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vicissitudez

Florida Roses... from 1892

Vicissitudezz
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

I found a catalog online for Pomona Nurseries in Florida with their 1892 offerings of fruit trees- and roses:

CHINA ROSES.

Louis Phillipe. Rich, dark, velvety crimson, full and beautiful; one of the best for bedding.

Mad. Jean Sisley. White, slightly tinged pink.

Theresa Stravius. White, pale flesh center.

TEA ROSES.

Bon Silene. Noted for the great size and beauty of its buds, which are valued very highly for bouquets and deco- rative purposes; deep rose color, sometimes bright, rosy crimson, occasionally pale light rose.

Aline Sisley. Good and desirable; deep, bright red; large, full and sweet.

Bride. Variable; white tinged blush and at times silvery rose, like its parent, Catherine Mermet; a fine flower but not constant.

Etoille [sic] de Lyon. This magnificent Tea Rose originated at Lyons, France; color beautiful chrome yellow, deepening at the center to pure golden yellow; flowers very large, very double and full, and deliciously fragrant; one of the very best roses of its class.

Louis Richard. Flowers large and full, of fine form; color coppery rose, center deep rose; beautiful.

Duchesse de Brabant. Soft, rosy pink, petals edged with silver; very sweet; one of the best.

Mad. Camille. A magnificent rose; extra large size, very double and full; immense buds; color delicate rosy flesh, changing to salmon rose, elegantly shaded and suffused with deep carmine; very sweet.

Mad. Jos. Schwartz. Pure white, elegantly flushed with crimson; large and sweet.

Madame Lombard. A No. 1 Rose, the flowers are extra large and full, very sweet and double; color a beautiful shade of rosy bronze passing to fawn and salmon, beautifully shaded with carmine; the buds and the reverse of the petals are a deep rosy crimson; a most charming Rose.

Papa Gontier. Large, finely formed buds and flowers, full and fragrant; this variety will be much sought after on account of its beautiful buds, for wearing and for vases; the flowers are large and long, with thick, broad petals of a dark carmine crimson, changing to pale rose; a bunch of flowers, when fully opened, is almost equal to a bunch of Hybrids, as the inside, instead of being pale and faded, is a bright and rosy carmine; a splendid Summer Rose.

Safrano. Bright apricot yellow, changing to orange and fawn, sometimes tinted with rose; valued highly for its beautiful buds; very fragrant and one of the best.

Zelia Pradel. White with a yellowish center, half climbing habit; excellent.

La France. One of the most beautiful of all Roses, and is unequalled by any in its delicious fragrance; very large, very doubly and superbly formed; it is difficult to convey an idea of its beautiful coloring, but the prevailing color is light silvery pink, shaded with silvery peach.

HYBRID REMONTANT.

Abel Carriere. Dark velvety crimson, color of Prince Camille de Rohan, large and well formed, good shape, and of the best.

Bessie Johnson. Light blush. Remarkable strong grower.

Blanche de Meru. Light flesh.

Charles Lefebre [sic]. A noble Rose; large, bold flower, well borne up; very full and fragrant; brilliant crimson; center deep purple; one of the best.

Dr. Sewell. Crimson scarlet, shaded purple, free bloomer.

D'Euil [sic] du Colonel Denfert. Dark purple, velvety.

John Hopper. Deep rose, with carmine center, large and full, semi-globular, a free blooming standard sort.

Gen. Jacqueminot. Fiery red, an old standard sort.

Mme. Auguste VanGeert. Light pink.

Pœonia. Crimson red.

Mrs. John Laing. Soft pink, finely shaped.

Olga Marix. Pure white, delicately shaded with amber and blush; large full flowers, very double and sweet; a free bloomer, very handsome and desirable.

Her Majesty. Flower of immense size, bright silvery Rose.

CLIMBERS.

Chestnut [sic] Hybrid. Extra fine, large flowers, very double, full and perfect form; delightfully fragrant; color a ruby crimson, passing to rich maroon; strong grower and quite hardy.

Reve d'Or. A beautiful pillar Rose, being a strong climber; color orange-yellow or rosy buff, good size, full and sweet; known as Golden Chain.

Washington. A strong, vigorous grower, and a constant and very profuse bloomer; the flowers are large, pure white, very double and borne in clusters.

Climbing Devoniensis. Identical in all respects with Tea Rose Devoniensis, except it has the climbing habit; the flower is of great size, very double; a magnificent and beautiful variety.

Madame Alfred Carriere. Extra large, full flowers, very double and sweet; color rich creamy white, faintly tinged with pale yellow, exceedingly beautiful; a strong, hardy grower and free bloomer.

Marechal Niel. A Rose so famous as to really need no description; its magnificent golden-yellow buds are worn the world over, and floral work without Marechal Niels is usually regarded as lacking a proper finish; the blossoms, the perfection of the globular form, and are borne in great quantities; as a climber it is unequalled, rapid in growth, graceful, and clothed with beautiful foliage.

Duke of Edinburg [sic]. Dark velvety maroon; medium size; full, regular form; very handsome and fragrant.

Banksia Fortunii. White, flowers large.

Chromatella, or Cloth of Gold. A grand Rose for the South; clear, bright yellow, very sweet and beautiful; blooms rather sparingly, but makes up for this deficiency by being wonderfully beautiful.

Lamarque. White, with sulphur center, sometimes pure white; very large, full flowers, fragrant, and makes beautiful buds; an excellent Rose; well established plants bear thousands of its beautiful white buds.

