Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring 2012

1:00 PM, SATURDAY, May 12, 2012 at the Carter’s, 14628 SE 245th Court,

Kent WA. (253) 638-7035.

Tacoma Photographic Society Secretary Roberta Marshall presents “Taking Good

Rose Photographs”. HRNW member Evelyn Carter presents “Using Technology for

Rose Photo Inspiration”.

Potted Old Garden Roses (OGRs) will be available for a donation to the club. Send a list

of what you will bring to: oldrosen@gmail.com so a list will be available at the meeting.

Remember, door prize and snack donations are always welcomed!

Driving Directions :

From Seattle or Bellevue, take Highway 405 to Exit #2 at Hwy 167. Drive south on Highway

167 leaving the highway at the 84th Ave S/Central Avenue Exit. Once on Central, drive south

to James St. /240th St. SE. At James St., turn left (east). Continue as in “Then” below.

From Des Moines or Tacoma, take I-5 to Exit 149A (Kent-Des Moines Road). Drive east

past Highway 167 and continue to Central Avenue. At the intersection of Central and the Kent

-Des Moines Rd., turn left (north) and drive to James St./240th Street SE. Continue as in

“Then” below.

Then: Drive east on James St/SE 240th Street until you reach 144th Avenue SE just west of

where 240th curves to the south. Turn south onto 144th Avenue SE. You will see the sign for

the Ridgefield housing development at the turn. Traveling south on 144th, take the 2nd left

onto SE 243rd Street, the road will curve to the right and then take the first right onto SE 244th, the road will curve to the left and then take the 1st left onto SE 245th Court. The gray

house right in front of you will be the Carter residence at 14628 SE 245th Court, Kent WA.

A 2012 Rose Lover’s Calendar for Heritage Roses Northwest Events

Note that we are occasionally scheduling Saturday events this year.

SATURDAY, May 12. HRNW Meeting, 1:00 PM. Roberta Marshall, “Taking Good Rose Photographs”. Evelyn Carter, “Using Technology for Rose Photo Inspiration”. Kent. See below.

SATURDAY, June 2. Len and Marilyn Heller Open Garden and More, 11:00 AM-3:00

PM. OGRs including Spinosissimas, Scots roses, and other rare, old rose varieties. Stanwood. See Page 2.

Friday, June 15-Sunday, June 17. Annual Rose Fest. Antique Rose Farm, Snohomish.

SATURDAY, June 16. Work Party, 10:00 AM. Prepare area for HRNW Rose Display, Antique Rose Farm, Snohomish.

Sunday, June 17. HRNW Annual Rose Display, Set-up 9:00AM-11:00AM, Open to Pub-

lic 12:00 Noon-5:00 PM. Antique Rose Farm, Snohomish. See Page 3.

Saturday, June 23-Sunday June 24. Seattle Rose Society Show. Factoria Mall, Bellevue.

Saturday, June 30-Sunday July 1. Rainy Rose Society Display. Emerald Downs, Auburn.

Saturday, June 30. Tacoma Rose Society Show. Jackson Hall, Tacoma.

Sunday, August (Date TBA). Open Garden and Picnic. Soos Creek Botanic Garden, Kent.

Sunday, October 14. HRNW Meeting, 1:00PM. Annual Elections. Covington Library, Covington.

Next Big Event!

SATURDAY, May 12

Program on Rose

Photography

1:00 PM

Carter Residence,

Kent (Directions below right)

Inside this Issue

Open Garden Information

by Len Heller 2

President’s Letter 2

HRNW Rose Display 3

Tribute to Don McElhose

by Carol Dakan 4

Prune the Once-Bloomers

by Miriam Wilkins 4

New Library for HRNW by Susan Draine 5

Minutes of Feb. 20, 2012

by Susan Draine 6

Notes from ‘Old Roses at the

Cutting Edge’ by G. Rose 7

Neely Old Rose Gardens

by Margaret Nelson 8

OGRs at Pt. Defiance Garden

by Margaret Nelson 8

Excerpt from The Trail and

Tales of Rosa Mundi

by Jeff Wyckoff 9

La Belle Sultane (HGal, before 1801),

Len Heller Garden,

M. Nelson photo

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 2

Len and Marilyn Heller will be having two open gardens in 2012. They are hosting the first for Heritage

Roses Northwest on Saturday, June 2, 2012 from 11:00 to 3:00. The second will be hosted by the Tri-Valley Rose

Society on 28 July from 10:00 to 3:00. Both are open to the general public. Located east of Stanwood, Washing-

ton, Len and Marilyn Heller have a large rose garden in four parts.

They wrote: “The first garden we built is the one at the front of our house. We call it Rosarium Gallicum.

