ALL ABOUT ROSES
Old Garden Roses and Older Roses
Hybrid Musks: First of the Shrub Roses
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.
Hybrid Musks, which today are usually grouped with the Old Garden Roses, are actually the first of the shrub roses. The Rev. Joseph H. Pemberton, an English cleric, rosarian, author and hybridizer, had the idea of using Trier, an offspring of a Noisette and a species rose, to create an entirely new class of roses. They were a breakthrough in rose breeding because they were able to utilize all the positive attributes from two strains of species rose -- Rosa moschata (via Reve D'Or) and Rosa multiflora -- to form an incredibly useful and beautiful group of garden shrubs.
The reason for their name is somewhat arbitrary and a few authors have suggested that Hybrid Multiflora would have been as good a name as Hybrid Musk. The family tree goes something like this: Reve D'Or, a yellow Noisette (with Rosa moschata in its lineage) and Rosa multiflora produced Aglaia (considered a Climbing Polyantha), and Aglaia produced Trier by self-seeding. Pemberton used Trier along with Teas, Hybrid Teas, Polyanthas, and Noisettes to create Hybrid Musks.
Rev. Pemberton began his work around 1900, and by 1913 was able to introduce the first Hybrid Musk, Moonlight. It was followed by Danae. He introduced several more Hybrid Musks up to his death in 1926, whereupon his proteges, John and Anne Bentall, continued his work. Some of their creations were The Fairy (a floribunda) in 1932, Ballerina in 1937, and Buff Beauty in 1939.
Beginning in 1950, the House of Kordes in Germany introduced Hybrid Musks such as Erfurt, Nymphenburg and Lavender Lassie.
The fragrance of the Hybrid Musks consists of variations on three themes: the tea scent of Reve D’Or, the sweetness of Rosa multiflora and the musk scent of Rosa moschata. My impression of musk fragrance is of a blend of the light soft aroma of warm, milky custard and a juicy ripe mango or peach. Tea scent is dry, light, sweet and refreshing. Multiflora scent is sweet, like honeysuckle, or apple-like.
Natural Grace
The hybrid musks exhibit a distinct group profile. They are generally large (5 to 6 ft. or taller) shrubs of graceful, arching habit. They have attractive leaves of shiny dark green and bear generous trusses of small to medium-sized flowers. Most are highly fragrant, usually with fruity scents that carry well. They are easy to grow, with outstanding disease- and pest-resistance and an unusual tolerance of filtered shade. Most Hybrid Musks have decorative hips, extending their appeal into the winter months.
Because of these traits, and because they are showy, floriferous, and remontant, Hybrid Musks are one of the most desirable classes of roses.
The hybrid musks exhibit a distinct group profile. They are generally large (5 to 6 ft. or taller) shrubs of graceful, arching habit. They have attractive leaves of shiny dark green and bear generous trusses of small to medium-sized flowers. Most are highly fragrant, usually with fruity scents that carry well. They are easy to grow, with outstanding disease- and pest-resistance and an unusual tolerance of filtered shade. Most Hybrid Musks have decorative hips, extending their appeal into the winter months.
Because of these traits, and because they are showy, floriferous, and remontant, Hybrid Musks are one of the most desirable classes of roses.
PLUSES
- Most shade tolerant of all roses
- Lovely and pervasive fragrances scent the entire garden
- Disease resistant with shiny, healthy foliage
- Excellent record of remontancy
- Easy to grow and long-lived
- Many have hips. The hips grow diagonally along the canes.
- As climbers, they are well-behaved and relatively easy to control.
- If grown organically, Hybrid Musks are a good plant to shelter and feed wildlife.
- Floppiness, size. As shrubs, most can be grown only in large gardens. (Danae, Erfurt or Ballerina are good choices for a smaller area).
- Tenderness. Most are hardy only to zone 6.
- Very pale colors. Except for a few reds [Will Scarlet, Nur Mahal], bloom colors are very light and may "wash out" in very sunny areas, or against a light-colored background.
- Some are slow to get established and may take up to three years to reach full maturity.
- Many Hybrid Musk blooms are small, simple and unremarkable, and are only effective en masse.
- They aren't particularly suitable as cutting roses, unless boughs are cut and placed in large vases.
