I moved into a house that had roses planted. I had to take care of them... I knew I was hooked when I went out there every couple of hours to see how they were doin...

I was besieged and seduced by a neighbor who noticed my interest in gardening. I held out for a year of being led on tours of her garden, given bouquets and rose books to take home, etc. Finally I surrendered and ordered 14 HTs from Star. She was a wonderful mentor.

I visited the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and happened upon a magnificent specimen of Mutabilis, about 8 x 8 feet that was in full bloom from top to bottom. My heart practically stopped, I was so captivated by the uniqueness of this rose, with all the different colors of the blooms on the bush at the same time. I then looked around at all the other old roses nearby and my heart was captured forevermore. I had never cared for modern roses much, and the shapes and colors of the old roses spoke to me in a profound way. I had found my passion.

Ingrid

Other old GWers who have heard this story, please stop me. I gardened with perennials for a few years all the time swearing I would not grow roses (too fussy, attract Japanes beetles, etc.) The following year I don't know why, maybe I felt up for a challenge or to just prove to myself that I could do it, I went to the local nursery and asked them to recommend an easy-care rose. I came home with 'Champlain', one of the Canadian Explorers, and darned if that thing didn't bloom its fool head off for two summers. And no hardiness issues or JB problem. In the meantime I had heard David Austins were hardy in the north, so feeling experienced, I bought Abe Darby and Heritage. Then I was truly hooked. A couple years ago
Champlain was SP'd to make room for another DA that was more fragrant (Champlain wasn't at all).

I "lost" mine after we moved into our first home 5 years ago. In my mind, a proper house should have roses in front of it, so I went to Lowes and happened upon a Chrysler Imperial in full bloom. One sniff was all it took. HTs led to Floribundas, which led to Austins, and finally OGRs. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I'd have 115 roses...I would have thought you were crazy :)

Eric

I was finally able to visit my brother's (Paul Z) nursery during one of his Mother's Day open houses and see all the roses in bloom and of course after go to his house and see the roses over the arbor and the 'shed' in his own garden. I was close to retiring from the military so I knew I would not be moving and I took the plunge and asked him to pick out 2 roses I could not kill as long as they got food and water. He picked out Prairie Princess and American Beauty CL. That was about 8 yrs ago and both are going strong and now have about 50 or so friends. The roses have become my retirement hobby.

Liz

I love all these stories! Keep them coming please....

First rose memory was a man dead headding rose bushes in a TB hospital Garden on the next block. I stared thru the fence and he gave me a coffee can loaded with past prime blooms the smell was intense. Later we moved close enough to the NY Botanical Gardens to go there fairly regularly and my love grew stronger. I finally got to have a small spot in a community garden and of course I planted cannas.? I have no idea why I did that but I planted cannas next year it was roses.

My mom and her sisters grew roses in their gardens. I have fond memories of sitting near roses during Easter of every year. They grew old garden climbers and fragrant roses. I remember how pretty the garden looked in full bloom. It made an impression on me.

But I think when I'd take trips to England and France, I'd see so many wonderful gardens festooned with roses everywhere and I became enchanted. I knew for certain that when I had a little earth for myself, I wanted to have roses to bring beauty to my life. I think they give so much romance to any garden.

Juliet

As I child I loved a rose that my Mom grew named "Mlle. Cecille Brunner". My mother had 3 botanical collections, rare alpine plants, uncommon primula, native plants, and a small plot of H.T.s. I often made a special visit to see Cecille, to admire her darling pink rosebuds, but I also admired the large dark green leaflets of this plant with its slender red flower stems, which held the dainty buds like pearls in a constellation. On the other side of a lawn was a plot of H.T. roses, which to my young eyes appeared like things that could have stomped their way out of a horror movie. In winter each H.T. bush appeared as a rigid upright bundle of thorny-spike covered sticks, that at ankle height were horribly deformed growths, from my childs' eye view, close-up. I didn't know then about grafting scars. In June when the H.T.s bloomed, the roses were not to my likeing, appearing as artificial as a bunch of plastic roses I had found, they each lacked the natural grace of darling Cecille.
I hope those who love that class of rose will forgive my bluntness.
As an adult, I moved to California, where I mentioned to my neighbor Luanne, who posts here, "I'm not fond of these modern roses, (my landlady had planted dozenes) they have no scent" and she suggested "You should try growing Old Garden Roses" and I did. I owe the 3 ladies a debt of gratitude for all the joy I've received from Old Garden Roses, my tastes in plants and flowers, and love of history, were matched perfectly to this group of beauties.

