Category: Old Garden Roses

Rose de Rescht

If you were to look up ‘Rose de Rescht’ in a book or on another website, you’d probably read that this rose was discovered and collected by a prominent rosarian near the Persian city Rasht (spelled differently in French, apparently, and now in Iran). A bit of history like this can fire the imagination, and makes it easier to sell a rose, which is probably why it’s been repeated so frequently. Heck, why do you think I’m adding it here? (…aside from the fact that it seems obligatory when discussing this rose).

However, in my mind ‘Rose de Rescht’ doesn’t need a gimmick to sell it. Pluck a flower, hold it to your nose, and you’ll know what I mean. To my senses, this is the strongest and best scent of any rose I grow, all on an old-school fully petaled bloom that is actually a bit redder than it shows in this picture:

Rose de ReschtAnother virtue of this fantastic roses is a compact, rounded habit, which makes it appropriate to add to a mixed planting in a smaller garden bed. The blooms repeat extremely well for an old garden rose. In my garden, I’ve found it to be relatively free of disease problems, and I’ve read elsewhere that ‘Rose de Rescht’ is tolerant of difficult planting conditions, including some shade.

Stanwell Perpetual

I don’t have a great nose for scent in roses, but when my timing is right, I can find a good Damask scent in ‘Stanwell Perpetual’. If you don’t know the scent I’m talking about, it’s what you’d smell in a perfume made with rose oil, which is harvested and distilled from Damask roses. As insensitive as my nose may be, I can tell you this: not every rose has this same scent. Some people describe the other rose fragrances as fruity, as spicy, or compare them to tea or cloves or licorice. I can’t really get all that specific myself, but I can pick out the scent of a Damask rose in this one just fine.

‘Stanwell Perpetual’ is a chance seedling from a garden, so the actual breeding would be a guess, but it most closely resembles the Scots rose, Rosa spinosissima. I do also grow the species, and they look alike most respects, but the flowers in ‘Stanwell’ are larger, fuller, scented, and instead of setting hips, ‘Stanwell’ repeats bloom later in the season.

Stanwell PerpetualThis is the rose in a 1 gallon pot. This picture is taken after the soft pink of the largest bloom has faded to a creamy white, but I do like the way this picture shows off the foliage and abundant buds. The habit of the rose is low growing, and because of its toughness, ‘Stanwell’ is great for putting on a sunny bank, or even in a more shaded location. It will, of course, do better in a more pampered location, but if you need a rose for a challenging location, you could hardly do better than this one.