This garden contains most of our old garden roses and in particular Gallicas. To extend the bloom season in this

garden we will be adding Damask Perpetuals and China roses in the coming years. This garden has its heaviest

bloom in June until about the middle of July. “The second garden we built is located to the east of the house, surrounding the gazebo. It is named Rosa-rium Canadacum. This garden contains an extensive collection of Canadian roses. It also contains cold weather

roses hybridized by Griffin Buck and the Brownells. Most of the roses originally in the raised outside bed of this

garden were killed by the sudden onset of cold weather last year (2011). It has been replanted with hardy varieties.

The garden also contains our collection of historic Hybrid Teas. This garden is in bloom from early June until Oc-

tober. “Our newest garden is located to the rear of the property. We call it Rosarium Scoticum. It houses our

extensive collection of Pimpinellifoliae. We have been able to gather over 190 varieties of these. Most of them are

not available commercially in the US or Canada and have been imported from Europe and non-commercial

sources in Canada. The Pimpinellifoliae section of the sub-genus Eurosa contains the following groups of roses:

Spinosissimas including the Scots Roses, Ecaes, Foetidas, Hugonises, Harisoneis, Sericeas and Omeiensises and

the Xanthinas. It also contains some minor groups. I also include the Hulthemia in this garden because of their probable close relationship with the Pimpinellifoliae. I refer to them by their old name Rosa Persica. “There is also a garden around the parking lot and in its center. In this area are found the Rugosas, Foeti-

das and Pimpinellifoliae.”

The Hellers will generously be providing barbeque beef sandwiches, paper plates and forks for the club

members. If you wish, bring snack donations to supplement the sandwiches, there will be a microwave and small

refrigerator available. Please plan to arrive at 11:00 AM. Len has offered to give tours and you will need a few

hours to see everything. Lunch is planned for noon, followed by an auction of some Spinosissimas donated by the

Hellers to benefit HRNW. The garden was gorgeous last summer and I predict the weather will be fabulous!

Driving directions: 1) Take I-5 to Exit 212, Stanwood-Camano

2) Go west to 28 Avenue NW then turn 4) First house on the north side of the street, 2909 280th Street NW,

Stanwood, WA. See you there!

We are fortunate to have so many great activities lined up in May and June. Our Saturday, May 12

meeting will be an opportunity to learn useful rose photography tips from Roberta Marshall of the Tacoma Pho-

tographic Society. Roberta has already been photographing OGRs at some of our gardens and at last year’s Rose

Display and she understands what works well in portraying theses wonderful blooms. Evelyn Carter will use the

opportunity to show us some websites that may help further photographic inspiration. Maybe we will be able to have a members’ photo exhibition next year?

The Hellers have graciously invited us to an Open Garden on Saturday, June 2. Al and I went there last

summer and were overwhelmed by the large number of mature OGRs and beautiful blooms. We spent a great of

time enjoying photographing the beauty and smelling the wonderful fragrances of the roses and seeing some

very historic roses too. You also will not want to miss the opportunity to see Len’s large collection of Spinosissi-

mas.

Our own Rose Display will be held on Sunday, June 17, but we need some club volunteers to go to the

Antique Rose Farm at 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 16 to help prepare the tables and greenhouse in which we

always display our roses. Will you help too? RSVP to Margaret at oldrosen@gmail.com. It will be fun and many

hands make light work

President’s Message from Margaret Nelson

Saturday June 12, 2012, 11:00 AM-3:00 PM

Open Garden, Lunch and Rose Auction at the Hellers’ Garden,

2909 280th Street NW, Stanwood, WA, (360) 629-4692

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 3

Both HRNW members and the public are welcome to bring Old Garden Roses (OGRs) to our

annual Rose Display. We are interested in seeing all forms of the unique OGRs grown in the area. Do not be shy about bringing yours in, this is an educational display to show all variations of the roses, not just

the perfect ones.

Exhibitors should bring their OGRs to the Antique Rose Farm from 9:00 -11:00 AM. All

roses must be labeled and in vases before noon when the Display opens to the public. Come early. It will take longer than you think to prepare your displays. We will have labels there and you may also get

labels at our May 12 meeting, the June 2 Open Garden event or by special arrangement with club secre-

tary Susan Draine. Remember this is not a judged show. It is for display only, and we would love to have you come and enjoy these garden treasures.

Our Rose Display is a time when many varieties of OGRs are available in one spot, and it is an

excellent time to learn the characteristics of each variety. Club members have volunteered to do mini-

programs on their own favorite type of rose during the Display. We can all share our knowledge and learn more about OGRs. There will be more opportunities to sign up for this at the May meeting and at

the June Open Garden; and you, too, can volunteer to tell us about a variety that you love to grow. Thank

you, Evelyn Carter for suggesting this great idea!