Magna Charta. A splendid Rose. Extra large, full flowers, very double and sweet; clear rosy red, elegantly flushed with crimson.

Pride of Reigate. This variety sustains its excellent qualities of a variegated perpetual bloomer, the proportion of well striped flowers being above seventy-five per cent. A few pale rose-colored flowers are occasionally produced. As with all roses produced from sports, some flowers will at times revert to the original variety. The same fault may be expected with other sports, such as Bride, Sunset, White Bon Silene, etc.

Clement Massier. White pink center.

MOSS.

Glory of Moss. Light pink; dwarf.

Salet. Pale rose; perpetual.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cecile Brunner. Flowers one and a half inch in diameter, salmon pink, deeper centre, beautifully formed.

Jeanne Drivon. Flowers in corymbs, white edged pink.

La Reine. Bright rose; full and sweet.

Max Singer. Cherry red, climber.

Souvenir de Victor Hugo. A remarkably handsome rose. Color a peculiar and distinct shade of chamois red. Buds and flowers are quite large and of fine form. Very fragrant.

Comments (12)

  • Vicissitudezz
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Thanks, Carol- the copying and pasting didn't take much time, but the HMF links did.

    But I figure it's more useful with links...

    Virginia

  • Anna-Lyssa Zone9
    6 years ago

    Virginia, you're amazing! Thanks for sharing this.

    Their marketing was pretty great, I want to place an order now!

    Is La France really good?

    Vicissitudezz thanked Anna-Lyssa Zone9
  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    6 years ago

    That's really great and informative. Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking a lot of those probably do well in FL. The ones I have off the list seem to. Marechal Niel absolutely loves Florida! Im having great success with him here and Ive heard he can be finicky in other places.

    Vicissitudezz thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
  • User
    6 years ago

    Interesting list...thanks for going to that trouble Virginia... I wonder whatever happened to 'Washington'... sounds like a Noisette we ought to know more about..

    Vicissitudezz thanked User
  • Anne Zone 7a Northern CA
    6 years ago

    Thank you for this wonderful list, Virginia! I am having so much fun drooling over these beauties. The links are so helpful and appreciated.

    Vicissitudezz thanked Anne Zone 7a Northern CA
  • Vicissitudezz
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Anna-Lyssa, I reckon that 'La France' must've been a flash in the pan. Never heard of it before. (Kidding!)

    sultry, I did think Floridians and Gulf-Coast-ers (and Californians) might find this list of interest today, whether getting inspiration for roses to buy or trying to ID a mystery rose... it helps to know what roses were available in the U.S. back in the day.

    Marlorena, it has occurred to me that 'Washington' then could be 'Mary Washington' now. No proof, but the description seems to fit. Of course it also fits many Noisettes...

    Anne, I'm glad you're enjoying it. One reason I put this here is because HMF is having "technical difficulties", so nobody has been able to add rose references for about 6 months. I want to be able to re-find this handy list if/when things get straightened out with HMF. And I think it's almost always worth linking names- especially when the catalog has them creatively spelled.

    Virginia

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Anna-Lyssa, La France really is that good. Mine is putting out new shoots and I'll take pictures when there are flowers. The last batch of flowers was disappointing since this is a young rose, but I'm really hoping this time the flowers will look the way they should. For me it's been a very healthy rose, which can't be said of all the early hybrid teas, which have some weak sisters among them.

    Vicissitudezz thanked ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
  • Vicissitudezz
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Ingrid, I'm sure you have at least one enabling photo of 'La France', because I've seen some (hint, hint)...

    Virginia

  • Anna-Lyssa Zone9
    6 years ago

    YEs hint hint.....how does it do in the heat?

    Vicissitudezz thanked Anna-Lyssa Zone9
  • Vicissitudezz
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Anna-Lyssa, I can't provide enabling photos, so keep an eye out for Ingrid's garden photos for those. But I think you might enjoy this passage on 'La France' from a 1912 book called Everblooming Roses by Georgia T. Drennan, pp.17-18:

    "The Journal des Roses, 1867, gives an account of fifty rosarians of France, called together to vote on the merits of one thousand roses. The almost unanimous vote was for La France. It was conceded to be the most perfect and most distinctly new rose. Guillot fils introduced it as a seedling Tea unidentified. Its parentage is not known.

    After close comparison and much discussion, experts decided it to be the first rose of a new class rather than the pure Tea its origin suggested. Guillot fils claimed no agency in its creation beyond having grown it from the seed of a Tea rose. The rosarians of France named the new class Hybrid Tea; La France, the representative rose, combining the exquisite delicacy of the pure Teas and the broad petals, large size and striking features of the Hybrid Remontants, perhaps of the Bourbons.

    An enthusiastic amateur rose grower, young when La France was young, I gave it cordial welcome. No new rose that I read of or knew, had been so much and so favourably commented on, except General Jacqueminot. I planted La France in my garden and tested its merits by careful culture. I was ardently interested in the rose that ushered in an entirely new class, close kindred to the Tea, which I so much loved. It proved to be a constant and profuse bloomer and excelled the Tea roses in size, with sweeter scent than any rose I had ever had bloom in my garden. To reassure myself, I bought other specimens from different florists, with the same result. To this day, I find the same fault. La France blooms itself to death. Mea culpa, if others do not find it a short-lived rose."

    Virginia

  • Anna-Lyssa Zone9
    6 years ago

    Virginia, thank you for this! I can't believe I missed it. I found a source for La France here in case my regular nursery doesn't get more.... It's on my ever-expanding list for the fall....

    Vicissitudezz thanked Anna-Lyssa Zone9