What are Old Garden Roses?

The standard definition of an Old Garden Rose is that it belongs to a class of rose that existed before 1867 (not counting wild roses, also known as species roses), even if it was bred more recently.

So, according to this definition, an Old Garden Rose could have been bred in the last few years, while some “modern roses” still available today were bred 150 years ago.

The date 1867 marks the introduction of the first Hybrid Tea rose, “La France”, which was bred from two Old Rose classes: the Hybrid Perpetual rose “Madame Victor Verdier” and the Tea rose “Madame Bravy”.

Old Rose VS Antique Rose

Old Garden Roses are generally lumped into 2 main categories.
As with many such lists of this nature, it can be debated where or whether some of them belong, this is just an introduction:

• Antique Roses: Only flower once per year. The only roses that existed in Europe before the 1790’s.
• Old Roses: Most repeat flower due to having the Rosa chinensis, The China Rose, in their ancestry. The China rose revolutionised rose breeding in Europe from the early 1790’s.

Famous Antique Rose (once-flowering) categories include: Alba, Centifolia, Damask, Gallica, Moss, Portland (AKA Damask Perpetual). Most people also include Rambling roses.

Famous Old Rose (repeat flowering) categories include: Bourbon, China, Hybrid Perpetual, Noisette, Tea.

Some great examples include:

Antique Rose List

• Alba: Maidens Blush
• Alba x Damask: Felicite Parmentier
• Alba x Noisette: Madame Plantier
• Centifolia: Fantin Latour, Capitaine John Ingram, Spong
• Centifolia x Moss: Nuits de Young, William Lobb
• Damask: Ispahan, Leda, Alfred de Dalmas
• Gallica: Cardinal de Richelieu, Charles de Mills, Gloire de France, President de Seze, Tuscany Superb, Rosa Mundi, Rosa gallica
• Moss: Chapeau de Napoleon
• Portland (AKA Damask Perpetual): Rosa de Rescht, Comte de Chambord

Old Rose List

• Bourbon: Ferdinand Pichard, Mme Pierre Oger, Madame Isaac Pereire, Souvenir de la Malmaison
• China: Irene Watts
• Hybrid Perpetual: Souvenir du Dr Jamain
• Noisette: Blush Noisette
• Tea: Sombreuil