To make your set-up time much shorter, bring your roses, a towel (to mop up your spills when preparing the roses), pruners, and a list of your roses with their variety and year of introduction along

with your sunhat and sunglasses,. Club members are always willing to help first-timers prepare their

roses.

Driving directions to the Antique Rose Farm

From the South: Take Highway 405 to Hwy 522 and exit at Highway 9. At the light, turn north (left)

and follow Highway 9 for about 10 miles. Near where Hwy 9 drops into the Snohomish River Valley, look for a stoplight at Broadway. Turn east (right) on Broadway. The next road to the left is Springhetti.

Drive north on Springhetti approximately one mile, past the Christmas tree farm, to the Antique Rose

Farm.

From the North: Take I-5 and exit at Highway 2. Drive east to Highway 9 and turn right onto it. Go over the Snohomish River Bridge to the next stoplight and turn left onto Marsh Road/Airport Road.

Make an immediate right turn onto Springhetti Road and continue one mile further south to the Antique

Rose Farm.

Welcome New Members

Becky Halkoski, Betty Hoard, and Jeff Wyckoff!

We are glad you have joined us!

The Biggest One!

Heritage Roses Northwest Rose Display

Sunday June 17, 2012 from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM

Antique Rose Farm, 12220 Springhetti Road,

Snohomish, WA

(360)-568-1919

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 4

Don McElhose, a longtime member of Heritage Roses Northwest passed away on March 10, 2012 from complications due to a fall last September. Don and his wife Jackie founded the Antique Rose Farm, Snohomish, WA. They generously made their home and farm with its lovely rose gardens available for many HRNW meetings and annual Rose Dis-plays. Don was very active in the club and he and his wife Jackie were co-presidents for two terms. At many meetings, Don shared his ex-pertise on Old Garden Roses with us and his sage advice was a big help to both new and old members. This kind and gentle man al-ways had a welcoming smile for everyone and made each of us feel special. Don will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him. Our condolences go out to Jackie and all of her family. They are in our thoughts and prayers.

A Tribute to Don McElhose

By Carol Dakan

Thank you, Don, for bringing sunshine to so

many peoples’ lives.

M. Nelson photo.

Every expert tells us not to prune most roses for the first three years. By that time, the bush will have reached its inborn size and form. From then on, you will cut it back to accentuate those

characteristics.

All rosebushes need to be renewed from time to time. Woody old canes produce little foli-

age and bloom. You can remove them at the base, whether own-root or budded, taking out the entire cane. Again, do this after the rosebush has bloomed: all live canes will produce some roses, but tak-

ing out tired ones will cause the bush to send new canes out to balance top and root systems.

If you can perform only one chore in the garden, at least do this (cut out dead wood and die-back). Dieback will continue down, and the whole cane will die (and) if down and into the bud

union, you may lose the plant.

Prune all once-bloomers after they finish blooming, unless they have decorative heps. Prune Gallicas back as much as one third; take out old canes so new ones will emerge. Albas, like the

Damasks, mainly bloom on older wood so do not over-prune. They are more gangly than the Galli-

cas, so you can cut back side branches in addition to the main canes. Damasks can attain some

height. You may cut them back, particularly if bottom canes are becoming bare. By shortening canes, you will have a fuller bush, but they do not like to be pruned heavily. The Centifolias, includ-

ing their mossed sports do not need to be pruned much. If too tall, you can cut back one third and

trim side canes.

Reprinted from the February 2012 Rose Letter, Darrell g. h. Schramm, Editor

Pruning the Once-Bloomers by Miriam Wilkins (April 1999)

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 5

NEW LIBRARY FOR HRNW by Susan Draine,

msdraine@blarg.net

Our library officially opened at the fall meeting. Books donated by Charlotte Muia, Dr.

Bill Atkinson, Marilyn and Len Heller, Margaret

Nelson, and Susan Draine, were looked over by

all. As the new librarian, I will bring two

tubs of these books to each meeting. Members

may easily check out any book available to be returned at the next meeting. If a member is un-

able to attend a meeting, then he or she should

arrange return of that book to me. The only ob-stacle to this plan seems to be the possibility that

members will not return books when promised.

We believe HRNW members are honorable and

will gladly return same. As our library grows I will list the new

books that are added. I am sure as time goes by

we will discover lack of interest in certain books, or they will be updated with better and newer

information. Please note that many of the older

books have photos and descriptions of lost 20th Century roses. I will start bringing the most

popular or requested books to meetings as long

as they fit into the two tubs we started with. If

you would like to reserve a book when it be-comes available, please contact me. All newslet-

ters and catalogues will be brought in by special

request. As suggested at the October meeting, sometime in the future any unused books might

be sold to raise money for club expenses.