Luxrosa

Both my Grandmothers had antique roses scattered among their plantings. Neither had any interest in Hybrid Teas. One Grandmother had a fawn/creme Wichuriana scrambling out of a twenty-foot Arbor Vitae. Both Grandmothers were in the 'good' garden club, whose members disapproved of Hybrid Teas, makeup, French Poodles, Princess Diana, and Cadillacs.

The Great Grandparents I knew had rampant climbers woven casually into the living walls their wondrous garden. The garden was a series of green rooms, where a child could graze among fruit trees, with antique climbers sending occasional bloom sprays down from treetops. I remember garden floors of Oxalis and Periwinkle, and branches of delicious Plums vying for attention with fragrant cascades of Noisettes and Wichurianas.

But I think that what made roses speak to me more than other plants was their depiction in art. A print an aunt brought from England, entitled 'Among the Roses', depicted the semi-wild sort of garden I still crave. A French porcelain lamp with ormolu base, painted with voluptuous Tea Roses, was in my Grandmother's living room, next to an Art Nouveau Limoges vase, with Roses nearly identical to those of the lamp. The nearby banquette was piled high with cushions in a black and pink rose chintz. More cushions had needlepoint roses. Other banquette pillows were covered in portions of old tapestries depicting roses. Unrestrained roses popped up in chintzes, all over various family homes. I think that because of these remembered images, I associate Roses with love and nurturing.

But as for actually growing them, I was helpless to stop, once I'd planted two Cornelias. The vigor of the plants, and the indescribable fragrance, were enough to make me pine for Roses during the years when I could not grow them. Now, I have forty-four, and need still more.

About 30 years ago, a man in my office used to bring my secretary a fresh Double Delight rose every few days, so I decided to plant a few roses - selected a Mr. Lincoln, something rather orange, and DD. Added Angel Face when I discovered its fragrance. My neighbor and dear friend, Bill, showed me his found, Austins and OGRs in his garden. He and I went to the cemetery rose garden, at my suggestion, a few years after it was first planted (we think it was about 1996). I started hanging out at nurseries (Michael's Roses was in Elk Grove, about 15 miles away) and poring over Botanica's Roses and books that Bill would loan me. I planted a few old roses, then a few more. The bug really bit when I decided to help out in the cemetery in Jan, 2002, "for the pruning season." Ha! It's never ended! I now have about 60 roses at home, with only one HT, and lead the care for nearly 500 of them in the cemetery. They make me very happy. You should have seen the Cochet teas today. Heavenly.
Anita

I owned a small plant nursery in Pinehurst, Texas in the late 80's, and in trying to find wholesalers to purchase from, I came across a catalog from the Antique Rose Emporium. I fell in love with the description of the roses and the story of Michael Shoup's young enterprise, so I went in our old pickup truck to purchase a few roses for resale at my nursery. As I selected the roses, I knew I had to purchase a couple of these for my own garden...one was Maggie and the other was Louis Phillipe. Although my life was too busy/hectic at that time for me to consider expanding on my little rose collection, I was smitten and I knew that one day I would have many of these beloved roses in my own garden. I do everything in moderation, but when it comes to roses, I really struggle to keep it at the 70 plus that I now have.
Molly

I never thought much about roses at all until we bought our house and there were three on the property already. My husband loves roses (I then learned) and he said we should try and make them recover from what had clearly been long neglect. He suggested that I read up on and learn more about roses to achieve that goal. Several years and 92 roses later I bet he's really re thinking that helpful suggestion:)

Kate

On the way to and from Roosevelt Elementary I would walk past a Louie Phillipe growing near the curb. I never passed up a chance to inhale the fragrance.

I knew from then on that some day I would have a rose filled garden. It took over forty years for me to really understand that my inner yearnings for the nourishment that beauty provides was an appropriate use of my time and resources.

Now, I Know deeply that the garden is not the least bit frivolous. It is an absolute necessity for my spirit.

