Minutes of the February Meeting of the Maine Rose Society: Feb. 9. 2003

 

Present: Kay Buffum, Soren Christensen, Jerry Cinnamon, Nina Colcord, Margaret Edwards, Margaret Derringer, Joan Gotlibson, Roger Gotlibson, Vaughn Hardesty, Clair Holman, Sari Hou, Rita Lesniak, Stephen Law, Elaine Law, Frank O’Connor, Clarence Rhodes.

 

Margaret Derringer speaking about Old Roses

Ms. Derringer, MRS member currently living in New York City, has extensive volunteer service working in the Brooklyn Botanical Cranford Rose Garden (http://www.bbg.org/exp/roses/index.html) and has served as a consulting rosarian for local garden clubs. At the Brooklyn Botanical Garden she became enamored with both Old Garden Roses and Hybrid Musk roses. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden contains many first time introductions of certain species and cultivars of Old Garden Roses and Hybrid Musk roses making it a unique place to research Old Roses. The Garden also has a well established research library on roses.

 

Margaret Derringer

 

 

Cranford Rose Garden

 

The Cranford Rose Garden was opened in June 1928 with the rose layout designed by Harold Caparn. Although the new hybrid teas were popular in the early part of the century, Caparn felt that while the blooms of the new roses were spectacular, their foliage had a weedy appearance and they were impossible to use in landscapes. So he designed a garden of modern roses framed by their ancestors, the more graceful species and old garden roses. By the end of 1928, 2000 rose bushes were added. Today there are 15 center beds, each 10 feet wide and 50 feet long, containing varieties of modern roses. Today there are 5000 species and cultivars in the garden. Many of the original plants installed in 1927 and 1928 are still in the garden today.

 

Brief History of Rose Origins

 

Ms. Derringer traced the history of garden roses referring to the book by Michael Poulin Second Nature as a current source of interest to the public in these roses; the work of Empress Josephine in creating the first great rose garden; the development of Hybrid Teas along with the rise of rose shows accompanying the rise of a social middle class having enough time and money to grow and exhibit roses; the rise of hybridizers in the 1600 century, and particularly the development of the Centrifolia group of roses in Holland. Early “European” roses, including most Gallacias, came to Europe from Asia Minor, with the exception of a few species roses such as the native alpine species R. Gallacia. Hundreds of Gallacias were hybridized with note made of the Agatha group including Agatha Incarnata that numbered as many as 50 cultivars in commerce at one time. The Alba roses were from northern Europe are probably a spontaneous cross between damask or gallica roses and R. canina; the albas are upright, tall and vigorous, with sparse prickles, tough leaves and mostly fully double blooms. These include Alba Maxima, Rosa Mundi – an ancient stripped rose, etc.  The Alba’s produce flat flowers with small buds.

1882 Rose Catalog

Ms. Derringer brought a copy of a commercial rose catalog from 1882 showing varieties available at that time. This list demonstrates the changing fashion of rose growing, with only a limited number of cultivars on the list still in commerce, some known but unavailable, and most lost.  The list shows R. Glauca- a species rose, Redoute’ introduced in 1817-1823, R. Pendulina – grown for its hips, and Harrison’s Yellow- a spontaneous hybrid from R. Spinossima and Persian Yellow (R. foetida persiana) originating in New York City, but eventually becoming known as the Yellow Rose of Texas, Xanthina – a yellow rose, La France – often indicated as the first hybrid tea, a rose labeled Not General Jack – a hybrid perpetual. Ms. Derringer showed a slide of Mutabilis as an early china hybrid that is very close to being a species rose. This class of roses came from china and were important in bringing recurrence to European roses upon hybridization. Ms. Derringer indicated that one of her favorite hybrid teas was Oklahoma - having both a lovely scent and having stood the test of time.

Hybrid Musk Roses

Ms. Derringer’s work at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden included working with Hybrid Musk roses around the rose pool at the garden. The pool was begun in 1926 and planted with the Hybrid Musk Clytemnestra (Trier x Liberty) shortly thereafter.  Hybrid Musk roses generally have the spring-blooming rambler Trier as a parent. Trier’s parentage comes from strains of most of the garden roses. According to The Graham Stuart Thompson Rose Book the strains that produced Hybrid Musk roses were mostly crosses between Trier and Hybrid Teas. As such they have little of the true Musk or R. moschata in them, and thus are not true musk roses. Nevertheless, they are popular and this is they name that they retain. Hybrid Musk roses were mostly the result of the work of Reverend Joseph Pemberton with additional roses produced by others including some recent additions. The roses around the rose pool at the Brooklyn were mostly Clytemnestra (Trier x Liberty) that had been long neglected and had become overgrown for a long period of time. Ms. Derringer worked to correct this situation. She also showed slides of Daybreak, Felicia, Francesca – an apricot yellow rose with the fragrance and habit of a Tea rose, Bishop Darlington having a true musk fragrance, Buff Beauty, Moonlight, Pax, Penelope, Queen of the Musk, Vanity, and Will Scarlet. Ms. Derringer’s research on Hybrid Musk roses may eventually form the basis for a book on this class.

Reverend Pemberton’s Advice

To conclude her talk, Ms. Derringer offered advice from Pemberton’s work. Pemberton advised rosarians to prune once blooming roses, those that bloom on old wood, in a staggered manner. He suggested that we prune some canes in later summer and some in spring to extend the flowering season. The Reverend Pemberton also had advice about growing own root versus grafted roses. He found that some roses grow well on their own roots, but this depends on soil conditions. In some soils a rose may do better when grafted. Food for thought concerning the renewed trend toward commercial production of own root roses.

Members of the Maine Rose Society wish to thank Ms. Derringer for coming to Maine this February to brighten our lives with roses.

 

           

 

by MRS secretary: Jerry Cinnamon, Feb. 9^th, 2003