The Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society will hold their first meeting for 2014 on Sunday, January 5 at 3 PM at Berkeley Electric Cooperative Office, 3351 Maybank Highway, Johns Island, SC 29455.
The program will be "Your 2014 Master Plan in the Rose Garden" to be presented by Bob Lundberg. Bob is an American Rose Society Master Rosarian and is also the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society Consulting Rosarian Chair. He and his wife, Sandy Lundberg, maintain a rose garden of about 400 roses in Blufton, SC. They are top exhibitors, having won numerous awards from rose shows at the local, district and national level. Bob will go through each month and give an overview of what you should be doing in the garden. He will have a flip chart for each month and will also put the same information on a hand out.
Membership in the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society is open to anyone with interest in roses. Dues are $15 for single membership and $20 for family membership annually, January - December and includes information-packed newsletter, The Charleston Rose and participation in all society activities. For more info, email Rosalinda Morgan at RosalindaRM@comcast.net.
To join, send dues to Matthew Morgan, Membership Chair, 3056 Sugarberry Ln., Johns Island, SC 29455.
Welcome to the World of Rose Gardening. Enjoy, take your time and smell the roses!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
FRAGRANCE IN ROSES
The
McCartney Rose has intense fragrance.
Fragrant roses
have been a seductive tradition for years.
In the garden, a bed full of fragrant roses is heaven on earth. Their sweet aroma as you enter the garden
gate will be so captivating. Fragrance
is what we expect of the rose, whether consciously or unconsciously. It is evident when one sees a rose either in
the garden, at the florist or at the rose show.
The first thing a person will do is stick one’s nose to inhale the
fragrance and commenting on its fragrance or lack of it.
There are variations of the term fragrance like perfume,
scent, incense and redolence. Fragrance
suggests the odors of flowers or other growing things. Perfume suggests a stronger or heavier odor
and applies especially to a prepared or synthetic liquid. Scent is very close to perfume but of wider
application. Incense applies to smoke
from burning spices and gums and suggests an especially pleasing odor. Redolence implies a mixture of fragrant or
pungent odor. These terms are invariably
used in conjunction with roses.
The American Rose Society recognizes the importance of
fragrance with the James Alexander
Gamble Fragrance Award which is given to outstanding very fragrant
roses. The ‘Wild
Blue Yonder’ is the 2013 winner of the James Alexander Gamble Fragrance Award. Other
roses that won the Gamble Fragrance Award are Crimson Glory (1961), Tiffany
(1962), Chrysler Imperial (1965), Sutter’s Gold (1966), Granada (1968), Fragrant Cloud (1970), Papa
Meilland (1974), Sunsprite
(1979). Double Delight (1986), Fragrant Hour (1997), Angel Face (2001), Secret (2002), Mister Lincoln
(2003), Sheila’s Perfume (2005), Fragrant Plum (2007), Sweet Chariot (2008), Louise Estes (2010), Falling in Love (2012).
A rose is only half appreciated by the eye and the other
half by the nose. It is the fragrance of
the rose that Sappho in 650 B.C. named it the “Queen of the Flowers”. In England, they value the Old Rose fragrance
in their roses that they awarded the Clay Cup for almost hundred years. Shakespeare loved the Musk Rose, the Damask,
the Sweetbrier, or Eglantine, the Cabbage Rose and the Canker Bloom that he
referred to them in his writings. Here
in the colonies, the first sweetbriers were believed to come over in the
Mayflower or soon after since it was growing in the Pilgrims’ garden before the
end of the 17th century.
Each year, new roses appear in
catalogs. Copywriters do a fantastic job
describing the roses and its attributes.
I found the fragrance very subjective and if we want to grow roses for
their fragrance, you have to choose your varieties very carefully. A slight fragrance in the catalog lingo is
basically no fragrance at all. If you
want a fragrant garden, look for roses with strong fragrance on the
description. In recent years, there were
many scentless roses in the market that you wonder why people are buying
them. Modern hybrid teas are known to
have very little fragrance. Some have
none at all. The hybridizers are doing
the public a disservice by hybridizing the rose too much to create a perfect
formed rose that they are compromising its fragrance. Luckily, more gardeners want the fragrance
back and so the trend is reversing. We
should encourage the hybridizers to put more fragrance in their new
creations.
The “true old
rose scent” is the property of the three classes of roses – Rosa centifolia, the Cabbage Rose; Rosa damascena, the Damask Rose; Rosa gallica, the French Rose. No rose can surpass Rosa centifolia for fragrance. The Hybrid Perpetual which is a cross
between Rosa indica and the old Damask and French
Roses produced roses with lovely old rose scent. Prominent in this group is General Jacqueminot which became the
parent of a long line of fragrant roses.
I saw this rose at the Heritage Garden in San Jose, CA and I was enthralled by its fragrance. The old rose scent is the most refreshing of
all the flower scents. It is not bitter
and will remain sweet to the end. Most
of these fragrant roses are red with pink coming next in degree of
fragrance. Yellow for the most part is
the least scented. Single rose tend to
have less fragrance than their double counterpart. Climbers for the most part are slightly
fragrant. The scent of roses is affected
by warmth and moisture. The scent of the
roses is more pronounced on warm days than on cool days especially if the
weather is dry. Roses tend to be more
fragrant in autumn than in the summer.
