Classic Roses [Paperback]

Peter Beales (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

This is a landmark work by the world’s foremost authority on roses. Both a definitive history and an essential manual for all growers and lovers of roses, it contains a wealth of expert information on buying, propagating, feeding, and pruning old roses, shrub roses, and climbers. It is superbly illustrated with more than 600 color photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A massively and magnificently illustrated encyclopedic work.” -- Daily Telegraph

“This comprehensive work covers this special area of flower gardening more completely than any other book on the market.” -- Library Journal

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860463037
• ISBN-13: 978-1860463037
• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 7.5 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,249,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beales Chooses the Best; Forget the Rest, August 21, 2001

By 

"steve_at_rosefile" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classic Roses: The Revised And Expanded Edition (Hardcover)

This is not a coffee table book. Though the pages are high-quality paper, the photos excellent and plentiful, and the binding high-quality, the book is essentially a meaty reference. If there were a college course on roses, this might serve as a texbook.

Beales starts as most authors do by talking about rose history, culture and using roses in the garden. It is clear that Beales is not so interested in roses as show-bench trophy fodder but as vital elements of a user-friendly and colorful garden. This sentiment shows in his selection of cultivars.

The bulk of the book is descriptions of roses. Beales has developed the most complete shorthand available for expressing all the things you wish to about a rose: how well it does in the shade, which diseases it gets, when it blooms, how big and bushy the plant is. This means that his text entries can focus on the facets of the rose that make it unique in the garden. In other words, he manages to convey the same amount of information as would a book twice the heft of this very hefty tome.

The book does a commendable job covering all old rose classes, climbing roses, shrub roses, species, and near-species cultivars. It is the over-fat classes of Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid Teas, that have pricipally recieved the editorial hatchet. And since Beales considers only 2000 or so cultivars, this book is good for culling out the considerable amount of dross among roses - especially among hybrid teas.

If you know you will never use roses for any purpose than cutting or showing on a bench, this book will be of only peripheral use. But if you yearn to understand how roses can work in a garden setting, this is one of the best buys around.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beales' Classic Roses a book for all seasons, May 11, 2000

By 

Jill Gering (Phoenix, Az. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classic Roses: The Revised And Expanded Edition (Hardcover)

If you want from pictures to propagation this is one of the best books I own. Equally at home on the coffee table or in the garden. If you have ever planted two roses both 3 to 4 feet only to find you have Tom Thumb and Audrey from the Little Shop of Horrors growing side by side,you will appreciate the simple color, size and height chart.

Beales gives each rose its own set of likes dislikes etc. in a handy icon format. He is as dedicated as an English nanny to the uniqueness of each rose's culture and care.

The only drawback to the book is that it is directed to the English climate. So if one lives in zones 7-10 in the United States or elsewhere some of the roses listed as hardy will the rose from hell to grow. Others may be easy that are listed as delicate. But this is a fairly minor problem.

If you want to landscape, plant or simply look as roses this is a great book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For Your Library!!, August 19, 2002

By 

Stacy Medina (Lakewood, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Classic Roses: The Revised And Expanded Edition (Hardcover)

I purchased this beauty along with Botanica's Roses, from Amazon. WOW was I delighted! Between the 2 I have almost every rose info I could imagine. It is well worth the money and a must have for every rosarian. I have 40 roses so far and found the info very useful in my continued purchases. (ex: I live in the NW and have wet weather...many roses dislike wet and don't open properly. The books reveal which are poor choices for my such climate. Now that is USEFUL information!)

Of course it goes without saying that the author knows his roses and the pictures are, well, drop-dead gorgeous (as are in the Botanica's Roses book.)

A 100% must have, along with Botanica's.