William C. Welch - Antique Roses for the South

A N ALMOST instant bond exists among people who love to garden. Sharing plants and information is second nature with the gardeners I know. It is in that spirit of sharing that this book is offered.

This spirit of sharing as well as a dedication to preserving our gardening heritage describe some of the friends who have been instrumental in the preparation of this book.

Pamela Ashworth Puryear of Navasota, Texas, has provided valued research assistance and enthusiasm for my work with old roses and garden history. She also founded The Old Texas Rose newsletter, organized the first Rose Rustle in our area, and served as editor for the Heritage Rose Letter that reached a national organization of old rose enthusiasts, the Heritage Rose Group.

The late Margaret Sharpe of Houston served for many years as editor of The Old Texas Rose newsletter and capably provided the section on rose crafts in this book. Margaret devoted a great deal of her time and talent to work with roses and Texas Garden Clubs, Inc.

Well-known for her flower arranging talents, S. J. Derby has focused here on growing and arranging old roses. Her talent and enthusiasm for sharing knowledge about enjoying the beauty and fragrance of these flowers inside our homes has made her demonstrations and illustrated programs a popular choice for civic and gardening groups. S. J.s photography brightens the pages of her section.

Ruth Knopf of Sullivans Island, South Carolina, has provided valuable research and firsthand knowledge as well as beautiful photographs of old roses in the South. Marion Brandes of Kerrville, Texas; Cleo Barnwell from Shreveport, Louisiana; the late Josephine Kennedy, Springfield, Louisiana; the late Joe Woodward of Dallas; Charles L. Walker, Jr. of Raleigh, North Carolina; D. Greg Grant, Arcadia, Texas; and Stephen Scanniello from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden have all made significant contributions toward making this book a reality.

I deeply appreciate the support and enthusiasm of my colleagues at the Texas Cooperative Extension and the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A & M University.

Tom Christopher, author of In Search of Lost Roses, has provided valuable editing assistance as have Mary Hermann Kelly and Arnie Hanson and the entire staff at Taylor Trade Publishing. Rick Rinehart and Camille Cline of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group provided support and editorial assistance for this revised edition. Valuable editorial assistance was also provided by Cynthia Mueller.

Last and most I want to thank my wife, Diane, my son, William, and all my family for their patience and support of this work.

The following individuals as well as many others provided valuable assistance with the book and are gratefully acknowledged by the author.

Frances Brandes

Bernice M. Smith

Belle Steadman

A. Scott Ogden

Liz Druitt

Vicky Jackson

Catine Perkins

Miriam Wilkins

Mike and Jean Shoup

Maureen Reed Detweiler

Sally Kittredge Reeves

Mark Chamblee

Aubrey and Cheryl King

Peggy Cornett

Jason and Shelly Powell

Ethel Orr

Neil Sperry

Hazel McCoy

Patti McGee

Frances Parker

Mary Zahl

Amos Welder

Robert Richter

Don and Karen Lehto

Deanna and Earl Krause

Brenda Buest Smith

Sally McQueen Squire

Bob Webster

Roberta Churchin

James David

Dr. Dorris Brown

Bill Schumann

Nancy Volkman

Affleck, Thomas. Southern Rural Almanac, 1860. Found in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections. LSU Libraries, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Beales, Peter. Classic Roses. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1985

Bunyard, Edward A. Old Garden Roses. New York: Earl M. Coleman Publishing, 1978.

Christopher, Thomas. In Search of Lost Roses. New York: Summit Books, 1989.

Drennan, Georgia Torrey. Everblooming Roses For the Outdoor Garden of the Amateur, Their Culture, Habits, Description, Care, Nativity, Parentage. Duffield & Co., New York, 1912.

Fagan, Gwen. Roses at the Cape of Good Hope. Capetown: Breestraat-Publikasies, 1988.

Fortune, Robert. A Letter from Robert Fortune. Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. Vol. 6, 1851.

Gault and Synge. Dictionary of Roses in Colour. London: Michael Joseph, 1971.

Griffiths, Trevor. My World of Old Roses. London: Whitcouls Publishers, 1983.

Hole, Dean S. Reynolds. Our Gardens. 1899.

Jekyll, Gertrude and Edward Mawley. Roses for English Gardens. London: Country Life, 1922. Reprint. Woodridge, Suffolk: Baron Publishing Co.

Keays, Etheleyn Emery. Old Roses. 1935. Reprint. New York: Earl M. Coleman Publishing, 1978.

Krussman, Gerd. The Complete Book of Roses. Portland: Timber Press, 1981.

Prince, William Robert. Princes Manual of Roses. Stanfordville, New York: Earl M. Coleman, Publisher, 1979. (A facsimile of the 1846 original.)

Shephard, Roy. History of the Rose. Simpkin, Marshall and Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1903.

Shoup, G. Michael. Roses for Southern Gardens. Antique Rose Emporium, 2000.

Thomas, Graham Stuart. The Old Shrub Roses. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1983.

Thomas, Graham Stuart. Shrub Roses of Today. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1980.

Welch, William. Perennial Garden Color. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1989.

Yellow Lady Banks roses mingle with Rosa chinensis Mutabilis on the archway of a Charleston, South Carolina, garden. Design by Hugh Dargan & Associates Landscape Architects.

A MONG THE inheritances we Southerners have received from our ancestors, we value especially the graceful classic homes and furnishings, the cuisine, and the solid cultural traditions of generations past. Yet our legacy includes more than these artifacts; among the heirlooms for a Southern gardener are the horticultural treasures our great-grandparents loved. And above all other flowers, they loved roses. These survivors from lost gardens are special. For unlike the inanimate heirlooms preserved among old Southern familiesand in antique shopsold roses are living reminders of our heritage. Every spring they create anew their colors and perfumes, and in their vigor and grace, they keep our past ever young. These flowers are not copies, not restored, not a re-creation. They are the real thing, and, in a world of synthesized, replicated material possessions, real beauty deserves to be cherished and lovingly preserved.

B ESIDES their charm and beauty, old roses are also tough. In the days before garden hoses, sprinkler systems, and pesticides, these older sorts flourished and, once established, survived on old homesites and cemeteries, sometimes for centuries, without any care. Decades of climatic extremesdroughts, heat waves, hurricanes, blizzards, and floodsand often the bulldozers of real estate developers have killed the weaklings, leaving a select group of survivors: strong shrubs that remain green in the face of adversity. And the majority of these antique shrubs simply sneer at the attacks of insects or diseases.