The Last Rose of Summer is said to be the sweetest of all. Roses picked up early in the morning have
stronger fragrance than roses gathered later in the day.
Fragrance in roses comes on various forms. One associates rose with the true old rose
scent. Damask is the true rose scent and
the Damask rose ‘Kazanlik’ is the
most sought after rose in the manufacture of the attar of roses. Old
Garden Roses – the Damasks, Centifolias, Albas, Gallicas, Mosses, Bourbons
and some Rugosas have damask scent with a touch of some kinds of fruit
aroma. One of the earliest Damasks is Rosa
sancta found in an Egyptian tomb dated c. 170 A.D. Cleopatra carpeted the floor two feet high
with damask roses to seduce Mark Anthony.
Damask scented roses are associated with love and spring as evidenced in
the painting La Primavera or Spring by Botticelli where he used Rosa gallica and in the Birth of Venus, he used Maiden
Blush.
Besides
the true old rose scent, there are other types of fragrance in roses: We have
the tea scent; the odors of spice – bay, clove, pepper, vanilla. During the Roman times, bay was used as
crowns to protect the emperors from evil spirit and ward off harmful
bacteria. In ancient Greece, the Pythian
priestess ate bay before she went in to the sacred shrine at the Oracle of
Dephi and started reciting verses.
We also have musk, myrrh, wine, honey scent. The Tea or the Musk roses also seem to be
scented of muscatel wine. Felicia, Cornelia and Buff Beauty will scent your garden with
its tea and musk fragrance. Tuscany,
a deep purplish red gallica has the scent of wine. Then we have a whole slew of fruity scents
like apple, raspberry, lemon and oranges. The hybridization of China with Austrian Briars gave
rise to roses with fruity fragrance. Mme Isaac Perriere has a raspberry
fragrance. Zephirine Drouhin and Rosa
Eglanteria are good examples of roses with an apple scent. Apples have been a fruit of favor since the
Biblical times when Eve chose to eat it.
In mythology, the golden apple was given by Paris to Aphrodite in a beauty contest which
indirectly led to the Trojan War. We
also have balsam, clover, violet, jasmine, and lavender scent. Most of the Old Garden Roses- Rosa gallica, Rosa damascena, Centifolias, Mosses all have the balsam scent in their
leaves. Balsam was highly praised in the
Bible as the Queen of Sheba took The Balm or Balsam of Gilead from Arabia to Judea and presented it to King Solomon. Many Rugosas and some Hybrid Teas like Crimson Glory and Chrysler Imperial have the scent of cloves. Some Hybrid Teas also smell of clover. In the Middle Ages, clover was a symbol of
the Holy Trinity because it had three leaflets and a four-leaf clover is a good
luck symbol.
Jardins de Bagatelle
and Jude the Obscure have scent of
vanilla which I find so intoxicating. Stanwell Perpetual has the sweet scent
of lavender and violet. Some David
Austin’s roses are myrrh scented. One of
them is Ambridge Rose. In the Bible, myrrh was given to Jesus by the
Magi and again while Jesus was dying on the cross. The Egyptian also used myrrh resin in the
mummification processes. Old Blush, the Green Rose and La Reine des
Violettes are all scented of pepper.
Gloire de Dijon and Marechal Niel have the scent of
tea. It seems that there is a
correlation between yellow or ivory colored roses and tea scent.
A form of Rosa indica
odorata, the Tea-scented Rose from China smell like fine China Tea as
distinguished from Rosa indica, the
China Rose which is not always fragrant.
This rose found its way to France and later crossed with the
old Musk Rose which gave rise to a new class called Noisettes. The old Musk Rose scent is not exactly as you
would expect a rose to smell. A fine
example of Noisettes is Marechal Niel,
a fragrant but tender rose that can only be grown outdoors in mild
climates. Late in the nineteenth
century, Hybrid Perpetual was crossed with the Tea-scented rose which resulted
in the Hybrid Tea of the modern days.
Copyright © 2013. By Rosalinda R Morgan, author of “BAHALA NA (Come What May”.
All rights reserved. FRAGRANCE IN ROSES
Saturday, September 28, 2013
FORMAL ROSE GARDENS – PART II
ELEMENTS OF A FORMAL ROSE GARDEN
Strong Axis – Paths of some nature
be it grass, pebble or other materials provide visual axes that lead to a focal
point. It could be an urn, statue, an
arch or some kind of architectural feature.
At the L’Hay les Roses in France, the most arresting focal point is the
“Dome” and pergola. To frame an axial
view, sculptural forms of evergreen plants, a big urn or statue on a pedestal
are situated at the entrance and exit.
One of the most basic garden layouts is the four-square form, the result
of two straight paths intersecting at right angles to form a cross, yielding
four rectangular or square planting beds.
It could also be some kinds of unique geometric shapes. This could also take the form of four beds
with a focal points at the center of the cross.
