Here in Windsor, Connecticut, we are anxiously waiting for our first 75 degree day. Sunshine and warm weather have been very elusive so far this spring, but I know the warm weather will arrive eventually.

The trouble is, when it’s this cold for this long, usually we’ll have a couple of lovely warm days and then Boom! It’s in the nineties!! If we could dial up take-out weather, it certainly wouldn’t be this way…

So, I’ve pruned my roses, fluffed up the mulch, and the new growth is just barely limping along. In a normal year, my roses would have more growth, the leaves would already be on the trees, and I would be fertilizing the established plants. I’m waiting to do that, because fertilizer doesn’t become available to the roots of the plants until the soil has warmed up to about 55 degrees. And so, I impatiently wait.

Old Garden Roses

I love watching all my roses grow and bloom, and today I am thinking about the grande dames of my garden: my old garden roses (OGRs).

My friend, Mirjana, grows many of these fragrant treasures in her lovely, walled garden. One of my favorites in her garden is ‘Cardinal de Richelieu,’ a deep, dark, fragrant purple…it’s just yummy! I have a few old ladies in my Rose Forest Garden on the hill behind my house.

Many of the OGRs are one-time bloomers and as such, they are overlooked for repeat-blooming varieties. I’ll bet that all rose growers can find a spot for these beauties, though! One of the nice things about these old gals is that they can be planted near deciduous trees because they set their buds before the leaves are on the trees. Because they don’t rebloom, they don’t need the hot, summer sunshine to re-set buds.

Alika

They don’t need to be dead-headed either! I have a beautiful old rose that my friend, Audrey, gave me. Her name is ‘Alika’ and she was found in Russia in the mid-1800’s. ‘Alika’ was introduced in the United States in the 1930’s. She is a large, arching shrub and is one of the first roses to bloom in my garden on the hill. Each blossom is about 3-4″ across, deep pink, and incredibly fragrant!

She is an amazing blooming machine for about five weeks, usually beginning in the end of May. The bees just love the sweet blossoms on this rose and spend a lot of time with her. When the blooming period is over, ‘Alika’ sets beautiful hips that look like perfect, miniature pears. Although I do spray in some of my gardens, I leave ‘Alika’ and her counterparts alone. Most of these dowager roses have some pretty decent disease resistance. ‘Alika’ is incredibly cold tolerant, too…of course…from Russia, with love!

Prolifera de Redoute

Another grande dame in my garden is a rose that I rescued from Old North Cemetery in Hartford. It’s been here for a few years now, and I know her habits well. Our rose friends tried to figure out just which rose this might be, and I think now I know thanks to a suggestion from a fellow rose rustler. Last spring, after it had finished its bloom period, I went out in the garden and noticed it was blooming again. The entire rose had proliferated (put up new blossoms right through a spent blossom). Matt, my rustling friend, had thought that she looked like ‘Prolifera de Redoute’ after he checked out the pictures I sent him. After seeing this complete proliferating phenomenon, I think he was right! We are now calling this gallica rose ‘Prolifera de Redoute,’ which was introduced in the early 1700’s.

Another great thing about these roses in your garden is the fact that it’s really easy to propagate them. Most of them spread by runners, so all you have to do is dig or pull some up, put them in a container with some compost or potting soil, and give them to your friends. I love this! It means that these varieties will never be lost to the ages, as long as someone loves them and is willing to share.

Cont.

I have more old roses in my gardens, and I can’t wait for the perfume season to begin! ‘Magnifica,’ a hybrid rugosa from 1903, is just outside my screened-in porch and her fragrance will soon permeate the house. She is a reliable repeat bloomer. ‘La Belle Sultane,’ another rescue rose, is almost purple and scents my Rose Forest Garden for a month. If soft pink had a fragrance, it would come from ‘Delicata,’ another hybrid rugosa that perfumes the lower tiers of my gardens along with ‘Blanc Double de Coubert,’ a large, reblooming white rugosa. Rosa Canina is beautiful even in the winter as its hips resemble large bunches of bright red cherries on long, arching maroon colored canes. All these hips (seed pods) on all these old ladies help to feed the birds all winter!

I have a request in to my friend, Vicky, next door. She lives in a very old house and there is a ‘Celciana’ rose that has been growing there for at least a hundred years. I’ve asked for a chunk-I have a spot all ready-and as soon as I have permission, I will add her to the Rose Forest Garden neighborhood! Her counterparts in my garden have already told me that they can’t wait for her arrival…