For me, it was Hallie's Rose. My brother gave me a sucker he got from his neighbor, Hallie, and some Harison's Yellow. I threw them in the ground, not expecting much from Hallie's Rose. Harison's Yellow grows around here a lot at old houses but I didn't even know its name back then.
Hallie's Rose grew to 9-10 feet tall and is covered in double pink blossoms in June and has a wonderful scent. I have finally thought it might be some old setigera hybrid that is lost to commerce.
I got to thinking there must be more roses like this. Out here in Montana, I had never seen them. I think along the way I got a copy of Stirling Macoby's Ultimate Rose book and I have no idea how I stumbled on the antique rose web. Been posting here since 97-98.
This year I'm collecting hybrid setigera to see what I get. Doubloons, Baltimore Belle, Captain Kidd, and Forstmeister Heim. I got Errinerung an Brod last year, which is still just a stick. They say it is not very cold hardy.
Hallie's Rose came west with the pioneers and a very similar rose is called High Country Banshee, sold by High Country Roses. It was found growing in a Colorado cemetery.

Moving from a shady yard to a sunny yard, I asked myself "what grows in sun?" The rest is history... well, two and a half years of history. I feel like I ran into this deaf, dumb and blindfolded. Never saw roses growing, knew anyone who grew roses or had a clue about OGRs. It was the online rose porn that hooked me. One was more mouth-watering than the last, and now there are 97 of them with 6 more on the way. But I only have 100 label markers?!?! I think it's too soon to know if it's really love or just adrenaline. Perhaps mature rose bushes will reveal a mature love in my heart for them, but until then I think it's more of a tiger-by-the-tail thing. I strongly feel like I've not been smart about it all. But, of course, if my story included a grandmother, I'd probably feel better about it.

Sherry

My grandfather moved from Colorado to California so he could grow roses all years round, so roses are part of the background visuals of my my childhood. But I got addicted when I was working in the tree and shrub division of a nursery in NM. The section manager was an OGR addict and got the nursery to sell OGRs and Austins. I got interested; I hadn't realized there were so many kinds. I read, smelled, observed. It was Madame Hardy that pushed me past the point of no return. She is still, to me, the goddess of roses. Amazing Grace--I once was lost but now I'm found...

Wonderful stories.
The first roses I remember are two Hybrid Tea/Floribunda types my non-gardener mother had planted on the north side of our Florida house. One was a white classic Hybrid Tea; the other was soft coral pink and more informal. I encountered the same fragrance one of them had decades later in a famous garden in this part of the world, coming from a climbing Hybrid Tea on a pergola. For me the original rose fragrance was not Damask, but rather the sweet China fragrance of that rose.
I really got going when I bought my house in Olympia and it had a rose growing by the front door that, when it flowered the following June, was a miracle: blooms delicate and sumptuous as a silk and lace wedding gown, with a scent not strong or heavy, but rich and smooth as cream. A marvel. Turned out it was 'Mme. Plantier'. I began buying old roses. My mentor was my horticulturalist sister, who knew and loved old roses and who lent me catalogs and rose books and her considerable expertise. Currently we have about three hundred varieties of roses, most of them old or older varieties, and are starting the eighth year of a battle to turn our scrubby, weedy, clay, stony, sun-beaten, steep land into a garden.
Melissa

I had a neighbour who had a fabulous garden, and while I enjoyed gardening as well, and even had a few roses, I never paid them much mind. But my neighbour's roses were different; and she was so proud of them, and always seemed to stress that they were "oooollllllddddd" roses. I knew I liked the fragrance and the shape, but didn't follow it up any further than that.

A few years later we moved into a house that had some technicolor roses growing at the front of the house... I hated them, and knew I wanted to rip them out as quickly as possible, and decided that I wanted the "old" roses that my neighbour had had. So I did a search for "old roses" on the web and found Paul Barden's site... and I was hooked right then and there. The moment that I started reading about the history (I'm a history buff), and the varieties, and the romance of the old and Austin roses I was hooked, and happily, have been ever since!

