100 Old Roses For The American Garden (Smith & Hawken) [Paperback]

Clair G. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Smith & Hawken | Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Grow a rose once praised by Virgil, known today as 'Autumn Damask.' Or the ancient 'Apothecary's Rose,' which Count Thibaut brought back from the Crusades. Or 'Empress Josephine,' enjoyed by the lady herself.

Treasured for their mixture of toughness and charm, versatility in the garden, and glorious scent, Old Roses are a revelation to gardeners accustomed to fussy modern hybrids. Suddenly roses don't come in one shape but in a dozen, and don't require a scientific approach but thrive with the basics of sun, water, and soil. Clair Martin, who has over 2,000 different roses under his care, offers enthusiasts a perfect introduction to growing Old Roses, followed by a focused list of 100 cultivars ideal for gardens across America.

From 'Alba Semi-plena' an excellent cold-climate survivor and one of the oldest forms of the white rose, to the popular 'Zephrine Drouhin,' with her deep, rich cerise tones--each rose is photographed in sumptuous color and accompanied by history, parentage, culture, and at-a-glance information on availability, stature and habit, hardiness, and time of bloom.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

While gardeners often start out with hybrid tea roses, they most often end up growing the healthier and supremely fragrant old roses. Who can resist their crumpled petals in soft watercolor shades and their penetrating fragrance of baby powder and cold cream, let alone their lengthy and flamboyant histories? 100 Old Roses for the American Garden has pulled together a selected hundred of the best, with stunning color photographs and cultural information.

And the names--who could resist 'Alister Stella Gray' (a golden rambler), or 'Enfant de France' (a rose-pink hybrid perpetual dating from 1860)? You might want to track down 'Sydonie,' a shell-pink damask described as having deep, pervasive perfume and generous rebloom. This task will be made easier by the appendices at the back of the book listing mail-order sources for old roses, and public gardens that display them.

One reason so many gardeners end up enamored with old roses is that they don't need to be grown in a "rose ghetto" as do hybrid teas, but rather enjoy being mixed into borders with other plants. A chapter on companion plantings suggests perennials that work well as skirting for old roses, enabling the gardener to mix roses seamlessly into the garden picture. --Valerie Easton

Review

"Richly illustrated, informative and portable, this handy volume introduces you to the grand dames of the rose world." -- San Diego Union Tribune

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076111341X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761113416
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Successful survey of Old Roses for most gardeners, April 28, 2000

By 

Marc S. Komisarow (Dunwoody, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 100 Old Roses For The American Garden (Smith & Hawken) (Paperback)

Clair G. Martin has produced a successful survey of old roses for most gardeners. His prior work, 100 English Roses for the American Garden is the preferred reference work for American Gardeners of the ever popular Austin Roses. This book gives a terrific survey of old roses for those unfamiliar with the subject. The book follows the same easy to use format as its predecessor. The opening section provides a useful review of the old roses and their history. Interesting side bars, such as the biography of Pernet-Ducher, give a lively and informative view of the area. The most popular part of the book will be the field guide. Saxon Holt's lush photographs illustrate each of the roses. The text is clear concise and informative. Again the information below the text provides essential guides to size, as well as hardiness, based on region. All in all, a most useful book for the casual gardener who seeks to begin to grow old roses or even the more dedicated rosarian seeking a concise overview of the subject. For the more serious OGR aficionado, this book will be the source of many arguments based on the field guide choices. For readers of Brent Dickerson's tomes on the subject, or Graham Thomas's seminal works this book will lack the exhuastive information of those works, but should be pleasing because of its convenient size and breezy prose.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With details on the rose's growing needs, February 21, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Old Roses For The American Garden (Smith & Hawken) (Paperback)

Saxon Holt's color photos embellish nearly every page of this gardener's guide to old rose varieties. Unlike many rose books which assume prior knowledge, this advises a range of gardeners with details on the rose's growing needs and methods accompanying the full-page color photo of its flower. Highly recommended: 'the' pick if only one or two rose books were to be included in a home gardening collection.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is a fine line between hobby and obsession......, July 11, 2001

By 

Tenacwalker (Heart of Dixie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Old Roses For The American Garden (Smith & Hawken) (Paperback)

As others have previously mentioned, this is by no means the "authority" on the old roses, but what a wonderful little book it is! You don't have to work out twice a week in order to lift it and thumb through it, and it will fit in the back pocket of your overalls. The field guide is the area of the book I use most- the pictures are of a rose branch, often including buds, partly opened flowers and plenty of leaves, so you get a good idea of what the flowers, leaves and cane colors look like together, and that is not something many books offer. The pictures are taken on a clean white background and show the true form of the rose bloom. I like the author's style of writing and the fact that he often gives his opinion of the rose and the nature of it's scent, as well as the facts of it's growth habit. He also lists the roses by color in the back of the book, and that is a nice reference touch.

This is is a great reference book to take to the nurseries or on garden expeditions because it is so portable and offers so much information on each rose. We all know how vague some of those nursery tags can be, and if you don't have a photographic memory the easily found details quickly let you know if the rose you are considering will grow 4X4 or 10X10 in your area and whether or not it *really is* the rose that you want to plant beside the steps going to the back door! (I know- it would be just lovely there, wouldn't it....)

I have this book as well as the "100 English Roses" by the same author. They are not the books I reach for on a rainy day when I am looking for design inspiration, but they *are* the ones that I constantly reach for when I am doing the actual planning and planting and need the facts, and also the ones that my friends love to borrow. These are not expensive books, and it will be money well spent.