{"id":3746,"date":"2022-07-25T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T16:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2022-07-25T08:38:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T16:38:00","slug":"white-roses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/white-roses\/","title":{"rendered":"White Roses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rose-white\"<\/a>Not long ago I saw an absolutely arresting flower arrangement.\u00a0 It was composed of white roses, with a few blue delphiniums added for contrast.\u00a0 \u201cWhite roses,\u201d I thought, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t my garden have more white roses?\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not sure what the answer is to that question.\u00a0 I do have three white-flowered bushes, but overall, my rose choices have tended to the yellow-pink-peach range.\u00a0 Some of the pale ones fade to white, but that is not the same.\u00a0 The blooms in the arresting arrangement reminded me how refreshing white roses can be.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sally Holmes\u2019, which thrives in my garden, is a hybrid musk introduced in 1976.\u00a0 \u2018Sally\u2019 is a large shrub that can top out at 12 feet, but can be kept shorter.\u00a0 I have also seen it used as a climber, trained very effectively up the side of a barn wall.\u00a0 The flowers are single, with five petals apiece, surrounding centers of golden stamens.\u00a0 Starting out as pink-tinged buds, the blooms are borne in clusters.\u00a0 By the time the buds open, the pink has disappeared, leaving only big, clear white petals.\u00a0 \u2018Sally\u2019 is tough and hardy, but also lasts extremely well in cut arrangements.<\/p>\n

One of my other white roses is an older variety whose name has been lost.\u00a0 The small, pompom-like flowers appear in tight, showy clusters on flexible stems.\u00a0 \u00a0Also pinkish in bud, the little blooms open white and are highly fragrant.\u00a0 Both the nameless rose and \u2018Sally Holmes\u2019 are among the last to close up shop in the fall.<\/p>\n

Topping my list of potential white rose acquisitions is \u2018Jacqueline du Pre\u2019, another large shrub named after an English cello prodigy who died at the age of 42 in 1987.\u00a0 Like \u2018Sally Holmes\u2019, \u2018Jacqueline du Pre\u2019 boasts large single flowers.\u00a0 The white petals are scalloped at the edges and surround a cluster of very distinctive red stamens.\u00a0 \u2018Jacqueline\u2019s fragrance is strong, variously described as lemony, or musky or both.\u00a0 It is compelling, no matter what.<\/p>\n

For flashy hybrid tea-type blooms, I would choose an old hybrid perpetual rose, \u2018Frau Karl Druschki\u2019, sometimes known in this country as \u2018White American Beauty\u2019.\u00a0 Each bloom has over 30 petals, cupped in classic form.\u00a0 A well grown \u2018Druschki\u2019 may bear individual flowers that are over five inches across.\u00a0 The only fly in the ointment–little or no scent.\u00a0 Still, the great twentieth century rosarian, Graham Stuart Thomas, called it \u201can indispensable white rose.\u201d<\/p>\n

My rose-loving father grew \u2018John F. Kennedy\u2019, a classic hybrid tea named after the fallen president.\u00a0 The shrub has been a favorite white rose since its 1965 introduction, and is all-American, bred in the United States by Jackson and Perkins.\u00a0 Its blooms are as big and many-petaled as those of \u2018Frau Karl Druschki\u2019, but also have a moderate fragrance.\u00a0 The long stems, elegant configuration and affinity for cut flower arrangements have kept the rose in commerce and in gardens.<\/p>\n

\u2018Madam Hardy\u2019 is another old rose, bred in France and introduced in 1835. It is a centifolia or damask rose, with a plethora of white petals surrounding a small green \u201ceye\u201d.\u00a0 Like many classic varieties, \u2018Madam Hardy\u2019 is flexible\u2014literally and figuratively\u2014and can be used as a shrub or trained up a pillar, reaching nearly seven feet in height. Like other damask roses, it has a strong, old rose fragrance.\u00a0 Its only liability, if it can be called that, is that it only blooms once a season.\u00a0 Still, gardeners all over the world continue to believe that this nearly two hundred year-old rose is eminently worth growing in modern landscapes.<\/p>\n

For a shrub with the look and fragrance of an old rose on a compact shrub, check out \u2018Winchester Cathedral\u2019, a white-flowered offering from David Austin.\u00a0 It offers large, many-petaled blooms with classic rose fragrance on shrubs that top out at four feet tall and wide.\u00a0 Unlike \u2018Madam Hardy\u2019, \u2018Winchester Cathedral\u2019 blooms repeatedly throughout the growing season.<\/p>\n

For something really tough, try \u2018Blanc Double de Coubert\u2019, a fragrant French hybrid rugosa rose.\u00a0 With the characteristically wrinkled rugosa foliage, \u2018Coubert\u2019 features a fully double array of relaxed white petals surrounding golden stamens.\u00a0 The fragrance is spicy and reminiscent of cloves, at least to some noses.\u00a0 It is a repeat bloomer and once established will stand up to just about anything the climate and\/or the gardener can dish out.\u00a0 You will not want to corral the stems into a vase however, because they are heavily armed with prickles.\u00a0 \u2018Coubert\u2019 also produces the most beautiful large hips in the fall, giving it multiple seasons of interest.<\/p>\n

If you are in need of a large flowered white climber, \u2018City of York\u2019 may be your ticket.\u00a0 With the ability to grow to 20 feet, if left to its own devices, \u2018City of York\u2019 needs a support structure, whether an obliging wall or arch.\u00a0 It will reward training efforts with big, white, mid-spring flowers, each with a large central boss of golden stamens.\u00a0 The blooms are semi-double, with about sixteen petals apiece, and are borne in clusters.\u00a0 I grow \u2018City of York\u2019, and have found it to be highly disease resistant.\u00a0 The shrub also occasionally surprises me with a few flowers after its initial flush of bloom.<\/p>\n

You can sometimes find a few of the roses listed above at large local garden centers.\u00a0 For an impressive range of old and new white roses, try Rogue Valley Roses, Rogue Valley Roses<\/strong>
\n2368 Terri Dr, Medford, OR 97504; (541) 535-1307; www.roguevalleyroses.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not long ago I saw an absolutely arresting flower arrangement.\u00a0 It was composed of white roses, with a few blue delphiniums added for contrast.\u00a0 \u201cWhite roses,\u201d I thought, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t my garden have more white roses?\u201d I am not sure what the answer is to that question.\u00a0 I do have three white-flowered bushes, but overall, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[2743,2744,2739,2741,2740,1512,2742,2738,521,1498],"class_list":["post-3746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-banc-double-de-coubert","tag-city-of-york","tag-frau-karl-druschki","tag-jacqueline-du-pre","tag-madam-hardy","tag-sally-holmes","tag-winchester-cathedral","tag-rosa","tag-shrub-roses","tag-white-roses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3748,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions\/3748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}