My husband and I moved into a Victorian house that had been in his family since 1905. The garden was overgrown, with lots of trees and huge old bushes. I mostly ignored it, although I did get a tour from my father-in-law. He explained things like "that shady area that is covered with those funny spear shaped leaves is an old Iris bed ,and if you dig them up next Fall and move them into the sun they will start blooming again", but didn't say much about any roses. I looked out our bedroom window the first Spring and saw what I was fairly sure were roses growing 20 feet up a tree. I was so confused - I didn't know that was possible! Then all over the garden I noticed roses appearing on top of the garage, inside a blooming Japanese quince bush, and peeping out from inside a huge thicket. A 25 foot long 8 foot high hedge was suddenly covered with pink roses - 3 different kinds, and I hadn't even looked at it closely enough before to be aware that it was rose bushes! I mentioned these bizarre phenomena to a friend of mine, and she sent me the book "In Search of Lost Roses". Aha! So, instead of buying roses (which I did do in a while, of course), I spent that Spring running all over the garden trying to locate & take care of the dozens of old cultivars that had survived neglect in our garden (it had been a rental for 25 years), wondering what/who they were. I was particularly entranced that almost none of them were hybrid teas, which was the only kind of roses I had know existed.

20 years later we have identified most of them (one rare old tea was not in commerce in No America, but now it is because Vintage Gardens took cuttings from the plant in our garden), and of course added dozens more.

Jackie

My mother was a great gardener, but did not grow roses. We had two "wild roses" in our yard, one under the carport and the other under a mulberry tree smothered with vinca. As a child I lovingly tended these two and treasured the few blooms they gave me.

As an adult, I became very interested in gardening again and was initially enamored of the White Flower Farm catalog. They were offering David Austin roses. So different from the ugly hybrid teas I was used to seeing. I fell in love.

To make a long story short, the Austins didn't do so well for me but I became interested in the "real" ogrs.

And I learned that my childhood love was Dr. Huey. I moved a rose recently and some rootstock came up in the hole. I believe I have the old doctor again. I think I'll keep him, also to remember my brother Huey who is no longer with us. He had a short, tragic life, and used to pop up in seemingly odd places too.

I'm not sure I have ONE moment in particular. It was more the summation of many and the benefit of timing.

I remember when I was 4 strolling through a small greenhouse one side of my family operated. Nothing much to me, but I was always around plants and whatnot and it was subconsciously always around me.

During HS, I worked manual labor quite a bit and worked at Menard's Garden Center and a private family owned garden center. When I wasn't out working like no other, myself and the others would hide off the beaten path in the greenhouses and walk around the nursery checking out all of the plants that we found interesting or nice like lamb's ear or artemesia nana(angel's hair/silvermound). Roses were not a large sales pitch, therefore we didn't sell or have a large variety of them, but it brought up an interest in plants.

Planning for after college, I had a long term interest in living in Italy somewhere and while not exactly the first place you would think of for roses, a thought of a decent sized casa by the dreamy sea in Tuscany with roses growing up and around the casa is one of those first images that come to mind. Obviously, I don't live in Italy....yet, but the current location I rent in Columbus is a place I wanted to move into as I have my own entire Edwardian home that I rent. It had no landscaping care done for it and it was weed infested, so I made sure I could take care of the landscaping issue first with the property managers. Shortly thereafter, I decide I would take up the task of doing relatively inexpensive landscaping to spruce the home up.

In the process of plotting out the idea over the winter, I had stopped by the Columbus(Whetstone) Park of Roses and was amazed by the park itself. Over 400 breeds of roses, and over 11,000 roses in total in a 13 acre area of roses arranged along a long path with a large fountain in the center with a long stretch of grass and roses to an iron observation tower with a spiral staircase. From there I realized our local nursery had a large selection of roses, so I went online to research more about roses. Suddenly, I came upon GardenWeb and discovered so much more about roses. My first batch of roses were Belinda's Dream, William Shakespeare 2000, and Pat Austin from my local nursery. From there the rest is history.

Thanks to Vuwu for an excellent thread topic. Five stars for Plan9's post.

Forty years ago, my grandparents lived on University Avenue in San Jose, a block from the Municipal Rose Garden. My grandmother would take me there every day during the Summer and on weekends. But I grew up and did other things and never really thought about roses or gardening. Then a few years ago I received a David Austin catalog in the mail by accident, and it was like a religious experience. I became obsessed - I HAD to grow some of those, they were the most beautiful roses I'd ever seen. The catalog and website became an addiction, I just stared at the pictures for hours, dreaming and planning, driving my husband crazy talking about roses. I started in big containers and planters because our soil is horrible, then finally put in my first little in-ground garden last year, and kept adding on... Now I'm up to about 40-50 roses, half Austins and half my newer love, single petals. And we're planning a real formal garden, 1/4 acre or so, next year.

