| Rose Books
Online |
| The Complete Flower Paintings and Drawings of Graham Stuart Thomas by Graham Stuart Thomas, 1987, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. / Sagapress, Inc., New York Rose drawings, paintings, and text from pages 104-149 |
Roses ‘Auguste Gervais’ and ‘Alexandre Girault’ pages 137 |
In my notes on page 142 I mention ‘Albéric Barbier’, the most famous of a number of rambling roses derived from Rosa wichuraiana, whose splendidly glossy leaves seemingly are transmitted to most if not all its hybrids. When we talk of rambling roses, varieties of very different qualities come to mind. Most people at once think of the scentless ‘Dorothy Perkins’, ‘Excelsa’, and ‘Hiawatha’, or of the very fragrant ‘Goldfinch’, ‘Blush Rambler’, and ‘Veilchenblau’; these all bear small flowers in large clusters. The first three are descendants of R. wichuraiana and the latter three of R. multiflora crossed mainly with the old French roses and their derivatives. There it however another group of worthy ramblers with the glossy foliage of R. wichuraiana but with much larger flowers, headed by the well- known ‘Albéric Barbier’. To this group belong our two present varieties. Both are totally distinct from the ordinary ramblers in colour, size of flower, fragrance, and their more shrubby growth. They do not make long shoots annually from the base during late summer, to produce the flowering shoots the next year, resulting in the necessity of pruning away all the once-flowered shoots from the base immediately after flowering—always rather a nuisance it summer. Instead they make many side shoot of varying length which build up into a shrubby mass, covered with glossy leaves. The flowers are shapely, large, very full of petals with an intense fragrance of green apples, Their colours embrace creamy white, pinks (mostly of the salmon or coppery cone), and rich coppery reds. These tints are inherited from Tea roses which were their parents with R. wichuraiana. There it thus a totally distinct parentage and result. It was WA. Manda of New Jersey in the United States who led the way by crossing R. wichuraiana with the yellow Tea rose ‘Perle des Jardins’: the results were ‘Gardenia’ and ‘Jersey Beauty’ in 1879. Both are pale yellow, as it ‘Albéric Barbler’ (1900) from Barbier et Cie. of Orléans, France; they followed this with ‘Alexandre Girault’ (1909), the richest in colour, but ‘Auguste Gervais’ was not introduced until 1918. ‘Alexandre Girault’ has, or had, the honour of pride of place on the great trellis background and pergola at the Rosersie de l’Haÿ near Paris. This and most others of this group produce some later flowers after the main crop. Apart from ‘François Juranville’ they are not usually affected with mildew, but the Tea parentage makes them a little less hardy than some other ramblers. Their unique fragrance and the way they build into great, graceful swathes and masses endears them to all. No such graceful varieties have been bred since. To return to their pruning, it is necessary at times to thin out the older twiggy growth either after the summer crop of flowers or in winter. R. wichuraiana has given botanists a great deal of trouble, for it has been confused with another similar species from inland Japan, R. lucite. In the old French records of parentage, all the roses mentioned above are attributed to R. lucia, but there is no real evidence that this species has ever been brought to Europe. When I wrote my book Climbing Roses Old and New this point had not been elucidated. Hence I was under the impression that this group of roses owed its unique character to R. luciae rather than R. wichuraiana, In face the characters which separate this group from other Wichuraiana ramblers seem from the Tea- rose parentage. The error was corrected it the 1983 edition of my book. |
 |
Select next page to view: |
A Woodland Rose Garden main page | Rose page | Roses in shade | Rose books online Roses I grow | Links about roses | Culture and propagation | Rose reference books My Garden Journal | My Garden photos | Roses of the World in Color Biographical sketch | My Faith in Christ |
last modified September 29,
2002