\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> Rose Classification Paul F. Zimmerman – Heritage Rose Foundation – 2007 First let me say right upfront I am not a botanist or a scientist.\u00a0 I am a rose nurseryperson but perhaps even more so a lover of roses.\u00a0 Because of the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"[caption id=\"attachment_644\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]
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<\/a> Brennus. A China rose that grows to 7' tall![\/caption]Rose Classification<\/p>
Paul F. Zimmerman - Heritage Rose Foundation - 2007<\/p>
First let me say right upfront I am not a botanist or a scientist.\u00a0 I am a rose nurseryperson but perhaps even more so a lover of roses.\u00a0 Because of the first title anything I write here should be viewed through that prism.\u00a0 Because of the second title I hope you take into account what I say here is because I am interested in any system of classification that is best for The Rose. \u00a0So when Jeri Jennings asked me to write an article on classification for the Heritage Roses Group\u2019s Journal I was flattered and in doing so hope that perhaps I can offer a different perspective to rose classification.<\/p>
Let\u2019s begin with the simple question, how does a rose get its classification?\u00a0 When a new rose is hybridized someone registers it with the International Registration Authority for Roses (IRAR).\u00a0 Currently the American Rose Society serves as the IRAR.\u00a0 The person who registers the rose is usually the breeder, but sometimes it can be the nursery of introduction acting on the breeder\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 It is that person who determines what class (Alba, Hybrid Musk, Floribunda etc) the rose will fall into.<\/p>
How does that person determine the class?\u00a0 Most often by its parentage: \u00a0If a rose is the result of a cross from two China roses, then the rose is classed as a China and so on.\u00a0 Sometimes it might be by growth habit:\u00a0 Many roses have such complicated parentage in their backgrounds they don\u2019t always come \u201ctrue\u201d to their parentage.\u00a0 Kind of like the redhead in a family of brunettes.\u00a0 And sometimes if the registrar isn\u2019t sure, they may for commercial reasons register it in a class that is currently selling well.\u00a0 Many a rose ended up as a Hybrid Tea that way.<\/p>
By now you get the point there isn\u2019t really a formally \u201cstructured\u201d way of doing this.\u00a0 Unlike Linneaus, who looked for order in the plant kingdom, in my opinion the current method of rose classification is loose system that does not serve the rose community or roses well.<\/p>
I feel the rose classification system while important for the work of botanists, is also important for the rose lover.\u00a0 Rose lovers would like a simple system whereby the rose\u2019s class gives them an idea of how the rose will grow in their garden.\u00a0 If a rose is classed as a Hybrid Wichurana it should have lax rambling canes.\u00a0 A Gallica should flower in spring and be upright, a Portland shouldn\u2019t get overly tall and a Shrub should be just that \u2013 a shrub.\u00a0 To me the first criteria for classing a rose should be growth habit regardless of parentage.<\/p>
There is historical evidence for this argument and it comes right from the IRAR.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at the history of La France the rose many consider to be the first Hybrid Tea.\u00a0 Most evidence points to it being a seedling of Mme. Falcot \u2013 a Tea Rose.\u00a0 So why not classify it as a Tea?\u00a0 Well simply because it was something new and therefore a new class was introduced \u2013 The Hybrid Tea.\u00a0 Other classes such as Floribunda, Polyantha and the newer class Mini Flora were all created to accommodate roses that simply did not belong to any other group because of their growth habit \u2013 be it flower, size or both.<\/p>
This system works fine as along as it\u2019s consistent.\u00a0\u00a0 Sadly it no longer is and the Old Roses in particular have been the victims.\u00a0 Consider that in 1993 the IRAR recognized approximately 31 classes pertaining to old roses and by 2000 it was down to 22.\u00a0 So what\u2019s missing and do they really matter?\u00a0 Many think they do.
For example China and Hybrid China, Bourbon and Hybrid Bourbon were up till recently separate classes.\u00a0 Then they were merged into Hybrid China and Hybrid Bourbon respectively.\u00a0 Some argued they were all Hybrids because they were all crossed with other roses.\u00a0 But they are not at all similar if you examine how they perform in the garden.
Hybrid Chinas and Hybrid Bourbons are the result of crosses between Chinas or Bourbons with spring flowering European Roses.\u00a0 The results are roses that while they might have a longer spring flush than a Gallica, do not for the most part repeat flower.\u00a0 That is a very different rose from a China that during the season is constantly in flower, or repeat flowering Bourbons that at minimum also bring forth a wonderful fall bloom as well as spring.\u00a0 In addition many Hybrid Chinas are tall growers \u2013 again completely different from the smaller Chinas.<\/p>
So under the current system Coup de Hebe, a Bourbon that flowers in spring, is in the same class as Louise Odier, a Bourbon rarely without flowers.\u00a0 Brennus, a China that for me grows seven feet high and does not repeat, is in the same class at Comtesse Du Cayla which flowers all season and stays around 3\u2019.<\/p>
Add to this confusion the Noisette class which is a complete mess.\u00a0 The Noisettes at their birth in Charleston were shrub-like in habit and bloomed mostly in shades of white and pink.\u00a0 Then they were crossed with Climbing Tea roses and the result is a group of roses that are distinctly climbers and come in shades of white to yellow to apricot.\u00a0 They are very different from the first Noisettes and the \u201cnickname\u201d given them is \u201cTea-Noisette\u201d.\u00a0 Many feel they are a distinctly different class and should be separated as such but up to now they all remain Noisettes.\u00a0 Not much comfort to the person who buys the Noisette Mary Washington to cover their arbor and finds it only grows four feet high.<\/p>
So where do these roses go when their class is no longer officially used?\u00a0 Some, like the before mentioned Bourbon and China groups, are simply merged.\u00a0 However some are simply lumped into the Shrub class and because of this the Shrub class is one that doesn\u2019t mean anything anymore.\u00a0 The most extreme example of this is the rose \u201cMontecito\u201d which for many years was a Hybrid Gigantea until that class was dropped and it was dumped in the shrub class.\u00a0 The problem is Montecito grows up trees and easily reaches fifty feet in height.\u00a0 Hardly a shrub.<\/p>
The good news is there is an attempt under way to sort this out.\u00a0 The Classification Committee is working through the roses and taking input to attempt to come up with a cohesive system.\u00a0 The balancing act faced by this hardworking group is to avoid ending up with so many different classes as to be unwieldy, but to have enough classes to bring order to the system.\u00a0 But this will take time as there are as many opinions as there are roses.\u00a0 But if they use growth habit as their primary guide a logical system will emerge.\u00a0 After all, it seems the roses themselves should have the final say.<\/p>
Afterward
If you want to see more information on the classes I mention above check out Brent Dickerson\u2019s books, groups like the Heritage Rose Group and the Heritage Rose Foundation and The Vintage Gardens Book of Roses.\u00a0 The last one is written by Gregg Lowery and Phillip Robinson who in addition to being two of the finest rose scholars we have, grow and live with the roses they write about.<\/p>
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