Encyclopedia of Roses is an accurate source of info.

12 years ago

I'm impressed with the 2011 edition of "Encyclopedia of Roses" by DK publisher, written by Charles & Brigid Quest-Ritson. It would answer most of the questions here.

This is the BIBLE OF ROSES for any rose growers. HMF has a few mistakes regarding zone hardiness, thornlessness, and size. I haven't found any mistakes in this big book of reference. Wise Portia is accurately reported as zone 6 (HMF listed as zone 5b) - Wise Portia did poorly in Chicago Botanical Garden's hardiness survival. In my zone 5a garden Wise Portia may not make it, while Golden Celebration next to it is green to the tip.

Peter Beales' website has many mistakes on thorns (like listing Paul Neyron as thorny, versus less thorn on Jacques Cartier!!) This "Encyclopedia of Roses", written by 2 English folks, is very accurate on degree of thorniess, specifying "few prickles, large thorns, many prickles ...etc". The most useful info. is the climate: whether a rose does well in a hot & dry, or wet and damp like England.

The book also features large rose gardens across the world, and profiles on all the breeders. The size specified for each rose is very accurate, as well as the propensity for diseases.

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Comments (9)

jacqueline9CA
12 years ago
Just curious - Amazon says this is a re-print. Is it the same as the ARS Encyclopedia of Roses by the same authors from 2003?

Re the "size specified for each rose" being "very accurate", does it specify different sizes for the same rose depending on the climate? If not, it cannot be "very accurate", although it might be for where you garden. Many roses that really do stay 2-3 feet tall in England, for example, grow to 10-12 feet here! Thus, stating one size for a rose is almost guaranteed to NOT be accurate!

Jackie
strawchicago z5
Original Author
12 years ago
It's an updated version of the same English authors from 2003. The size is accurate for their cool England, and for our cold zoners, but won't be accurate for Californians. The book makes a note of which one do well in dry and warm climate.

Today it's raining ALL DAY HERE (our norm), so it's useful for me to avoid the ones listed as "best for dry and warm". I find the fragrance is more accurate than HMF. Alec's Red is accurately described as "light fragrance", so is "Climbing Polka". Arthur Bell is accurately listed as zone 5, rather than zone 6 as in HMF, so is Gruss an Teplitz, very hardy. If I had found this book earlier, I won't need to change my rose order so often.

This is the best reference for international roses, such as Meilland, Irish, German, and English roses. One of the authors is Charles Quest-Ritson, a lawyer, trials judge, and director of the National Royal Rose Society.

Here in Chicagoland the best performers in the alkaline rose park nearby are: Meilland (southern France) and the ones from New Zealand, and the worst performers are Austins. Knowing which country they come from helps me to choose the ones appropriate for my alkaline heavy clay soil. Peace, a Meilland rose, far surpasses Double Delight in bloom here.
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Rugosas should do well for you. Austins are like Kordes in that most are probably hardy to 6a. When Lloyd Brace had the Roseraie, every year he would trial all the new Austins. Then the next year he would announce they all stunk. I think he was 5b, but maybe a bit colder than that. We visited once, and came home with Rosa Mundi and Glory of Edzel. It's coastal Maine, with an inlet in the back. The bigger issue with Austins is blackspot susceptibility. I keep thinking there should be some that are OK, but it is very hard to tease that information out. Unless somebody makes an enormous point in the opening post that they *ONLY* want east coast input, Austin threads always seem to be about how wonderful they do in other climates. Even the threads that start out screaming that the point is to try to find out what Austins might make it not spray in an area of high blackspot pressure tend to quickly deteriorate into favorite Austins in totally different climate threads.
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Krista_5NY
12 years ago
I bought this book some years ago, and really like it, not sure what year it is...

Thanks for the info, Strawberryhill, on the current edition.
roseblush1
12 years ago
Strawberryhill...

I just looked at the REFERENCES on HMF for 'Alec's Red' to see where we got the zone information for the rose page. It appears we updated the rose page due to a COMMENT from a site user. Then, since I knew that Botanica's Roses gives zone information and I had the book and it was used as one of the REFRENCES for the rose, I decided to look it up.

Botanica's says that Alec's Red will grow in zones 4 - 9.

I have found over the years that I have worked on the HMF site, that REFERECES often have conflicting information. We do try to make a NOTE on the rose page when this happens, but when the site was young, there wasn't a field for NOTES. So ....

I can't say there are no errors in HMF... site users are kind enough to draw them to our attention and I've made more than a few corrections, but I think the accuracy of any book or website depends on where the author got the information they have published about the rose. I can't imagine that they have grown each rose in their gardens.

As for thorniness... some roses want it both ways. Here's a photo of the thorns on 'Tamora' grown in Holland. You can click on the rose name and the MEMBER COMMENTS and see the discussion about thorns on this rose.

Smiles,
Lyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Thorns on Tamora photo
nastarana
12 years ago
I have the original edition, and I am not sure if the new one is worth a further $40.

Some things, such as breeder bios, which should have been updated have not been.
jerijen
12 years ago
I'm in Southern California. I've never found a British book on roses that was relevant for my conditions.

Nice photos. Good history. Cultural information, or even available cultivars? Nope.

But I've gotten some great recommendations from texts written in the late 1800's through very early 1900's. :-)

Jeri
harborrose_pnw
12 years ago
One example of this is Ralph Moore's death, which was not mentioned in his biography in the latest edition.
barbarag_happy
12 years ago
I read this book thoroly and would not add it to my library here. The info might have been helpful when I started growing roses in z6 Ohio. Here-- not so much.
mendocino_rose
12 years ago
I wouldn't say that it is a bad book, but there are some things I don't like. I saw it when it first came out(perhaps it has changed). It was exactly the same book as the Royal National Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses but named the ARS Encyclopedia of Roses. If you were looking for a rose that had has a different name in the US from the European name you would only find it under the European name and all the rose sizes were pertinent to Britain in meters. Here in California I had to take it all with a grain of salt. No book is required to list sizes from everywhere. I didn't expect that. Anyway I enjoy rose encyclopedias but HMF is more useful to me.

Encyclopedia of Roses is an accurate source of info.

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jacqueline9CA

strawchicago z5
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Encyclopedia of Roses is an accurate source of info.

Comments (9)

strawchicago z5Original Author

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strawchicago z5
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