A special table will be set up with these

available treasures at each meeting so they can be looked over by all. Remember, all members are

encouraged to donate more books. Below is a list

of books we have started with by group, and al-phabetical by author:

Successful Rose Gardening by Better Homes and

Gardens.

Pocket Encyclopedia of Roses in Colour by H. Edland.

Roses, a Celebration in Words and Paintings

selected by Helen Exley.

Essential Roses by Derek Fell. The Rose Gardens of England by Michael Gibson.

Pink Ladies by Don and Molly Glentzer.

Roses by Jack Harkness.

Northcoast Roses by Rhonda Hart. Old Roses by Ethylene Emery Keays (reproduction of

1935 book).

Scots Roses by Mary McMurtrie. A Little Book of Old Roses by Hazel Le Rougetal.

The Ultimate Rose Book by Sterling Macobay.

Enjoying Roses by Ortho. Hardy Roses by Robert Osborne.

Roses by Roger Phillips & Martin Rix.

Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses by Field Roebuck.

Rose Recipes from Olden Times by Eleanour Rohde. Designing With Roses by Rosenfeld.

A Year of Roses by Steven Scanniello.

Old Shrub Roses by Graham Stuart Thomas. Rose Gardening by Traditional Home.

Rosa Rugosa by Suzanne Verrier (signed).

1980 Engagement Calendar/Book, about 50 pages of

very nice reproductions of Redoute’s roses. Heritage Roses Group Tour Guide (WA and OR—

1992, soft pamphlet of historic interest.

Video 1) A Celebration of Old Roses by Peter Beales.

Catalogues

Roses of Yesterday and Today 1959,56,66,67,72(2),73

(2),75,76,77,78,79,80(2),81,82,83,84,85(2),86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93(2),94,95 yearly issues.

Good descriptions and B&W photos except for cov-

ers.

Heirloom OGR Catalogue, 1998.

Hardy Roses for the North Catalogue, 1997.

Assorted soft catalogues/rose show programs.

Newsletters

1) HRNW assorted (most but not all) issues from

1993-2011.

2) Rose Letter assorted (most, but not all).

The Rose is the 2012 Herb of the Year!

‘Baronne Prévost (HP, before 1841)

Sue Tiffany photo

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 6

Heritage Roses Northwest February 26, 2012 Minutes

by Susan Draine

Location: Kirkland Library, Kirkland, Wash-

ington

Attendees: Jeff Panciera, Anne Belovich, Jeff

Wyckoff, Judie Phillips, Faith Gant, Allen

Nelson, Margaret, Nelson, Carol Dakan, Susan

Draine.

Meeting was called to order by Marga-

ret Nelson. Treasurer’s report was given, and

accepted. Minutes were given and accepted.

A special note was made of Don McEl-

hose’s condition since his head injury last fall.

Any members caring to volunteer at Antique

Rose Farm to help the family get through this

trying time would be appreciated.

Old Business: A reminder that the May 12th

meeting at Evelyn Carter’s is on a SATUR-

DAY. The speaker will be Roberta Marshall

from the Tacoma Photographic Society. Len

Heller proposed an Open Garden date for his

rose collection of SATURDAY June 2, 11:00-

3:00. Bring finger food. The summer potluck

is tentatively set for Soos Creek Botanical

Garden in Auburn. This also may be on a Sat-

urday.

New Business: Rose Fest at Antique Rose

Farm, June 17, 2012.

Volunteers are needed!

Rosters will be available at the May meeting to

sign up for the following:

1) Volunteers are needed for talks about five

minutes in length for a mini-program

about roses they enjoy, i.e. China, Gal-

lica, Bourbon. If two or more would like to

share a favorite, that would be great.

2) Volunteers are needed June 16, the Satur-

day before the show, to help set up the

tables, fill the vases, etc.

3) Jeff Panciera and Margaret Nelson are

working on show publicity. Jeff Wyckoff

offered to help on this. Others are also needed

to assist.

We are still in need of someone to

help with the website. And, of course, news-

letter articles are always welcomed!

Discussion was held on speakers and

ideas for our meetings. Jeff Panciera and

Rose Lee have a program on growing roses

organically. Lance Norton has a slide pro-

gram. Jeff Wyckoff’s going to China and may

do a program for us. Patricia McDonald

would be a much appreciated speaker, as

would Carol Newcomb of Northland Rosa-

rium in Spokane.

Out-of-club speakers such as Moo-

Doo from Sumner; Ketzel Levine, the Doy-

enne of Dirt; and Andy Shulman on

Noisettes, etc. Also, speakers such as Jill

Perry, Curator of San Jose Heritage Rose

Garden were discussed and what monies can

be spared for this endeavor.

