An Introduction to
Old Garden Roses
American Rose Society
Program Services Committee
Photos & Text by Steve Jones
© ARS 2005, Updated 2011
This program is eligible for one CR credit if pre-approved by the District and
National CR Chairs.
An American Rose Society Presentation © 2015
Old Garden Roses
An Old Garden Rose is one that
belongs to a class that existed
before 1867, when the first
Hybrid Tea, ‘La France’, was
introduced
Major Old Garden Rose Classes
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Albas
Bourbons
Centifolias
Damasks
Hybrid Chinas
Hybrid Gallicas
Hybrid Perpetuals
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Hybrid multifloras
Mosses
Noisettes
Portlands
Species
Teas
Lesser Known OGR Classes
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Ayrshires
Boursaults
Hulthemias
Hybrid Bracteatas
Hybrid Eglanterias
Hybrid Foetidas
• Hybrid
Sempervirens
• Hybrid
Spinosissimas
• Hybrid Setigeras
• Misc. OGRs
Rose Classes
European Roses
Oriental Roses
Albas
Centifolias
Damasks
Hybrid Gallicas
Mosses
Hybrid Chinas
Teas
Bourbons
Portlands
Hybrid Perpetuals
Noisettes
Hybrid Teas
Modern Roses
OGR “Stud” Roses
European Stud Roses
Oriental Stud Roses
Rosa canina
Rosa gallica
Rosa moschata
Rosa phoenicia
Rosa fedtschenkoana
Autumn Damask
Old Blush (Parsons Pink China)
Slater’s Crimson China
Parks’ Yellow Tea-Scented Rose
Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented Rose
Species
• Known as "wild roses"
• Usually once-blooming
• Blooms usually single (5 petals); “plena”
is the double form
• Blooms normally come in clusters
• Bushy plants that can range from 18
inches to over 20 feet
• Found only in Northern Hemisphere
• Most are winter hardy
Rosa spinosissima altaica
Rosa gallica versicolor
Other Species
• Rosa banksiae subspecies (Lady
Banks)
• Rosa canina (Dog Rose)
• Rosa carolina
• Rosa gallica officinalis (Apothecary’s
Rose)
• Rosa moschata (Musk Rose)
• Rosa multiflora
• Rosa roxburghii (Chestnut Rose)
• Rosa rugosa alba and rubra
European OGRs
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Albas
Centifolias
Damasks
Hybrid Gallicas
Mosses
Albas
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Alba means "white“
Once-blooming
Upright, dense, tall plants over 6 feet tall
Very winter hardy and disease resistant
Characterized by soft blue-gray foliage
and stems with sparse, uniform prickles
• Winter hardy
Konigin von Danemark
Alba Semi-Plena
Other Albas
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Alba Maxima
Belle Amour
Blush Hip
Celestial
Felicite Parmentier
Great Maiden’s Blush
Mme Plantier
Hybrid Gallicas
• Hybrid Gallicas are the oldest of the
European Old Garden Roses
• Once-blooming, winter hardy
• Small, bushy plants, fine, soft prickles
• Foliage is rough and deep furrowed
• Terminal leaflet grows more outward or
upward from the stem
• Known for their fragrance and brilliant
colors, thus earning them the nickname
“Mad Gallicas”
Cardinal de Richelieu
Complicata
Other Hybrid Gallicas
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Belle de Crecy
Camaieux
Duchesse d’Angouleme
Duchess of Montebello
Hippolyte
La Belle Sultane
Tuscany
Damasks
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Intense, heavy fragrance
Colors mostly pink or white
Medium sized plant up to 5 feet tall
Canes have a "mixed bag" of prickles
Foliage is matted and folded to form a
“V” down the middle
• The terminal leaflet bends down.
