Historical Roses – Beauty with a Long History

"Roses have been cultivated in gardens ever since the ancient Greeks and Romans brought them back from their campaigns. Even today, historical roses are cultivated and cherished in gardens.

The selection of roses is vast. New and modern varieties encompass more than 40,000 different roses. So why collect and cultivate the old and historical roses?""Roses have been cultivated in gardens ever since the ancient Greeks and Romans brought them back from their campaigns. Even today, historical roses are cultivated and cherished in gardens.

The selection of roses is vast. New and modern varieties encompass more than 40,000 different roses. So why collect and cultivate the old and historical roses?"

The history of roses began even before people thought about cultivating plants. As early as ancient times, roses were cultivated in gardens, primarily for the production of precious rose oil. Back then, no nobleman would have been without these noble beauties in their own garden.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a rose was crossed with another rose for the first time. Over time, more and more hybrids of old European roses emerged, especially in Paris. Many of these once-popular varieties still exist today. However, these old cultivars only offered one blooming period, which was in the summer. That's why the historical roses available today also bloom only once a year, in the summer.

In 1867, the first Modern Rose was bred, and all roses cultivated until then have since been referred to as historical roses. While the trend back then was towards ever-new varieties and cultivars, historical roses are now more popular than ever.

Meanwhile, historical roses are completely back in style. And not just because they bring nostalgia to the garden, but also because they possess several very popular characteristics. Many newly bred roses no longer have a fragrance. Historical roses, however, have a very intense scent, immersing the garden in a cloud of roses.

Many breeders have now specialized in cultivating new varieties with the characteristics of historical roses. For some varieties of historical roses, in addition to their fragrance, a special growth habit is also among their popular traits. Historical roses usually grow into very dense shrubs that bear many pretty blossoms. These characteristics, the scent and the dense growth, are particularly popular among rose lovers. They are happy to accept that historical roses only bloom once a year. But when they do, their bloom is all the more beautiful, intense, and fragrant than new cultivars. And even if the bloom only lasts from June to July, each individual flower is something very special. Historical roses often have a deeply filled blossom that evokes bygone eras.

So where can rose lovers get these special beauties? Some nurseries and rose growers have specialized in cultivating historical roses and offer a wide variety of these old beauties. Historical roses are cultivated, developed, and bred there. Because historical roses are very resistant to frost, this characteristic is often bred into new varieties.

Good opportunities to get advice on historical roses are rose blossom festivals or open days, which are organized by growers once a year. As a beginner, you should also seek advice when designing a garden with historical roses. Historical roses tend to look rather lost and out of place next to modern roses and should therefore be given a separate spot in the bed.

The best part: historical roses are available in every conceivable variety. You can find them as shrub and climbing roses, as well as groundcover, wild rose, standard rose, or hybrid tea rose. This truly leaves no rose dreams unfulfilled!