Old Roses & Old Roses

As ever, and with growing enthusiasm, true rose connoisseurs often have several varieties of Old Roses in their garden and would not want to give them up.

Old Roses - all flower forms are represented

Most old roses have a shrubby habit and attractive, densely double blooms. But there are weaker-growing varieties for containers as well as more vigorous cultivars that feel at home on obelisks, rose arches or a rose trellis, and single flowers that are attractive to insects are no rarity either.

Old Roses - repeat-flowering and once-flowering varieties for different uses in the garden

The common opinion that a Historic Rose only blooms once is not entirely correct. Many at least flower again later, and some are almost continuously in bloom. Above all, the once-flowering varieties bear beautiful rose hips in autumn and often decorative foliage as well, which makes them worthwhile shrubs for the garden.

Old Roses - attractive combinations with other plants

Besides classic companion plants for roses such as lavender, herbaceous clematis or Italian clematis are particularly suitable as companions for a once-flowering Old shrub rose. Their flowering time is usually after the rose bloom and thus extends it. The simple, almost ground-level pruning and the fact that they do not climb (herbaceous types only) go very well with the care of a summer-flowering rose. The same applies to clematis hybrids, which are pruned moderately after flowering and often bloom together with the rose.

Old, Historic Rose varieties for beginners

Old Roses and Old Roses are often described as difficult and not beginner-friendly. This may be true of individual collector's varieties. But a large part of the Historic Rose varieties is no more demanding than comparable modern roses.

Particularly easy-care, strongly fragrant repeat-flowering Old Roses are, for example:

• Rose de Resht - purple, also suitable for containers, very strong fragrance, blooms can also be used in the kitchen
• Comte de Chambord pure pink, also suitable for containers, heavily double, good fragrance
• Louise Odier - pink, also climbs, good, heavy fragrance
• Jacques Cartier - pink, also suitable for containers, well-filled blooms, fragrant

With the variety recommendations above you cannot go wrong. Even so, it is worth reading through the many experiences our visitors have had with their Old Roses in the garden.

Here you will find a list of particularly robust rose varieties for beginners

Botanical classification of the 'Old Roses'

Most of the old roses can be divided into the following botanical groups.
Click on the name or the picture to go to a list of varieties. There you can also buy these wonderfully fragrant old rose treasures online.