Roses - FAQ

The exact number cannot be determined, but it is assumed that there are more than 30,000 different rose varieties worldwide. Of these, roughly 6,000 are probably available commercially.

This number is likely to keep changing a little, as new varieties are constantly added while others are lost. 

No, not all roses are fragrant. A not-so-small number of roses have no fragrance at all or only a barely perceptible one. 

Besides roses without fragrance there are also some that do not smell particularly pleasant, such as 'R. foetida bicolor', which smells slightly of bedbugs.

The growth rate of roses varies greatly and depends essentially on the size they reach when fully grown. A general statement is therefore not possible. 

In general, however, roses are considered fully established after 3-4 years and reach their final size.

Roses are children of the sun and love warmth and light. However, there are also many roses that thrive in locations that are not too strongly exposed to the sun. 

When they are in the shade, they generally grow somewhat more slowly, bloom somewhat later and not quite as abundantly.

What matters is not necessarily the duration of direct sunlight but the incidence of light. This can be judged well by the section of sky visible from the location. For varieties that grow taller, the incidence of light in the area where the fully grown rose will move should also be considered. In a treetop or at the top of a rose arch it is usually greater than at the base where it is planted. 

Some dark rose varieties are better planted in partial shade. With some, the blooms burn very quickly, while others fade or show an undesired pink tinge.

Many larger ramblers and climbing roses cope very well with shady spots in the garden or even on a north-facing wall.

Even though everyone knows the fairy tale 'Sleeping Beauty', botanically speaking roses have prickles and not thorns.

These vary greatly in both number and form. Everything is represented, from relatively few, large, very hard hook-shaped ones to very many soft prickles only a few millimetres long, and varieties that are barely armed or not armed at all. 

The question of the oldest rose cannot be answered. Like other plants, roses came into being over the course of millions of years, and which variety or species developed first cannot be found out. 

Roses were first mentioned in the year 1600 AD, and from then on they had their place in all the following advanced civilisations. Around 450 AD Herodotus described a six-petalled rose. They received the name 'Queen of Flowers' somewhat earlier, in 600 AD, from the Greek poet Sappho. And the illustrious society of the Romans also amused itself with them for a long time. These were presumably mainly R. gallica, R. alba and the common dog rose (R. canina). 

Well into the Middle Ages, mainly botanical forms and wild species were probably familiar. The origins of rose breeding, which for a long time took place by chance, probably lie in the 17th century. At that time, in the Netherlands, R. damascena (a souvenir brought back by the Crusaders) was crossed with wild roses, giving rise to the class of the heavily double Centifolias and subsequently also the mossy variant we know today as Moss Roses. 

As the first known rose variety, R. alba 'Maxima' is often named, which was demonstrably known under this name before 1500. But some varieties from R. gallica have also been known for a very long time.

Roses bloom in white, pink, red and yellow as well as all conceivable combinations and mixtures. Purely blue roses do not exist; the varieties described as such are mostly lilac or mauve and came about through selection from the pink tones. Brown tones come about through mixed colours of red and pink. 

The original roses bloomed in white and pink of varying intensity. With R. chinensis red was added, and the tea roses brought delicate apricot into the portfolio. Yellow roses go back to R. foetida. 

Roses bought in a pot can be planted all year round.

Roses without soil on the roots (bare-root roses) are planted from the end of the growing season in October until late spring. The best planting time for these is in autumn, when the soil is still nicely warm from the summer.

In roses, a 'sport' is a new rose variety that has arisen through natural mutation. It usually differs from the original rose in only one characteristic. If these turn out to be valuable, they are put on the market as a variety in their own right.

Very often this is the colour; Winchester Cathedral, for example, is the white form of Mary Rose. These colour mutations sometimes also revert to the parent variety, both in whole blooms and in parts of them. The parent variety can sometimes - but not always - be gathered from the name, as with Red Eden Rose or Red New Dawn.

Many climbing roses are more vigorously growing sports of the shrub form. For a long time their names were prefixed with Clg. or Climbing. Well-known examples are Clg. Souvenir de la Malmaison, Clg. Iceberg or Clg. Mme. Caroline Testout. 

Remontant is the term for the ability to bloom a further time in addition to the main bloom. 

This second flush can vary greatly in intensity, from isolated blooms in late summer, as shown for example by some moss roses or ramblers, to a fully developed second flowering as occurs in remontant roses. 

Repeat-flowering or even continuous-flowering, on the other hand, means that after the main bloom in early summer the rose goes through several further flowering phases. In repeat-flowering varieties these can be interrupted by pauses lasting a few weeks. Continuous-flowering roses produce new blooms without interruption.

Rose hips are, so to speak, the apple of the rose - that is, its fruit. They form after flowering unless the blooms are removed, for example to encourage a second flowering. 

Above all once-flowering shrub roses and ramblers set decorative rose hips in autumn, the latter in large numbers in clusters. This should be borne in mind when pruning or deadheading after flowering. 

In the kitchen, rose hips are valued for their high vitamin C content, and the well-known tea is also made from the fruits of wild roses. 

In addition, rose hips are indispensable above all in rose breeding. They contain the rose seeds (nutlets) from which, after sowing, new rose varieties with differing characteristics can grow.