Discussion was held on the possibility

of HRNW choosing to affiliate with Heritage

Rose Foundation. The cost for membership is

$45 per year. The suggestion was seconded

and passed unanimously. One officer of the

club will receive the publication Rosa Mundi,

which will be offered in our library.

Anne Belovich recommended Clair

Martin’s 2013 tour of British Gardens, which

has been moved to June, 2013. Contact Clair

at clairmartin@mac.com for more informa-

tion. Clair is recently retired from Hunting-

ton Gardens in California.

Meeting was adjourned for refresh-

ments and door prizes. Anne Belovich’s pres-

entation gave us a chance to hear about and

view roses and sites she saw on her 2011 trip

to rose gardens of Britain, France, and Ger-

many. Anne emphasized ramblers, which are

her favorite type of rose and showed us some

of the rarer varieties, some of which she

hopes to begin to grow in her own garden.

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 7

Open Sundays 12:00 noon-4:00 pm

Notes from Old Roses at the Cutting

Edge By Graham Rose

Editor’s note: The following summarizes

‘Old Roses at the Cutting Edge’ by Graham

Rose, The (London) Sunday Times of July

17, 1994. Gardeners have to find out what

works best for their own gardens and some

of the information follows John Scarman’s

methods from ‘Gardening with Old Roses’.

Caution and restraint are advised before

you choose to try this at home!

The Roseraie de l’Hay and Bagatelle

Rose Gardens in Paris are usually at their

most glorious in mid-June. To keep the

plants more compact and stimulate flower

production, when the roses are deadheaded

there, they are cut back to within one bud of

the place where the flower stems initiated.

Once-blooming roses are also pruned twice

during the summer. All non-flowering new

shoots are removed before flowering and

after a bloom-flush, the new vegetative ex-

tensions of the main stems are cut back to

the height at which flowering took place.

This increases the useful basal shoots which

the plants put out; and, ultimately, the num-

ber of flower carrying stems.

The Cottage Garden Roses Nursery

of Stretton, England prune their roses in the

French way and feel that this way of pruning

guarantees a good show well into autumn.

According to the nursery ‘Compte de Cham-

bord’ (P, 1860), ‘Rose de Rescht’ (P, about

1880), ‘Mme Pierre Oger’ (B, 1878), ‘Boule

de Neige’ (B, 1867), ‘Souvenir de la Mal

maison’ (B, 1843); ‘Yvonne Rabier’ (Pol,

1910), ‘Sombreuil’ (LCl, about 1880),

‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’ (HP, 1865),

‘Albéric Barbier’ (HWich, 1900), ‘Phyllis

Bide’ (Cl Pol, 1923), and ‘Buff

Beauty’ (HMsk, 1939) all re-

sponded well to this regime.

‘Apoth

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Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 8

The Neely Old Rose Gardens

By Margaret Nelson

and a fine R. gallica ‘officianalis’ grew in the

front flower bed next to the house. The man-

sion has a chain-link fence around the yard

which is open when the house is open to visi-

tors. Last year, the Neely Mansion kept open

hours on Saturday mornings. Be sure to check

the open hours when planning your visit as you

may not approach the roses when the mansion

is closed and the gates are locked.

If you visit the gardens of these houses,

please make a report on which OGRs you were

able to find in bloom. They are both worth a

visit.

There are two historic Neely homes in

the Kent-Auburn area of Washington state.

The David Neely-Soames House is located at

5311 S. 237th Place, Kent, WA. This home

was built in 1885 and is just north of the Rus-

sell Rd. Softball Complex and adjacent to the

Green River Trail.

Longtime HRNW members remember

when Judi Dexter promoted HRNW mem-

bers’ participation in restoring an OGR gar-

den there and you can read about it in our

Spring 1998 Heritage Roses Northwest News-

letter. By March 1998, ‘Reine des Violettes’,

‘Louise Odier’, R. gallica ‘versicolor’ (‘Rosa

Mundi’), ‘Autumn Damask’, ‘La Belle Sul-

tane’ and ‘Paul Ricault’ were in the ground.

More were to follow. According to our Sum-

mer 2009 Heritage Roses Northwest Newslet-

ter, Carol Dakan and Susan Draine visited the

ga r dens and fo und R . ga l l i ca

‘officianalis’ (‘Apothecary Rose’), ‘La Belle

Sultane’, ‘Ispahan’, ‘Ville de Bruxelles’,

‘Cardinal de Richelieu’, ‘Tuscany Superb’

and ‘Reine des Violettes’.

