Old Garden Roses and Older Roses

The Top Rated Old Garden Roses - A Survey
by Steve Jones

Introduction

With the renewed interest in OGRs, I felt a survey of the top roses would be beneficial to those who wish to grow these classic roses. There were two groups in this survey. The first group, which consisted of the well-known and respected Old Garden Rose people in the American Rose Society, had SASE mailers sent to them. The other group responded to the article in the FYI section of the March 1995 issue of the American Rose Magazine. As with most surveys, response was not overwhelming, however, 68 people did respond.

The survey asked each person to name their favorite OGRs in each class, i.e., Albas, Centifolias, etc., and to name their top ten favorite and top ten fragrant OGRs. For fun, people were also asked to name their favorite Shrubs. In hindsight, I should have asked them to name their favorite Polyanthas and Ramblers, since many individuals also included them on their survey (82 total votes).

The purpose of the original survey was to determine the winner of each of the above classes. During the evaluation, other issues surfaced; so they were evaluated, including: number of repeat blooming OGRs compared to once bloomers, area preference for each, and classification problems. The votes were tallied by a straight "head count" for each group. No additional points were awarded for placement. All ARS and non-ARS registered roses, and "Study" or "Mystery" roses, were included in this survey. With so many good roses, there was no need to weed out the non-registered or unknown roses, especially if people were willing to list them.

Results
The winners of the Alba, Bourbon, Centifolia, China, Damask, Noisette, Portland, and Moss classes were elected by a landslide. Others were very close, some winning by only one vote. The closest race was among the Top Ten Favorite Fragrant OGR's, with Baronne Prevost and Madame Isaac Periere going neck and neck from the beginning.

The top roses and the total number of varieties named in each class, listed in order are:

ALBAS (14)

1. Königin von Dänemark
2. Félicité Parmentier
3. Great Maiden's Blush tied with Mme. Plantier
5. Alba Semi-Plena

BOURBONS (35)

1. Souvenir de la Malmaison
2. La Reine Victoria tied with Mme. Isaac Periere
4. Louise Odier
5. Zephirine Drouhin
6. Mme. Pierre Oger
7. Boule de Neige tied with Mme. Ernest Calvat
9. Variegata di Bologna

CENTIFOLIAS (23)

1. Fantin-Latour
2. Rose de Meaux
3. Cabbage Rose tied with Tour de Malakoff
5. Centifolia Variegata tied with Petite de Hollande

CHINAS (41)

1. Old Blush
2. Mutabilis
3. Archduke Charles
4. Green Rose
5. Eugene de Beauharnais tied with Hermosa tied with Louis Philippe
8. Irene Watts tied with Slater's Crimson China

DAMASKS (23)

1. Madame Hardy
2. Rose de Rescht
3. Celsiana
4. Autumn Damask
5. Leda
6. Marie Louise
7. Ispahan tied with La Ville de Bruxelles

GALLICAS (46)

1. Rosa Mundi
2. Charles de Mills
3. Apothecary's Rose
4. Cardinal de Richelieu
5. Belle de Crecy
6. Superb Tuscan
7. Belle Isis
8. Tuscany
9. Camaieux
10. Duchesse de Montebello tied with Gloire de France

HYBRID PERPETUALS (69)

1. Marchesa Boccella
2. Baronne Prévost
3. Reine des Violettes
4. Paul Neyron
5. Frau Karl Druschki tied with Yolande d'Aragon
7. Mrs. John Laing
8. Ferdinand Pichard tied with Marchioness of Londonderry
10. Enfant de France tied with La Reine
12. Anna de Diesbach

MISCELLANEOUS (29)

1. Harison's Yellow
2. Stanwell Perpetual
3. Empress Josephine tied with Fortune's Double Yellow tied with Mermaid

MOSSES (36)

1. Salet
2. Crested Moss
3. Alfred de Dalmas
4. Communis
5. Henri Martin (Old Red Moss) tied with William Lobb

NOISETTES (26)

1. Madame Alfred Carriere
2. Reve d'Or
3. Marechal Niel
4. Lamarque
5. Blush Noisette tied with Céline Forestier

PORTLANDS (16 named)

1. Comte de Chambord
2. Rose du Roi
3. Duchess of Portland

SPECIES (49)

1. Rosa foetida bicolor
2. Rosa glauca
3. Rosa roxburghii (plena)
4. Rosa banksiae lutea tied with Rosa rugosa alba tied with Rosa rugosa rubra
7. Rosa eglanteria
8. Rosa hugonis tied with Rosa setigera

TEAS (58)

1. Sombreuil
2. Mons. Tillier
3. Duchesse de Brabant tied with Lady Hillington
5. Catherine Mermet
6. Francis Dubreuil
7. Maman Cochet
8. Mrs. B. R. Cant tied with Mrs. Dudley Cross tied with Rosette Delizy

