Antique Roses for the South

I loved this book. I've never had much luck with modern roses, have tried/killed many. But recently I started reading about old roses. The Helpmefind and Houzz (former Gardenweb) fora are great sources of info, and this book has brought a lot of that information into sharper focus for me. It talks about how so many of these old roses have (almost) been lost, and now are found again and propagated thanks to dedicated volunteers and rose nursery owners [but you would not know they exist if you only looked at what's available at Lowe's or Home Depot]. Chapter 7 goes into the taxonomy of roses--all the species and what particular varieties in each group do well in southern climates. I really appreciated the chapters on flower arrangement (excellent and succinct advice) and crafts because, if you are lucky enough and your roses do well, you will have a lot of material to work with.

The good news is that this book identifies antique roses that are not seen that often and has some very good pictures of them. There is also some interesting discussion about how some of these roses were found and identified by hobbyists. The bad news is that I was expecting a lot more information on husbandry. For example, there are only two pages in the book dedicated to growing antique roses in containers, but there are no less than 52 pages (about half the narrative of the book, discounting the rose list in the back) dedicated to indoor flower arrangements with roses, drying and preserving roses in displays, etc., which has absolutely no interest to me. I'd recommend this book as a supplemental reference on antiques, relying on other sources for care information.

The original version of the book was given to me as a gift and totally changed my gardening direction forever. Yes, I live in the south, and these old chinas, teas, noisettes, etc. are covered well, and some with a hint into their history. This book helped to 'set the hook' for my future purchases/obsession of not only the old roses but all roses in general. It also showed me the advantages of growing roses on their own roots. This book has had updates from the original but overall I think it's just about the same. Great book for intro into the antique roses but as the title says, 'for the south...

Very informative for Southern rose growers.

Great

Dr Welch is an expert and any information he provides is so helpful and accurate.

Beautiful pictures.

Exactly what was promised!

アメリカ南部向けのオールドローズの紹介本です。日本の暖地向けのバラの種類が知りたくて購入しました。高温多湿に耐えて、あまり手入れしなくても（墓地などに植えられている）良く咲く品種の再発見の経緯、歴史などが詳しく書かれています。途中のフラワーアレンジの章は、生け花風のアレンジでちょっと？なところもありますが、バラの挿し木の方法などが詳しく載っている章は参考になりました。ポプリの作り方なども湿式、乾式の両方などとても詳しく載っているのでお好きな方は良いかも。英語が苦にならない方向けだと思います。思ったよりも品種の数が少なかったので３つ星です。