Last June, my husband Allen and I

impulsively drove out to the other Neely

house, the Aaron Neely Mansion. This is the

lovely 1894 old, white, two-story home at

12303 SE Auburn-Black Diamond Road, Au-

burn, WA. It has its own website:

www.neelymansion.org on which you can

read the history of the house and find a list of

events, including delightful teas. The funds

raised go to maintain the home. You can see

the house just east of the Highway 18-Auburn

-Black Diamond Road exit. We enjoyed walk-

ing around the gardens and saw many climb-

ers and shrub roses though most were finished

blooming. We were able to spot a prolifically

blooming ‘Mme. Hardy’ growing against one

of the outbuildings, those scented white flow-

ers with green button eyes are unmistakable,

‘Mme. Hardy’ (D,1832) at the Aaron Neely garden.

M. Nelson photo

OGRs at the Point Defiance

Rose Garden, Tacoma

By Margaret Nelson

Why not take a trip to the Point Defi-

ance Rose Garden in Tacoma, WA? They

have some lovely rose covered arches and

even OGRs including ‘Ferdinand Pich-

ard’ (HP, 1921), ‘Rose de Rescht’ (P, 1880),

‘Baronne Prévost’ (HP, before 1841),

‘Königin von Dänemark’ (A, 1816), ‘Mme.

Hardy’ (D, 1832), ‘Bishop Darling-

ton’ (HMsk, 1926), ‘Celsiana’ (D, before

1817), ‘Reine des Violettes’ (HP, 1860), and

‘Blanc Double de Coubert’ (HRg, 1892).

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 9

Excerpts from The Trails and

Tails of Rosa Mundi

By Jeff Wyckoff

Myth, fable, legend, folklore — by whatever name, they are to be found in virtu-

ally every culture and society in the world. Of-

ten containing kernels of truth — rather like

TV dramas that are “based on a true story”— these legends serve various purposes: to enter-

tain, to inculcate, to explain the unknown, and,

in the case of the well-known Greek myths at least, to seemingly rationalize our all-too-

human foibles.

As the rose rambles back for thousands of years, it too has picked up its share of leg-

ends. One of the most persistent of these, and

one which many rose folk seem to take as gos-

pel, is that of the circumstances surrounding the naming of R. gallica ‘versicolor’ aka ‘Rosa

Mundi”, the bi-colored sport of the red-pink

gallica R. gallica ‘officianalis’ aka ‘Apothecary’s Rose’. The “basic” story is that

‘Rosa Mundi’ was named for Rosamund Clif-

ford, a mistress of England’s Henry II who died in either 1176 or 1177. However, the tale goes

far beyond the basics, and according to one

author, “no other mistress of an English king

has ever inspired so many romantic tales”. Un-fortunately, even in the twentieth century many

of these stories have been accepted as fact by

historians…or at least by rose historians. A culmination of all these romantic tales

is recorded by Winston Churchill in his History

of the English-Speaking Peoples and is recounted

in the article The Worldly Rose in the June 1998, American Rose magazine. It tells how Henry

kept his mistress at his royal hunting lodge at

Woodstock near Oxford, and that upon learning of this, Queen Eleanor rushed there to confront

her. Rosamund tried to hide in the garden maze,

but a thread from her dress caught on the shrub-bery and led Eleanor to her, whereupon the

queen forced her to drink poison. After Henry

had Rosamund buried at Godstow Abbey, Elea-

nor had the following punning couplet inscribed

on her tomb.

Hic jacet in tumba rosa mundi, non rosa munda;

Non redolet, sed olet, quae redolere solet.

Which translates as: “Here lies in a tomb a

worldly rose, not a clean rose; She who used to small so sweet doesn’t smell so good now.”...The

story continues that, prior to her untimely demise,

Rosamund had a garden at Woodstock wherein she

grew R. gallica ‘versicolor’. She had been so sweet and kind that the local people named the rose

‘Rosa Mundi’ in her honor. Indeed, a most roman-

tic legend, but virtually all of it is pure fabrication. Let’s begin our debunking with

Rosamund’s death. Eleanor tolerated Henry’s infi-

delities as long as they did not threaten her position

or the inheritances of her sons. Rosamund, the daughter of a mere knight (although later elevated

to a Baron) Walter de Clifford, would have been

no real rival in this regard. Furthermore, it would have been impossi-

ble for Eleanor to have killed Rosamund, since she

had been imprisoned by Henry for plotting with their sons to depose him from 1174 to 1189, well

past Rosamund’s death in 1176. In fact, Eleanor

could not even have arranged for her death, as her

communications were also closely guarded. Although she spent 52 years as Queen

Consort of England, much of Eleanor’s time and

energy was devoted to her holdings in France. It is perhaps understandable then that this proto-

feminist French woman would have been cast as

the villainess, rather than the unfortunate Rosamund, of which one historian remarked, "For

all her subsequent fame, Rosamond must be one of

the most neglected concubines in history"

