PORTLAND ROSES
*Compte de ChambordPortland, recurrent; Moreau-Robert, 1860
Clear pink, quartered; very fragrant Heirloom Roses, 2005 
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*Rose de Rescht Portland, recurrent; prior to 1880; origin/date unknown
Deep pink or cerise; very fragrant Antique Rose Emporium, 2012 
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This is an old rose, perhaps brought from around the city of Rescht in Persia (Iran) to France in 1807, according to Brent Dickerson in The Old Rose Advisor (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com, Inc., 2000). After that, it was introduced in France and Germany in the late 19th century, but then more or less forgotten until Miss Nancy Lindsay, an English rose collector, found it in Persia and once again brought it to England, where it was reintroduced about 1950. Some sources consider Rose de Rescht to be a Damask rose, but its reblooming characteristic has led the American Rose Society to classify it as a Portland.
*Roses bred prior to 1867 are designated “antique”. The year marks the introduction of the first Hybrid Tea rose, “La France” (Guillot), from which the modern era of rose-breeding begins. Hybrid Tea roses were quite different from other varieties in that they displayed a single rose at the end of a stem rather than clusters on a stem, and their flower shape, while multi-petaled, was well-shaped and restrained in size. In developing these favorable traits, breeders ultimately sacrificed fragrance. Late in the 20th century, breeders such as David Austin introduced hybrids that integrate aspects of the Hybrid Tea with those of the old and antique roses; his varieties are a fine compromise for those who wish an antique-looking fragrant flower with greater disease resistance, long bloom, and interesting color.
La France Rose. Photograph by Arashiyama - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26126853
Old roses have usually been named for a famous or influential person, or someone for whom the breeder has a special regard or affection. One of several books about the namesakes of old roses is Pink Ladies & Crimson Gents: Portraits and Legends of 50 Roses, by Molly and Don Glentzer (New York: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2008).
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The Magic Flute, II,28.
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"(Die Liebe) mag den Weg mit Rosen streun, weil Rosen stets bei Dornen sein"
"(Love) may strew the path with roses, because roses always come with thorns" |
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