas, and Ramblers.

For our listing we have used "antique" to describe the hardier groups that usually have double or very double, fragrant flowers. So we include the following: Albas, Bourbons, Centifolias, Damasks & Portlands, Gallicas, Hybrid Perpetuals, and Mosses. Some groups are difficult to grow in the North Country, either because they are not hardy here or because they need a longer warm season to blossom: Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, Musks, and most Ramblers. Species, Rugosas, and Climbers are listed elsewhere on the site.

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