KEEPERS
BALLERINA Simple but charming, she is always in bloom. She is a showy and a prolific bloomer, usually submerged in clusters of 2" pink to blush white single flowers. The very delicate blooms dance in the breeze. Unique among roses and unlike her Hybrid Musk siblings, Ballerina is sometimes compared to a snowball hydrangea in appearance. She is under 5 feet with a prickly, twiggy, mounded form and dense light green glossy leaves. Numerous clusters of tiny orange-red hips ornament the shrub in winter. There is a crimson sport named Marjorie Fair.
BUFF BEAUTY One of the best of its class, Buff Beauty has large, fluffy, fully double, very fragrant flowers of yellow to buffy-apricot that fade to cream. Large trusses of blooms recur throughout the season. It is vigorous and spreading with pretty dark green foliage and new shoots of dark red. The fragrance is deliciously fruity, possibly reminiscent of pineapple or banana, though some say there's a hint of tea. A banana split minus the calories? "Buffy" reaches 7 ft as a shrub, but may take a few seasons to get established. There's a good display of hips in the fall.
CORNELIA The 1-2" blooms of Cornelia are less impressive than those of Buff Beauty, but they are nicely shaped and ruffled, with a remarkably soft, rich scent. Their coloring blends pink, coral and pale gold with pale gold stamens. Bronze-tinted leathery foliage and fine bristly thorns adorn her gracefully arching 6-10 foot canes. Cornelia is continually in bloom, but outdoes herself in the autumn. The fragrance is that of mixed ripe fruits (tutti-frutti), Heliotrope (cherry-vanilla) or Narcissus.
DANAE The most elegant and restrained of the Hybrid Musks has dark canes and small dark green leaves. Although healthy, the leaves are sparse and the plant is relatively small for its class. Sprays are comprised of dark yellow Tea-like buds and small, fragrant puffs of bright yellow fading to buff and cream. Danae is recurrent. In the autumn, you can expect a good crop of small, reddish-orange hips.
FELICIA is one of the best of its class, according to Peter Beales. It has scrolled coral pink buds, and loads of medium-sized, loosely doubled blooms of peachy-pink atop rigid dark green leaves. Recurrence is good, with two major flushes of bloom. Felicia is a shapely 7-footer with hybrid tea floral form and a wonderful fragrance, but it may take some time to fully develop its potential.
FRANCESCA has fluttery, semidouble blooms of rich apricot-yellow that are held in large sprays. The presentation of the blooms, its glossy dark green foliage, and its tea rose buds create a very pretty picture. The scent has been described as fruity, musky or sweet. Francesca can reach 7 feet.
KATHLEEN has languid, five-petalled blooms of exceptional beauty. They’re a very pale pink centered with gold stamens, and have a rich, sweet scent. Her drooping dark green leaves are an ideal backdrop for the crowded clusters of large blooms. Orange hips dot the 5-6 ft shrub every autumn.
MOONLIGHT is a vigorous climber with small, yellow-blushed white blooms in great abundance. There is some scent and hips in the fall. To 10 feet .
NUR MAHAL flowers all summer long and is heat-tolerant.. Its clusters of spice-scented, semidouble, bright crimson blooms have wavy petals and are backed by lush dark green foliage. Very showy! 5 to 7 ft. (Nur Mahal, wife of a mogul Emperor of India, was credited with the 1623 discovery of attar of roses).
PAX has very large semidouble white blooms, centered with pale gold stamens. They appear in large clusters along gracefully drooping canes and crisp dark green foliage. "A spectacular variety, fine in any garden. ...The flowers are carried so profusely in the early bloom as to obscure the foliage" [Thomson]. To 7 ft.
PENELOPE One of the most popular of the Hybrid Musks. The small creamy yellow to peachy pale pink blooms of Penelope have a beautiful musky scent. They are arranged in large drooping clusters amidst large, plum-tinted dark green leaves on a broadly-spreading shrub. In the autumn, the profuse flush of bloom is followed by a crop of large, angular, pink to orange hips. To 7 ft.
PROSPERITY’s sweetly scented, wavy-petalled, ivory blooms occur in prodigious clusters, and are backed by shiny, bright green, but scanty, foliage. It is more upright and narrow than its siblings. There's a good fall hip display. 4 to 6 feet.