It could be an urn, sundial, armillary or punctuated by an upright
pyramidal shaped tree or shrubs. The
William Paca Rose Garden in Annapolis, Maryland is a fine example where in the
center of the formal beds is a Southern Magnolia Tree. Five-to-eight-foot wide beds remain a
favorite layout for small formal garden.
Level Ground –
Throughout history when most of the great formal gardens in Europe were being
established, the site underwent considerable leveling of the terrain. It is hard to create balance and symmetry
when the terrain is undulating waves of slopes and steps. To create the visual effect needed, a formal
garden has to have at least 12 feet by 12 feet minimum area of level space.
Symmetry – The most definitive
feature of a formal garden is the symmetrical layout. Symmetry enables the garden to create order
and balance in the landscape. No matter
what the shape and size of the garden, if you draw a line down the middle of the
formal garden, one side is the exact replica of the other side. English poet, Alexander Pope in his Epistle
to Lord Burlington written in 1731 described the formal gardens:
“…each
Alley has a brother,
And
half the garden just reflects the other.”
Well-Defined Pathways –
Paths should be wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by
side. Evergreen shrubs like boxwood
define the line of the pathway. Gravel,
stone, and brick are good choices for paving.
An edging of brick set three inches above the pathway well defines the
edge. Grass plants also work well.
Pathways are good for outlining the geometric shapes of the parterres and
enhancing the look and order of the overall pattern of the garden.
Walking around or through a formal
garden is a great way to appreciate it.
When I visited the formal garden beds at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna,
Austria, with very intricate patterns of the formal garden beds, I found it
best to view it from a promontory way across from the garden beds. For an expansive garden, this is the best way
to see the beauty of the garden where you can see the design in its broad
range. In a small garden, ideally the
best way to see it is up close.
Planting Beds and Parterre –
When you think of formal garden, what comes to mind is the classic parterre
created in the 17th century in France. It is an upshot of the
medieval knot garden of the 15th century. The original French parterres were vast and
complex in a number of interesting ways featuring clipped boxwood in swirling
arabesque designs. In the kitchen garden
at Chateau de Villandry in France where vegetables and herbs are planted in eye
catching parterres, the outline of the nine equal square beds of different
design outlined by low box hedges is quite striking. In the Ladies’ Garden at Broughton Castle,
Oxfordshire in England, the box-edged beds are in the shape of fleur de lys and
filled with old garden roses and enclosed with ironstone walls. Today, only public gardens can support the
grandeur of classic French parterres by calling planting beads by the same name
is quite acceptable and endearing.
Structural Appeal – In
the middle of winter when all the plantings are at rest and just the evergreen
and the outline of the beds are visible, the formal garden should still be
interesting to look at because of the underlying architecture of its design. The brickwork, urns, statuary, fountains and
other sculptural objects, the paths and the design of the beds lend a beauty
all its own in the desolate atmosphere of the wintry days. Evergreen also provides a lovely contrast to the serene settings. In my old garden, when the snow was just
starting to stick to the ground, the outline of the garden is quite visible and
the garden still looks great even with all the roses in stick form.
Defined Borders –
Most of the formal gardens in England and France and even in the United States
are bordered by enclosures. However, a
formal rose garden does not have to be enclosed. The contemporary formal rose garden is
usually a garden within a big lawn. A
well-designed layout, a central focal point, brick edging or the use of low,
clipped boxwood, or other evergreen to form the outline of the bed create the
effect of a formal garden within the framework of a big garden.
A
formal garden does not have to be stiffly groomed clipped boxwood trimmed to
perfection. To offset the stiffness of a
formal garden, give your overall landscape an “oomph” for a better word. The best formal gardens should have their own
personality, an element of character, a surprise to make them more
interesting. Into that time-honored layout,
add something to soften the edges so to speak.
Birdbaths,
seating arrangements, pergolas, arbors, obelisks, urns and statues enhance the
beauty of a garden. Unlike the grandeur
of the formal gardens of the Grand Manor Houses of England, the Chateaus of
France and the Mansions of the wealthy robber barons of the United States, the
contemporary formal garden of a true rose gardener is a combination of the
rigidity of the formal garden structure of the past and the practicalities and
charm of the contemporary garden of today.
So use your imagination and go for it.
Nothing like a formal rose garden!
It makes your garden more special.
Roses are not difficult to grow contrary to
popular belief as long as you know what they need. Why do you think Roses have been around for millions of
years? All they need are food, water and sunlight. Just like you
and me.
Here at Rose Gardening World, we’ll educate you about the Rose - our National Floral Emblem
and the state flower of several states. Welcome to the World of Rose
Gardening or Rose Gardening World where Rose Gardening Tips, Rose Growing Advice, Planting a Rose Garden,
Rose Descriptions, Where to Buy Roses, Where to see Rose Gardens, Rose Culture,
Rose History, Rose Events, Rose Verses are all here in one place.
We are constantly updating our
contents so visit Rose Gardening World often. We want to help you
grow Beautiful Roses and we welcome
comments. Take time and smell the roses.
Happy
Rose Gardening!
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