The Ultimate Rose Book: New Expanded Edition (Hardcover)

by Stirling Macoboy (Author), Tommy Cairns (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This massive volume by world-renowned horticulturist Macoboy is encyclopedic in scope, portraying over 1500 roses selected for their beauty, fragrance, and popularity. Although it contains brief information on rose cultivation and a scattering of features on such subjects as the rose in music, the heart of the book is the three alphabetical sections describing individual roses. The author uses the 1979 classification of the World Federation of Rose Societies; his main categories are wild roses, modern and old garden roses grouped together, and miniatures. Each entry includes a color photograph; information on the rose's history, cultivation, and parentage; and whether it is repeat flowering or fragrant. Roses are listed according to the name under which they were first released; the index provides access by later names. Beautiful to look at, this book will be most useful to readers looking for more information about varieties than is provided in growers' catalogs. Recommended for large or specialized collections.
- Molly Newling, Piscataway P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
The spectacularly successful Ultimate Rose Book is back in a thoroughly updated and revised edition. Rosarian Stirling Macoboy’s book is a classic, not just for its beautiful pictures and comprehensive coverage, but also for its author’s good-humored, opinionated observations and his selection of 1,500 rose varieties to feature out of tens of thousands.

The expanded edition features 300 new varieties, selected for their beauty, fragrance, hardiness, and popularity, as well as new features on the history of the rose, the renaissance of garden roses, climbers, and ramblers, and great rose gardens of the world. There are also updated chapters on the classification of roses, as well as a glossary and bibliography. The 2,000 color photographs include the varieties named in the book.

An indispensable reference that possesses visual beauty and literary wit and soul, The Ultimate Rose Book is for gardeners and rose lovers everywhere.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Abrams Books; Updated edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810994100
• ISBN-13: 978-0810994102
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 9.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #349,949 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #25 in

  Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > By Plant > Roses

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big type, easy to read...., February 24, 2001

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Ultimate Rose Book (Including Miniature, and Wild-All Shown in Color and Selected for Their Beauty, Fragrance, and) (Hardcover)

Lately, I've been on a rose book collection spree, and a gift certificate for Valentine's Day allowed me to purchase two new and relatively expensive rose books, THE ULTIMATE ROSE BOOK and BOTANICA'S ROSES. Reading the reviews, I wondered which one would turn out to be "the best" however, both are excellent, and both have qualities that will make them more or less appealing to a reader and/or gardener.

THE ULTIMATE ROSE BOOK is much larger (taller, not thicker), but both books are very heavy. The quality of the photos in both books is excellent. The paper stock is fine and thick, but BOTANICA's is slick and glossy, while ULTIMATE ROSE is less reflective of light making it easier to read. Both contain additional information rose lovers will enjoy.

ULTIMATE ROSE contains fewer entries per page, but the type is much larger, making reading a bit easier for the sight impaired. Entries are in alphabetical order within three categories: "Wild Roses", "Old and Modern Roses" and "Miniature Roses." For example, in the main section, "Old and Modern Roses", Stirling Macoboy lists 'Honorine de Brabant' a bourbon rose with 'Honor' a large-flowered rose (modern hybrid) and 'Hot Chocolate' a cluster-flowered rose (i.e., floribunda). The subtitle of Macoboy's book is "1,500 roses...selected for their beauty, fragrance and enduring popularity." His entries include some information about parentage, blooming pattern, and a bit of history. For example, I just purchased a 'Comte de Chambord' rose and ULTIMATE ROSE is the first of a dozen books to tell me the rose is named for the sad son of Charles X who refused the crown of France and died in exile.

BOTANICA'S also follows an alphabetical scheme, grouping roses into "Wild Roses" and everything else A-Z. BOTANICA'S lists 'Honorine de Brabant' with 'Honore de Balzac' and 'Hoot Owl', but also lists 'Honor' and 'Hot Chocolate' which ULTIMATE ROSE does not. BOTANICA'S also lists Growing Zones in addition to growing conditions and information about parentage and blooming.

In summary, if you can afford it, buy both books as they both contain useful and interesting information that surprisingly does not overlap. If you are more concerned with the nitty-gritty growing information, BOTANICA'S is the better buy. If you want an easy to read book with a bit of history and mythical lore, and a book that contians a select list of choices recommended by an expert rosarian, Macoboy's ULTIMATE ROSE is the better buy.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ideal Guide, May 6, 2001

By	Juduth w. Kozloski "juduth" (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Rose Book (Including Miniature, and Wild-All Shown in Color and Selected for Their Beauty, Fragrance, and) (Hardcover)

This book has a picture for every single rose it lists. And it tells you about the certain aspects of every rose listed like: Is it fragrant?, Does it bloom more than once a season?, and is it known to get black spot?, mildew? or any other diseases roses can get? And it also includes a little history/backround of each rose. The book in addition to listing roses has a small section in the back that tells you how to grow roses from clippings and it tells you how to graft buds onto different bushes. Intersperced throughout the book there are also articals on stuff like the history of the rose in america and the search for the legondary blue rose which has still yet to be found. The only cons I found in this book were that it is hard to find some of the roses listed (I still can't find acouple of the roses shown in this book anywhere for sale)and the two other cons are that this book is HUGE so it is unlikely that you could take it with you for rose shopping and this book only covers roses that were avaliable up to about 1989 so newer roses like Black Magic from jackson & perkins are not listed.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an exhaustive treatment of roses for any plant lover, November 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Rose Book (Including Miniature, and Wild-All Shown in Color and Selected for Their Beauty, Fragrance, and) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book in 1994 for $50 I didn't really have and never regretted doing so. If you adore roses of any sort, want to know floribunda from grandiflora, or just want your two bushes to survive; you must have it. I am cheap and passionate about horticulture. If you need to know about roses, buy only this book! Anything else is about as useful as a government pamphlet.