What then of the now-famous inscription? After Rosamund’s death, Henry apparently did

have an elaborate tomb erected for her in the

Godstow abbey church and gave perpetual gifts to the abbey in her memory. In 1191, Bishop Hugh of

Lincoln visited the church, and in seeing the place-

ment and grandeur of the tomb, is quoted by a con-

temporary chronicler, Roger of Hoveden, as ex-claiming “Take her away from here, for she was a

harlot, and bury her outside of the church”

Rosamund’s body was thus reinterred, and the pur-

ported tomb inscription, coming from an un-

(Continued on page 10)

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 10

(Continued from page 9)

known hand, but undoubtedly inspired by the words of Bishop Hugh, was added at some later date, but

certainly not by Eleanor. Finally, there is no evi-

dence of a bower or maze ever having existed at Henry’s hunting lodge, although authorities differ

on whether or not Rosamund resided at Woodstock

during Henry’s frequent, and protracted, absences. The transformation of fair Rosamund from

harlot to heroine begin in the first half of the 14th

century with the completion of Ranulf Higden’s

Polychronicon, a long chronicle of mostly history and theology. Written in Latin, the section on

Rosamund is translated by John of Trevisa in 1387

thus:

She was the fayre daughter of Walter, Lord Clifford, concubine of Henry II, and poisoned by

Queen Elianor, A.D. 1177. Henry made for her a

house of wonderful working, so that no man or woman might come to her. This house was named

Labyrinthus, and was wrought like unto a knot in a

garden called a maze. But the queen came to her by

a clue of thredde, and so dealt with her that she lived not long after. She was buried at Godstow, in

an house of nunnes.

By the 16th century, she had become the innocent victim of Eleanor the oppressor; embel-

lishments on the story given earlier included Elea-

nor torturing Rosamund to death, and various won-

ders and miracles occurring at the site of Rosamund’s tomb. These stories had become what

one author calls a “literary tradition”, notable exam-

ples of which included The Complaint of Rosamund by Samuel Daniel in 1592, and The Ballad of Fair

Rosamund by Thomas Deloney. The legend contin-

ued to grow and be further embellished by such no-

tables as Joseph Addison, who contributed an opera libretto in 1707, poetic efforts by Swinburne and

Tennyson in the 19th century, the novels The Talis-

man and Woodstock: The Cavalier by Sir Walter Scott, as well as Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Rosa-

monda d’Inghilterra (Rosamund of England) which

premiered in 1834. Perhaps the grandest flowering Rosa-

Rosamundmania occurred in the mid-19th century

with the founding of the “Pre-Raphaelite Brother-

hood” by the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti and

two other artists. Loosely interpreted, this artistic

movement advocated a return to the abundant de-tail, intense colors, and complex compositions

that had characterized art up to the time of Raph-

ael (1483-1520). Along with a return to a quasi-

medieval style came themes and motifs from this period as well, albeit with distinct romantic over-

tones. Fair Rosamund, along with her nemesis

Queen Eleanor, became the subject of a number of painting of this genre, to include works of Ar-

thur Hughes (1854), William Bell Scott (after

1854), Rosetti himself (1861), Edward Coley Burne-Jones 1862), and two of the last and best of

the Pre-Raphaelites, Evelyn de Morgan (c. 1905),

and John William Waterhouse (c.1916).

Putting aside for now the lusts of Henry and the wrath of Eleanor, what of the rose itself?

Did (or could) Rosamund really have had the bi-

colored gallica R. gallica ‘versicolor’ growing in her garden? Almost certainly, no! First of all, we

know that Gallica roses are not native to England

and must have been brought in from the Mediter-ranean region, probably coming through France.

Gerd Krussman, in The Complete Book of

Roses states that Thibault IV of Navarre, return-

ing from the 7th crusade in 1250, (some 75 years after Rosamund’s death) brought back to France a

double form of R. gallica which later became

known as R. gallica ‘officinalis’, whose use in medicine was documented as early as 1310 and

from whence ‘versicolor’ sported. References to a

striped or bi-colored rose first appear in Mathias

de l’Obel’s herbal Plantarum seu stirpium icones in 1581, and then again in Basilius Besler’s herbal

from 1583 Hortus Eystettensis, where it is called

Rosa praenestina ‘variegata’. The first mention of ‘Rosa Mundi’ by that

specific name appears in Sir Thomas Hanmer’s

The Garden Book from 1659, as being “first found in Norfolk a few years since upon a branch

of the common Red Rose and from thence multi-

plied”. Since it seems highly unlikely that a rose

as striking as ‘Rose Mundi’ would have gone un-recorded for over 400 years, I think we can safely

relegate its appearance in Rosamund’s garden to

the fabrication department.

