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date distinguishing Old Garden Roses from Modern Roses. Unfortunately, excessive breeding for unique characteristics such as specific colors and bloom shape rather than plant form and general health,have in many ways weakened the whole class. We include some of the very early varieties that, we feel, are by far more hardy, vigorous and disease resistant than their recent descendants. Noisette (Nst) John Champneys of Charleston,SC raised the first Noisette by crossing the fragrant, cluster-flow - ered R.mochata with the remontant‘Old Blush.’ The result was ‘Champneys’ Pink Cluster’. Champneys shared cuttings of his new hybrid with Philippe Noi - sette, a professional Charleston nurseryman, who then passed them on to his brother, Louis, in Paris. Noisettes are truly the first American class of roses and comprise a group of graceful repeat flowering shrubs and climbers. They have the ability to create dramatic landscape effects unique among roses when trained on walls, fences, arbors or even trees. Polyantha & Floribunda (Poly and Flr) These are a wonderful and versatile group of roses characterized by repeat blooming clusters of small flowers. Plants are compact making them

excellent container roses or massed in flower beds or borders. Shrub (Shrb) This class of roses might best be titled“Miscel - laneous”. These roses are from diverse backgrounds; most are modern,but some are old.Whether a mixed lot or not,individuals in this class are extremely useful and make colorful additions to the garden. Species (Spc) Species or wild roses are generally defined as those roses found in nature. Most tend to be very vigorous and are extremely disease resistant. They are a good choice for naturalizing and will often grow well without attention if planted properly and given minimal care during the first year. Although many are climbers, they can be grown as hefty shrubs. Tea (Tea) There is a close affinity between the China and Tea classes as seen in the bushy habit of growth, forming lush bushes with bronzy red new foliage. Teas are well suited to the southern climate and their huge bushes are often found marking old abandoned homesites in centralTexas where they have survived with no care. Aside from fragrance, the Teas differ from the Chinas in the size of their flowers, being generally larger and fuller with a nodding appearance.

Hybrid Musk (HMsk) By crossing ‘Trier,’ a Hybrid Multiflora with Teas, Hybrid Chinas and Hybrid Perpetuals, retired cleric Joseph Pemberton came up with a class of large, hardy plants. A number of them are large, arching and cascading bushes that can stand alone in the landscape,weep over a pond,be pruned into a flower covered hedge or trained as a climber. The flowers are generally produced in clusters, most heavily in spring and fall. They open in beautiful pastel shades with strong, lingering fragrances. They also tolerate more shade than do most other varieties. Hybrid Perpetual (HPer) Blessed with very large, fragrant, full flowers on the end of each cane, Hybrid Perpetuals tend to make excellent cut flowers. Their bushes can be a little on the ungainly side, with long canes not com- pletely covered with foliage, making them excellent subjects for pillars or pegging. Hybrid Tea (HTea) A new class of roses was bred by crossing Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons and European roses with theTea rose of China to form a gently unfurling, high centered flower,the HybridTea. The significance of these new roses was such that 1867,the year of the introduction of ‘La France’ became the classification

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Rose Culture

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