Many years ago, an art director that I worked for grew OGRs for - as I thought - a "hobby". Eventually he brought in a catalog from Tillotson's Roses (as it was then) and two blooms. One of the blooms was Konigen von Danemark, and the other was (I think) Reine Victoria. I was completely smitten - I kept them at my drawing board and got very little work done that day. I was, and am still, a complete apartment dweller, but later I got a book about OGRs by a woman in New Zealand, and mentally built a "virtual" rose garden.

Earlier in my life, when I was fourteen, we lived with my grandmother (my father's mother) in Burlingame, CA, where she had a lot of roses. Looking back, I think they must have been mostly early HTs, one of which was Talisman (I adored it), and another one that was so dark a purple/wine color that it was almost black. She also had a "Seven Sisters" that grew all along a wooden lattice fence at the back of the garden and a big beautiful yellow climber that went up the side of the garage and onto the roof.

Earlier yet, there was my grandfather (on my mother's side) who, in the foggy part of San Francisco, grew a Cecille Brunner. He always had a CB bloom in his buttonhole. To this day, we all associate that little rose with our grandfather.

To bring all this up to today, I refer you to Anita's post a bit earlier on this thread. Last Fall, I waltzed over to the Old Sacramento City Cemetery to see the rose garden and to say "Hello, I'm Organic Tosca" to Anita, known to me only from this forum. She gave me a little tour, and before I knew what had happened, I was a volunteer, although one with a total lack of gardening skills! I've learned a lot this last year, though, and am more completely hooked than ever. And on my balcony is my small collection of OOOOLLLLLDDDDD roses....
Laura

My great grandmother gardened. My mother gardens obsessively. I used to tease her about it and SWORE I'd never do it.
Then the gardening bug hit HARD. I was bound and determined, though, to have a garden different than my mama's. Hers looked bare and ugly during the winter.
So my quest for plants would only include ones with winter interest, or at least some sort of winter presence. Roses were OUT. I wouldn't even consider one. The HTs I'd seen grown were the absolute ugliest thing in the garden every winter!
Eventually I started looking for some plants I could put in the garden that would actually bloom from spring to frost. I asked on the Texas Garden Forum. Rozanna and Dianne chimed in and suggested that I come over here.
150 roses later...
I am glad though that I started with winter interest plants, because my garden DOES look very nice during the winter... And the rose gardens are hidden behind evergreens so I don't have to see them if they aren't looking good!

My grandmother grew HTs in LA in the early 50s, but it wasn't until the late '50s when my great-uncle was attempting to grow HTs in San Francisco in full shade that I paid attention, because he had a brand-new rose, Sterling Silver. I was captivated by its color and fragrance but never ventured further down the primrose path until the mid-70s when my parents bought Luther Burbank's doctor's house in Novato with a fragrant pink rose outside the front door. We called it the Barnhouse Rose: you will know it as Mrs. R.G. Sharman-Crawford, Grandmother's Hat, Cornet and/or Barbara Worl. Roses of Yesterday and Today's catalogue was next on the list and the KO punch was a deserted Petaluma rose garden that gave me peace and comfort during a difficult pregnancy. That garden held: Harison's Yellow, Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, Laneii, Cecile Brunner, Mme. Joseph Schwartz, Mme. Plantier, Dorothy Perkins and my beloved foundling, Katie's McNear HP. A later rustle turned up the exquisite and rare Elise Boelle. I now grow more than 60 roses, mostly in the front yard of a 1976 tract house on Petaluma's east side. There's no more room here, but fortunately my mother owns close to an acre in Sebastopol.

Many years ago almost the same question was asked in the Usenet group rec.gardens.roses by Stacey in New Zealand and I'll copy my reply from that thread:

I could have been about 8 and we lived in a small village not
far from the Baltic coast. Very few roses grew there, except
red rugosas. There were few gardens although people had big
yards. One day my mother had put a very big bunch of pale pink
roses on the coffee table, a gift from a friend. I remember her
house, a small ugly house covered in grey asbestos panels. One
gable was completely covered with this pink rose. It may have
been Minette or Maiden's Blush but I shall never know.