• Has repeat and once blooming
members
• Winter hardy
Leda
Autumn Damask
Other Damasks
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Celsiana
Ispahan
Mme Hardy
La Ville de Bruxelles
Marie Louise
Mme Zoetmans
York & Lancaster
Centifolias
• Centifolias are the “cabbage roses”
• Made famous in still life paintings by the
Dutch masters
• Centifolia means “one hundred petals”
• Tall plants over 6 feet
• Once-blooming
• Foliage rough, matted
• Some dwarf varieties
• Winter hardy
Petite Lisette
Fantin Latour
Other Centifolias
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Blanchefleur
Cabbage Rose
Juno
Paul Ricault
Petite de Hollande
Prolifera de Redoute
Tour de Malakoff
Mosses
• Mosses are sports of Centifolias
and Damasks
• Named for the mossy growth on the
peduncles and sepals
• The "moss" releases a piney fragrance
when rubbed between the fingers
• Most are once-bloomers, some repeat
• Rough foliage, up to 6 feet tall
• Winter hardy
Crested Moss
Quarte Saisons Blanc Mousseux
Other Mosses
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Alfred de Dalmas (Mousselline)
Communis
Capitaine John Ingram
General Kleber
Gloire des Mousseuses
Henri Martin
Mme Louis Leveque
Salet
Oriental OGRs
• Hybrid Chinas
• Teas
Hybrid Chinas
• Repeat blooming
• Small plants from 18 inches to 3 feet
• Stems generally too weak to support the
small, non fragrant blooms that usually come
in clusters
• Generally blackspot resistant, gets mildew
• Red color in today’s roses came from Chinas
• Known for bloom color changes
• Not winter hardy
Archduke Charles - Fresh
Archduke Charles - Old
Green Rose
Leaves Reverting To Petals
Other Hybrid Chinas
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Cramoisi Superieur
Ducher
Hermosa
Louis Philippe
Mutabilis
Old Blush
Papa Hemeray
Rouletti
Teas
• Small to medium sized plants to 5 feet
• Large blooms on weak stems which
cause the bloom to "droop“
• May have "Hybrid Tea" form
• Most have very full blooms
• Little fragrance
• Not winter hardy
Catherine Mermet
Duchesse de Brabant
Other Teas
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Bon Silene
Devoniensis
Maman Cochet
Marie von Houtte
Mrs. BR Cant
Niles Cochet
Rosette Delizy
“Modern” OGRs
• Crosses of European and Oriental
Roses
• Mostly repeat blooming plants
• Forbearers of the Hybrid Tea
• Classes include:
– Bourbons
– Hybrid Perpetuals
– Noisettes
– Portlands
Bourbons
• A chance cross between Autumn
Damask and a China rose
• A varied class, most are repeat
blooming
• Plants grow 2 to 15 feet tall
• Fragrant, full, and often quartered
blooms
• Some have cupped bloom form
• Most are not winter hardy
Souvenir de la Malmaison
Louise Odier
Other Bourbons
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Boule de Neige
Leverson Gower
Mme Isaac Pereire
Mme Ernst Calvat
Mme Pierre Oger
Reine Victoria
Variegata di Bologna
Zephirine Drouhin
Portlands
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Came from Autumn Damask
Small class, only 20 known to exist
Small, repeat blooming plants to 4 feet
Short peduncles, giving the appearance
that the blooms "sit" in the foliage
• Blooms full and very fragrant
• Most were sterile
• Most are winter hardy
Rose de Rescht
Comte de Chambord
Other Portlands
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Duchess of Portland
Indigo
Joasine Hanet (Portland From Glendora)
Marbree
Marie de St. Jean
Miranda
Rose du Roi
Yolande d’Aragon
Hybrid Perpetuals
• The most common Old Garden Rose
class seen at rose shows
• Popular in the mid to late 1880's
• More than 4,000 varieties
• Repeat blooming, very full, fragrant
blooms
• Plants over 6 feet, with slightly rough,
dark foliage
• Colors mostly pinks and reds
• Most are winter hardy
Marchesa Boccella
Paul Neyron
Baronne Prevost
Other Hybrid Perpetuals
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Anna de Diesbach
Baroness Rothschild
Enfant de France
General Jacqueminot
Georg Arends
La Reine
Mrs. John Laing
Mrs. R.G. Sharman-Crawford
Paul’s Early Blush
Noisettes
• The only rose class that originated in
the United States
• Created in 1811 by John Champneys
from Charleston, South Carolina
• Large, repeat blooming, rambling plants
up to 20 feet tall, with pliable canes
• Blooms are either in clusters or large
individual blooms (when crossed with
Teas)
• Most not fragrant, not winter hardy
Lamarque
Celine Forestier
Other Noisettes
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Aimee Vibert
Alister Stella Gray
Blush Noisette
Champneys Pink Cluster
Marechal Neil
Mme Alfred Carriere
Narrow Water
Reve d’Or
Miscellaneous OGRs
• Fortuniana
• Fortune's Double Yellow
• R. macrantha
• Rose d'Orsay
Modern Roses
• Hybrid Teas were created from crosses of
Hybrid Perpetuals and Teas
• Modern Roses are those classes that were
created in 1867 and later
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Hybrid Teas
Grandifloras
Large-flowered Climbers
Shrubs
Polyanthas
Floribundas
Miniatures
Minifloras
The End
Program Services Committee
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