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Title: In Search of Lost Roses by Thomas Christopher, University of Chicago Press ISBN: 0-226-10596-2 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Whose rose is this?....
Comment: Thomas Christopher, a garden writer with a great deal of experience went looking for wild roses. His trip took him all over the United States from Connecticut to Texas to California to the American South. He discovered a unique fellowship of individuals who over the years have grown and thus preserved what are known as 'old roses'.
I happen to grow Blanc Double de Courbet in my own garden, so was a little annoyed to read that one of Mr. Christopher's interviewees (Mike Lowe of Nashua NH) did not particularly like this particular Rugosa rose. I agree the blossoms are not very tidy as they wither on the plant, but cut a few of these roses in full bloom and bring them in the house and you won't care about the faded blossoms (which are more scented than some of the modern hybrids in full bloom). I like to place a vase of these white roses next to my reading chair. The scent is so fabulous that from time to time I become aware of it no matter how engrossing the book.
Christopher interviews folks in California who live in the old gold mine areas where everything is in shambles except the roses growing madly in the abandoned gardens. He interviews elderly Black women who have grown old roses abandoned by their employers who took up with the new hybrids. The true identity of the roses is often unknown (or was not known before modern genetics) and thus the roses have acquired the names of the persons who 'saved' them. For example, one rose named 'Miss Mary Minor' was later identified as 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'.
Malmaison, as anyone who grows roses knows was the garden of Josephine Bonaparte. All garden writers who tell the tale like to remind readers that even the British during their battles with Napoleon accommodated Malmaison. Josephine was able to maintain her garden and stay in contact with British Rosarians in spite of the sea battles that raged around her.
Which leads to the decision of the United States to name the rose as the national flower (the rose is the national flower of England not France). Some of us are old enough to remember Senator Dirksen lauding the marigold and nominating it for the honor of national flower. Chistopher reminds the reader that like Benjamin Franklin and the turkey, Dirksen was doomed to fail. In the end, the US congress chose the rose. Some us like to imagine the American rose is a wild five-petaled rose and not one of those silly hybrids found in florist's shops.
Rating: 5
Summary: A delight for rose lovers, and a fun read for anyone
Comment: My family has a long-standing love affair with roses: a "Belle of Portugal" that my grandmother planted in the 1920's has been passed down through several generations. So I found this book utterly delightful, full of fascinating anecdotes about old varieties of roses, the characters who developed and distributed them, and the even wilder characters who "rustle" and propagate old roses with passion and gusto today. The chapters are thematic and geographical, rather than historical, but they're immensely fun to read. I learned all sorts of amazing historical trivia -- e.g., why the Grass Valley, CA public library owns a Cornish/English dictionary, and the political aspects of rose nomenclature. And, as someone interested in "heirloom" plants in general (I'm a card-carrying member of Slow Food), I found his discussion of rose genetics and propagation fascinating. Some of his stories are poignant, too -- e.g., the elderly black women in rural Texas who propagated roses over the centuries from sheer love, but were dying out even as he wrote. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and recommend it even if you're not an old rose buff.
Rating: 5
Summary: Few gardening books like this one
Comment: For me, Gardening is about feeding my soul with beauty. If you are weary from reading the countless "how-to" gardening books that fill the shelves of the bookstore, then I would highly recommend this book.
Did you know that public parks evolved historically from cemeteries? Read this book to find out more.
And, no doubt, as other reviewers have noted, you will go out and find yourself one of these roses after reading their story.
Great book! :-)
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Title: 100 Old Roses For The American Garden (Smith & Hawken) by Clair G. Martin, Saxon Holt ISBN: 076111341X Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Antique Roses for the South by William C. Welch, Neil Sperry ISBN: 0878337237 Publisher: Taylor Pub Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Rosa Gallica by Suzanne Verrier, William Grant ISBN: 0913643122 Publisher: Firefly Books Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Old Rose Advisor (Volume 2, 2nd Edition) by Brent C. Dickerson ISBN: 0595172997 Publisher: Author's Choice Press Pub. Date: 06 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book by Graham Stuart Thomas ISBN: 0881922803 Publisher: Times Pubns Pub. Date: November, 1994 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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