Later that day the roses were gone from the living room and my
mother told me that my father had asked her to take them away.
They reminded him of the funeral of his baby son from his first
marriage. This revelation came as a complete shock to me. I had
never heard of my father's first marriage and I remember I was
feeling both jealous and triumphant for years after.

This is how I first became aware of myself and of roses.

End of quote. But I didn't get a chance to grow my own roses until 1985.

My Grandmother had roses. Those are my first memories of her home. My Dad always had a garden of some sort as well too. Then he got into raising and showing Japanese Koi. Many weekends were spent visiting local Koi farms and we then built our first pond. Around the pond were roses and such. They were just always there- Mr. Lincoln being the first rose always planted when we moved. We moved a lot! I moved out and my Dad got an apartment so no more fish or roses. He later married and discovered the world of miniature roses. When my DH and I got our first house Dad came over and helped us plant our own Mr. Lincoln. Then he got involved with several rose societies and began showing. If he did not win ribbons with a rose, they came to live with us. That is how the madness started. I loved how I could keep the mini's in pots and have them all over the yard. They were easy to care for and a wonderful way to spend and evening outside while the kids played in the yard. DH and I eventually moved to the central coast of California to be near his family. DH's Mother had a very formal rose garden. Again, I could spend hours out there. All the neighbor girls came and got their flowers for all the dances out there. I then met Syl and Amy Arena while working for the local bank. Amy and I hit it off and became friends. I offered to help them out in the office as I knew the computer programs they were trying to use and the rest as they say is history!

Trish

When we moved into our home 15 years ago, I got interested in gardening. But I didn't want any roses. My wife kept "pestering" me to plant a rose. I finally broke down and planted 'Belinda's Dream'. And the rest is history ... I became hooked due to my success and fondness for that rose.

Randy

I moved into a new house with almost no landscaping and 12 hours of full southern exposure in the front. There was really nothing else I could plant.

Grandma came from Holland and had tulips everywhere, juice glasses, pictures, pillows...When I finally began to grow flowers, those were the ones. Problem. They lasted two months, had to be prechilled for two months itc. I began to shop around but I think the hook was implanted at Berkeley Horticultural nursery as I wandered through the roses, an extraordinarily perfect pink hybrid tea with the effulgent scent of honeysuckle sported a name Arotea--land of the long white cloud later to be simply called New Zealand. There was another frilly deep rose babe who opened her petals slowly, one at a time and smelled deeply of damask old rose--Yves Piaget. I was enchanted and am still more in love with these two than almost any other. The rest are mostly epiphanies that happened in the Vintage Sales lot on a misty Spring day when the light was particularly fine and I spied "Across a crowded room, then flew to their side and made them my own..."Ellen Wilmott, Souvenir de St. Anne's,Mrs. Charles Bell, Irene Churucca etc.etc.etc.Rose Porn was a big help in my case--the web site of Petaluma Rose Co. released 20 roses into my greedy little hands but it was all those Dirt Days at Vintage where we shopped and enabled and gave in like there were no limits to time, space or even passion itself.From rose virgin to rose slut in less time than it takes a belly laugh to shake itself loose...
la

I posted only on the perennial forums. A few rose lovers from this forum that posted there as well were horrified that I had not a single rose in my perennial beds. They told me "roses are the ULTIMATE perennial".

I drifted over to this forum and met Jean and Carol and so many others who sent me spinning into the world of roses. I now have over 70 on less than a quarter acre lot.

I guess that makes me wild! ;o)

Luanne, I have never forgotten your pictures of Ellen Wilmott and Irene Churucca - and I would add your pic of Bishop Darlington. Those were three of the loveliest roses I have ever seen! By the way, my own little Pernetiana, Angels Mateu, is about to bloom (finally!). I got it last Fall, it sent up one mighty (for a small new plant) cane which put out some leaves and a MULTITUDE of thorns, and then it sat there forever. Not changing, not adding leaves, not branching, not apparently doing anything - looking like some kind of space alien. Now, all of a sudden, it has sent up new growth from the top of that primeval cane, beautiful apple/lime green growth which has branched and produced two buds, one for each branch. I examine it every morning so as not to miss anything. CAN'T WAIT...

Laura