(Continued on page 11)

Volume 21, Issue 2 Heritage Roses Northwest Page 11

(Continued from page 10)

Certainly, given the flowering of the

Rosamund legend by this time, it is conceivable

that this rose may have been named for Rosamund some 400+ years after her death.

However, an equally credible scenario is that it

was so named simply because of its color. The Latin rosa mundi is translated from the couplet

above as “worldly rose”, but it could just as well

be translated as “rose of the world” which has an entirely different connotation in English, if not in

Latin.

Being probably the first bi-colored rose

(predating the variety we now know as ‘York and Lancaster’) and one which, with its white-to-

red coloration, could have been seen as encom-

passing the entire rose spectrum, it would seem only natural to be called the “rose of the world”,

just as ‘Die Welt’, the modern Kordes hybrid tea

with its rainbow of colors, has also been termed

“The World”. Indeed, the anonymous 12th cen-tury wordsmith made a clever connection be-

tween “Rosamund” and “rosa mundi” on the

tomb inscription. Whether or not this connection occurred to those who later named the rose, and

who may well have been French rather than Eng-

lish, is open to question. Winston Churchill may well have had a

personal interest in perpetuating this ”excellent

tale”, as he called it. It turns out that Blenheim

Palace, Winston’s birthplace, is located in Woodstock in Oxfordshire, either on or very near

the site of Henry’s hunting lodge cum love nest.

The ruins of Godstow Abbey, Rosamund’s final resting place, still stands in an island in the

Thames not far from, Blenheim.

An excellent tale indeed! However, when we foster such stories that border on fairy

tale, especially when we tacitly couch them as

truth or half-truth, we detract from the true his-

tory and legacy of the rose. From Homer on-ward, we have enough literary, artistic, and other

genuine cultural references to the rose that we

should be able to do without the apocryphal tales, legends, and the like. Sex and violence

may sell as well today as it apparently did in the

England of yesterday, but I fear that the rose was

not a player in this particular melodrama.

‘Rosa Mundi’ aka R. gallica ‘versicolor’ Peter Beales Roses

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in

the American Rose Society’s quarterly ‘Old Garden

Rose and Shrub Journal’ which Jeff previously edited.

American Rose Society members can access the Journal

online and it is a treasure-trove of information. It also includes articles by other HRNW members. Access to

the Journal is one of the benefits of belonging to the

ARS; members get a password for access.

Jeff’s article arrived with some wonderful illus-

trations including pictures of Rosamund by some of the

Pre-Raphealites. Due to space constraints, the article

had to be edited and those illustrations excluded from

the newsletter.

Because I needed to include detailed informa-

tion for the next three HRNW events into this issue, I ran

out of room before including some good articles. That

means you can look forward to Anne Belovich’s “A European Rose Garden Tour, Part II”, Jeff Panciera’s

“Outline of European Rose Development; An Historical

Introduction

to the Major Groups of OGRs, Part

7: The Portlands”, along with new

narratives of the Hellers’ Open

Garden and the HRNW Annual Rose

Display in succeeding issues.

Please send in your arti-

cles.. We all love to read about what

roses do well in your garden, roses you saw on vacations and tech-

niques that work well in your own

garden!.

2012 Officers

President Margaret Nelson

32904 4th Ave SW

Federal Way, WA 98023

(253) 874-4007,

oldrosen@gmail.com

Vice President Lance Norton

1725 S. Ainsworth

Tacoma, WA 98405

(253)592-3643,

norton992@harbornet.com

Secretary Susan Draine

25441 114th Ave SE

Kent, WA 98031

(253) 859-6445,

msdraine@blarg.net

Treasurer/ Membership Carol Dakan

12821 SE 285 St

Auburn, WA 98092,

(253) 631-8984

CALLING ALL OLD ROSE FANS!

Are you a “Rose Nut” of long standing or just catching the bug?

We’d love to have you in our society. This organization exists to

inform and excite you as you journey into the world of the Heri-

tage Rose. Please join us! Heritage Roses Northwest Membership

dues are $10.00 per year, December to December. To maintain

your membership and continue receiving your subscription to the

Heritage Roses Northwest Newsletter send a check for $10.00,

made out to Heritage Roses Northwest to:

Carol Dakan

12821 SE 285th Street

Auburn, WA 98092 Name______________________________________________

Address____________________________________________

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ter articles that we all love to

read. Won’t you

please send your

articles on Heri-

tage Roses, Rose

Gardens, grow-

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at oldrosen@gmail.

com

Assisted by Sue Tiffany

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. Heritage Roses Northwest

An Affiliate of The Heritage Roses Group, The American Rose Society and The Heritage Rose Foundation

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‘Rosa Mundi’ Sue Tiffany photo