VANITY’s loose, large, single, crimson blooms are sweetly scented. Vanity is a lax and widely spreading shrub that is best used in a casual setting or for naturalizing, as it has excellent shade-tolerance and an outstanding display of fat orange hips in Autumn. Reaches 8-10 ft.
RECENT KORDES INTRODUCTIONS
ERFURT is a low shrub with loose clusters of large, wavy, pink, doubled blooms. The white centers are crowned with gold stamens. Foliage is deep green with new shoots and leaves of bronze. Erfurt is very floriferous and solid rebloomer, with a rich musk fragrance. 3-6 feet tall.
LAVENDER LASSIE A very showy and popular rose, Lassie has many stellar qualities: large trusses of loosely ruffled, doubled blooms of lavender pink, an endearing fragrance of fruit and spice, a vigorous and healthy disposition, and bright, shiny green foliage (though on the scanty side). It looks more like a tall Floribunda than a Hybrid Musk.
ERFURT is a low shrub with loose clusters of large, wavy, pink, doubled blooms. The white centers are crowned with gold stamens. Foliage is deep green with new shoots and leaves of bronze. Erfurt is very floriferous and solid rebloomer, with a rich musk fragrance. 3-6 feet tall.
LAVENDER LASSIE A very showy and popular rose, Lassie has many stellar qualities: large trusses of loosely ruffled, doubled blooms of lavender pink, an endearing fragrance of fruit and spice, a vigorous and healthy disposition, and bright, shiny green foliage (though on the scanty side). It looks more like a tall Floribunda than a Hybrid Musk.
NYMPHENBURG has an excellent apple / musk fragrance, perhaps like a warm apple pie a la mode. Its plump salmon buds and delicate, loosely-ruffled blooms of shaded salmon and peach occur in clusters. As a shrub is large and broadly spreading, with glossy, olive-green, slightly wrinkled leaves. It has good recurrence, few thorns, and is a good-looking plant overall.
WILL SCARLET is a sport of Kordes’ deep crimson Wilhelm [Skyrocket]. Both Wilhelm and Will are upright, vigorous and very floriferous, with large, glossy, leathery leaves. Will Scarlet has clusters of loosely-ruffled, bright red blooms with gold stamens. The blooms have little scent, but there's a profuse display of large, orange-red, long-lasting hips. These very showy roses are named in honor of the Kordes family.
Other well-known Hybrid Musks are Belinda, Mozart, Robin Hood, Bishop Darlington, Thisbe and Bubble Bath. The last two are especially fragrant.
Peter Beale's highest-rated Hybrid Musks are Pax, Prosperity, Vanity, Francesca, Penelope and Cornelia. Rosemary Verey's favorites are Cornelia for its recurrency and delicious fruity sweet scent, Felicia for its recurrency and musky scent, Penelope for its musk scent and hips, Buff Beauty for its tea scent, Moonlight for its climbing habit, Prosperity for its strong scent, and Pax (just because).
SOURCES
Austen, David. Shrub Roses and Climbing Roses. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Antique Collectors Club, 1993.
Beales, Peter. Roses. NY: Henry Holt, 1985.
Macoboy, Stirling. The Ultimate Rose Book. Fwd. Patricia Stemler Wiley. NY: Harry Abrams, n.d.
Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Old Roses...and How to Grow Them. NY: Random House, 1998.
Thomson, Richard. Old Roses for Modern Gardens. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1959.
Welch, William. Antique Roses for the South. With Margaret Sharpe and S.J. Derby. Fwd. Neil Sperry. Dallas, TX: Taylor, 1990.
Worrell, Rhea. Rose Hips II. Help Me Find Roses website October 1999 ezine.
Fragrance Flavors in Roses. American Rose Society website: Ask the Experts.
With special thanks to my neighbor, Virginia Neville, and to the NC Botanic Garden for the use of their research library.
Pemberton's Inspiration?
"I saw the sweetest flower wild nature yields,
A fresh blown musk-rose 'twas the first that threw
Its sweets upon the summer; graceful it grew
As is the wand that queen Titania wields
And, as I feasted on its fragrancy
I thought the garden-rose it much excelled."
-John Keats