TOP TEN FAVORITE OGRs (142)

1. Sombreuil
2. Baronne Prévost
3. Souvenir de la Malmaison
4. Madame Hardy tied with Rosa Mundi
6. Celsiana tied with Charles de Mills
8. Rose de Rescht
9. Apothecary's Rose tied with Königin von Dänemark tied with Marchesa Boccella tied with Stanwell Perpetual

TOP TEN FAVORITE FRAGRANT OGRs (111)

1. Baronne Prévost
2. Madame Isaac Periere
3. Celsiana tied with Marchesa Boccella
5. Louise Odier
6. Autumn Damask tied with Sombreuil
8. Rose de Rescht
9. Charles de Mills tied with Königin von Dänemark

SHRUBS (150)

1. Graham Thomas
2. Golden Wings
3. Buff Beauty
4. Sally Holmes tied with Ballerina
6. Blanc Double de Coubert tied with Heritage tied with Mary Rose
9. Erfurt tied with Penelope
11. Alchymist tied with Cornelia
13. Belle Story tied with Belinda tied with Dortmund tied with Nevada tied with Prosperity tied with Roseraie de l'Hay

There was no surprise that the southern half of the United States preferred the repeat bloomers, and the northern half the once bloomers. The reason is simple. The weather in the South is not as cold as in the North. The Oriental OGRs (Chinas, Noisettes, and Teas) do very well in the South, but are not hardy and will not survive the cold winter months up north. Only proven, winter hardy OGRs are used in the North, such as the European OGRs (Albas, Damasks, Gallicas, Hybrid Perpetuals, etc.), and Shrubs. The percentage difference by region:

In the Top Ten Favorite and Fragrant Favorite OGRs, the repeat blooming roses won out over the once bloomers.

Although most of the class winners were not a surprise, the total number of varieties mentioned in the survey was amazing, especially in the Gallicas (46) and Species (49) classes. You always hear that no one grows these roses, yet there were a lot of them mentioned in the survey.

The shrub class made a strong showing with 150 roses named in the survey. The David Austin English Roses faired well with the top vote-getter being Graham Thomas, and two others landed in the top ten (Heritage and Mary Rose). The Austins accounted for 24% of the varieties named, and 29% of the total Shrub votes.

Notes Of Interest

Several interesting items were noticed in this survey, especially where roses were placed in each class. Both Rose de Rescht and Marchesa Boccella (merged with Jacques Cartier) had as many votes in the Portland class as they did in their current classification (Damask and Hybrid Perpetual). It is well known that Rose de Rescht is better suited as a Portland (Damask Perpetual) than the Damask class since it is a good repeat bloomer, unlike most members of the Damask class which tend to be once bloomers, and has typical Portland characteristics. Marchesa Boccella is Portland-like in appearance which is also prevalent in the early stages of Hybrid Perpetual development. NOTE: All votes for each variety were totaled and placed in their current classification. Marchesa Boccella and Rose de Rescht would have been number 1 and 2 in the Portland class if they were placed in that class. Two other Hybrid Perpetuals were also placed in the Portland class, Yolande d'Aragon and Sydonie.

Other interesting class interpretations include: the Portland Comte de Chambord listed as a Damask, the China Eugene de Beauharnais as a Bourbon, the Bourbon Mrs. Bosanquet as a China, the Shrub Banshee and Hybrid Perpetual Duchesse de Rohan as Centifolias, and the Floribunda Fred Loads as a Shrub.

Three "new" OGRs faired well in their individual classes: Eugene de Beauharnais (China, tied for fifth), Francis Dubreuil (Tea, sixth) and Irene Watts (China, tied for eighth). Both Francis and Irene are questioned as to their true identity. It is alleged that Francis Dubreuil may be an older Hybrid Tea and Irene Watts may be one of the Gruss an Aachens. Either way, both are outstanding roses. Also, Francis just missed out making the Top Ten Fragrant OGRs by one vote.

Conclusions

Conducting this survey was a lot of fun and educational. The best part was visiting with fellow Old Garden Rose people who were very helpful. A follow-up survey in about five years should be conducted to see if the rankings changed. In closing I'd like to share with you some comments from the surveyees.

Denise Gilman of Santa Rosa, California expressed the sentiment of all of us with "I will say all of my favorites are subject to change without notice!"

Marie Oesting of Ocean Park, Washington expressed that she loved the history and adventures that go along with Old Garden Roses, and to "... hang in there promoting the old guys - just for fun."

Virginia Hopper of Branscomb, California expressed the voice of many individuals with "When it comes to 10 favorites - that's not fair - I could list at least twenty - maybe more."