ALL ABOUT ROSES
Old Garden Roses and Older Roses
Moss Roses: Silk and Fur
by Rhea Worrell
Rhea Worrell is a cyber-rosarian living in North Carolina. She is an avid gardener and an author of many fine articles on old garden roses.
The Mosses are a class of roses that originated as sports [mutations] of Rosa centifolia. They are characterized by a furry or mossy growth on their sepals, calyces and sometimes on their stems. Rose moss is resiny and aromatic; the scent of various hybrids has been described as resembling pine, citrus, dianthus, apple, spice or herbs.
David Austin offers an apocryphal story regarding the first known discovery of a moss rose. It was said to have been found by a certain Frere Ducastrel in the French city of Carcassonne in 1696, and to have already been 50 years old. By 1724, it was available in England -- in the rose catalog of Robert Furber of Kensington. Mosses were bred for a relatively short period of time: from 1850-1870. The Damask influence is seen in moss roses with a button eye. China roses were injected into the program to enhance remontancy.
Moss Roses were relished by Victorian rose fanciers. They had all the wonderful attributes of Centifolia and Damask roses -- and more. Their sticky, sweet moss contributed a certain je ne sais quoi. Their furriness gave them a cuddly, sentimental appeal like that of a cherished pet.
Moss Roses were relished by Victorian rose fanciers. They had all the wonderful attributes of Centifolia and Damask roses -- and more. Their sticky, sweet moss contributed a certain je ne sais quoi. Their furriness gave them a cuddly, sentimental appeal like that of a cherished pet.
As a whole, moss roses are more stiff and upright than other classes. Some are awkward-looking, and some are susceptible to disease. Along with their moss, most are clothed with plentiful thorns, prickles or bristles. Most are fragrant, with lovely, well-formed flowers
Mosses are vigorous and not demanding, especially when the grower has some tolerance for black spot! Like the other European old roses, mosses appreciate cold winters and do not appreciate intense blazing heat. They are hardy from Zone 4 or 5 to Zone 9, but can become heat-stressed. If grown in hotter areas, they should be well-watered and mulched in the summer. If possible, provide them afternoon shade.
Use leather gloves when pruning or cutting moss roses for bouquets. Unless you are willing to use chemical sprays, stick to the tried and true varieties. Most mosses are best utilized in mixed borders where their thorny selves can do the least harm and their attentuated form will not seem stringy or gaunt. The shrubbier mosses are more versatile.
best performers among the mosses
Alfred de Dalmas / Mousseline. One of the best for repeat flowering, Mousseline is related to the the Portlands (repeat-flowering Damasks). Its fat, pretty buds are adorned with sticky, citrus-scented brown moss. The softly cupped flowers are a delicate flesh pink and nicely scented. It has pale green leaves and a bushy habit, reaching no more than 3-4 feet. A good candidate for a "pet" rose.
Comtesse de Murinais. The Comtesse is characterized by pretty buds, green moss, and silky, blush-pink, quartered blooms with a button eye. It is a tall, narrow, vigorous, thorny shrub with light green leaves.
General Kleber. No general was ever this glamorous. The luminous, silky, pale pink petals of General Kleber form a flattened cup shape centered with a button eye. It has fresh green moss and foliage and a nice fragrance to boot. It forms a medium-sized, rounded bushy shrub that is easy to place in the garden.
Marechal Davoust. Free-flowering, clustered flowers, rich deep tones, and a graceful shape make Marechal Davoust a useful garden shrub. Each fragrant flower of purpley crimson is ornamented by a green button eye, and set off by a frill of greenish-brown moss.
Nuit de Young has a very dark red, almost black flower, an excellent scent, dark moss, dark foliage and a good shrubby form.
Old Pink Moss / Common Moss / Communis / R. centifolia alba-muscosa. The original moss rose and the most reknowned of them all, Old Pink is easy to grow. The warm pink coloration of its flowers, its strong perfume, and its shapely habit make Old Pink one of the very best mosses. A favorite of Gertrude Jekyll. Reaches 4 ft.
Salet. Currently the most popular moss, Salet is an excellent rebloomer. It has cupped flowers of of rich pink with red moss. It is a vigourous and shapely shrub.
Shailer’s White Moss / Clifton Rose / White Bath / Rosa centifolia alba-muscosa. This great rose is a sport of a sport. It has the same attributes as Old Pink Moss, but with blush-pink-tinted white blooms. Like Old Pink, it has all the best attributes of Rosa centifolia, including a wonderful fragrance, beautifully-formed blooms and a nice shrubby habit.
William Lobb / Old Velvet. A tall, vigorous, gawky plant with dull green leaves, William is included here for his very impressive floral displays. His blooms are elegant and exceptional in shades of deep crimson and burgundy fading to lavender and gray. Use in the back of the mixed border to echo the colors of nearby perennials, or tucked in the rear of a cutting garden.
other notable mosses
Capitaine John Ingram for his deep-purpley flowers, Gloire de Mousseux and Lane’s Moss for their intense fragrance, Henri Martin for his beautifully-formed flowers of rich crimson. Soupert and Notting is one of several dwarf and miniature moss roses. These make very nice subjects for container plantings.
"It was a little budding rose,SOURCES
Round like a fairy globe,
And shyly did its leaves unclose
Hid in their mossy robe,
But sweet was the slight and spicy smell
It breathed from its heart invisible..."
From "A Little Budding Rose" by Emily Bronte
Austin, David. Old Roses and English Roses. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Antique Collector’s Club, 1992.
The Sweet Scented Rose. Ed. Sheila Pickles. London: Harmony Books, 1994.
