i received my seven sisters rose from my aunt, who received it from my grandmother, who received it from my great grandmother, so a start of that rose has gone to 4 generations. 4 years ago, i started it on a arbor between my neighbor's and my yard. it has grown so fast that it is now called "Audrey 2" my neighbor swears that it has attacked him. i have gave him pruning rights on his side of the fence. the roses only last a few weeks, but when they bloom, it is a riot! they bloom in groups of seven, are soft pink and about as big as the tip of your thumb. by the way, my dad is a swede and my mom is polish, both one generation "off the boat" of we used to say around chicago.....

I grew to love the seven sisters rose too. You can lengthen the blooming time by deadheading.-Sandy

Beautiful rose-seems to be holding its arms out! Really enjoy the family stories as well.

This forum is excellent for delving into our own personal and family histories as shaped by our gardens, plants, trees, pass-a-longs, horticultural tips and techniques - whatever defines us and our families personally and intimately over time in terms of the plant world.

How can this better be said? Trying to define this sort of garden history as separate from the history of a garden.

G.

How about "personal garden history" as opposed to "garden history"? That woud describe one's PERSONAL histroy--where-as "garden history" would describe the GH of general historical times? So we could talk about Historical English Gardens of the early 20th c OR we could talk about Vita Sacksville-West's history as a gardener. The first would be a general discussion, the second a PERSONAL one. Does that make sense?

melanie/trying to parse the language one phrase at at time--I KNEW that AB in English would comein handy EVENTUALLY!

Hi, me again, with info on the name confusion. I just started reading my new *Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940* by Denise Wiles Adams. (So far, so good.)

As I mentioned before, I figured my rose was probably not correctly 'Seven Sisters' since it doesn't have the seven shades of pink. This bothered me a bit. Well, the book has straightened it out for me.

On page 24 Adams tells of having been given a 'Seven Sisters' rose by a dear friend of hers, whose grandmother had been one of seven sisters as well. But here's the clincher: it turns out that even though the rose was not a true 'Seven Sisters', but actually "Excelsa', a.k.a. 'Red Dorothy Perkins', it was nevertheless called 'Seven Sisters' in the Midwest. From looking at the description on pages 279-81, I believe I've got the same thing. So now, not only do I know why my grandmother called it that, but I've got the real names. Very satisfying.

Egyptianonion

I love it when a mystery is solved!

melanie

Oh we can't let the mystery end so easily. Seven sisters is truly a beautifull rose as is dorthy perkins. the sister is a white to pink flower or often opens pink and turns to white as it ages. The dorthy perkins tends to be a much darker pink almost red.

But if the picture you have is taken in 1900 then I'm afraid it isn't dorthy. Dorthy was first introduced/bred in 1908

maybe it is a seven sisters rose (Félicité et Perpétue 1827) it is old enough to have possibly been planted that long ago. A rose can be effected by may things so it may just be the location or type of soil that limits growth or bloom. There are many folks at the rose forums who could help you obtain a positive identification of the type rose you have. Another source of info can be found at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: seven sisters

Witsend--

I'm sorry for the confusion I caused by mixing picture references. I had last year described the story of my family's farm in a thread, "1922 farm house landscaping," in which I told about the white clapboard house pictured in 1900 that was replaced with a brick veneer craftsman house in 1922 by my grandfather and grandmother. (There are also several other pictures in the gallery of the farm.) Grandpa was only 15 years old in 1900, and it was his wife, my grandmother, who put in the rose some time after the new house was built.

Thanks for all the neat information and the link!

I live in a 1920s house myself but unfortunately no plants that were in the original plantings or their decendents are left. So even with the information gathered from elderly neighbors I can't find any info on what was originally here so the best I can do is plant old time plants and fill the place with period furnishings.

But since I am not restoring the yard to a known setting it gives me more latitude in the plants I choose. Which really means I will plant whatever will grow in this zone anywhere I can find room