Introduced in 1880 or 1894, depending which version you have, so no older than that. This rose roots easily, so gardeners have passed it among themselves since introduction.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cecile Brunners @ helpmefind

Thank you! Knowing the introduction date of the Cecile Brunner is a great help, because it does establish the earliest date it could exist. Our home dates to the 1830s, but it was updated and added onto in the early 20th century. There are 2 trees in the back yard that I suspect were planted around that time, and I'm curious to know if the rose bush was also planted around that time.

Can one determine the age of a specific plant (much like you can with trees and tree rings)? I really only need to know approximations. Was this rose planted here 20 years ago? 50 Years ago? 100 years ago? Since I don't know much about roses, I just don't know if there is an easy way to approximate how old a specific plant is. Can you get clues from its size? The appearence of flowers and foliage? The thickness of the canes? The length or depth of the roots? Any thoughts from the experts would be much appreciated!

No real way to tell...it may have been cut down to the ground and grown back. A kid may have driven a Model-T Ford over and and smashed it all and it grew back...there may have been a particularly harsh winter and it froze to the ground and grew back. There may have been an older rose on the property, someone took a cutting, and rooted a new copy and planted that one on the property.

A rose that is 20 years old may look like it is 100 years old--a rose that is 100 years old may look like it is 20 years old. Roses don't always live that long--a bad winter kills them off, sometimes they get so old and woody they get termites and die. But sometimes they live on and on.

Only truly accurate way is finding old pictures of the property to see if the rose is there.

Alas! I was afraid that might be the case. We have some historic photos of the front of the house, but nothing from the rear. I guess that, for now, I'll just have to settle for "it's been there a while." :)

I agree that it is impossible to tell without old pictures, but one thing you can look at is the size of the biggest canes coming out of the ground - what is their diameter?

Cecile Brunners can be very long lived - we have one in our garden that we are pretty sure was planted more than 80 years ago (family history & pics). Its base is a tangle of large canes - about 4-5 inches in diameter.

Jackie

The base is definitely full of canes, and it looks like the bush has been cut back at least once. The largest single cane is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and is very woody. It has had minimal care, and only natural rain water, so it is probably not nearly as vigorous as it could be.

Even if it's not a rose that has been there a long time, if it's a good size, and you like what it's doing for your house, and you think its appearance fits well with the historic nature of the house, enjoy it and save it.

I live on the property of a mansion built in the early 20th Century (not sure exactly when), and there are some roses on the property that were bred around that time. They fit nicely, but I have no idea when the roses were planted.

It's all good.

In a sense, all plants of Cecile Brunner are 130 years old; your plant is a piece of a piece (etc.) of the original 1880 seedling.

In a sense, all plants of Cecile Brunner are 130 years old

Exactly. If any of you grow the Kurume azalea "{{gwi:260539}}", you're actually growing an azalea that was first grown in Japan back when Isaac Newton was alive. (The Japanese name for the that particular azalea is "{{gwi:260540}}".)

"In a sense, all plants of Cecile Brunner are 130 years old"

That's one of the things I love the most about old roses.