New Book about Roses

9 years ago

Coming out this winter is a new book by Peter E. Kukielski:

Roses Without Chemicals: 150 Disease-Free Varieties That Will Change the Way You Grow Roses

I'm amused by the title - don't they mean introduce us to easier roses to grow? vs. "change the way" folks grow roses.

I also don't like the "Disease-Free" part. I'd much rather see the total number of roses listed reduced if necessary and the title revised to "Blackspot Resistant Varieties."

Even so, since Peter Kukielski is the former curator of New York Botanical Garden roses and since he was responsible for the conversion of their collection to healthier roses, I've already ordered mine.

And I can't wait to get it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses Without Chemicals on Amazon

This post was edited by sandandsun on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 0:48

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Comments (9)

jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
Cool! Please let me know what you think of the book... Thanks!

Below is a link of the top 115 roses for the year 2010 at the
Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden...

Here is a link that might be useful: Top 115 roses for 2010
jaxondel
9 years ago
Does the author imply that the 150 varieties he identifies as being disease free are, in fact, disease free in EVERY garden regardless of location?
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jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
jaxondel, that statement would be impossible to make by anyone as not even the Knockout rose is disease resistant everywhere...

So I doubt the author would make a claim like that... Seeing a claim like that would really turn me off to the book...
sandandsun
Original Author
9 years ago
I'll try to remember to review it here.

As for the question about claims in the book, I can't answer that because it hasn't even been released yet.

But the publisher, Timber Press, has the page linked below about the book and I saw there: "...tells which perform best in each region of the country...."

And also gives a much better bio of the author than mine even though theirs is also brief.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses Without Chemicals Book Details
jaxondel
9 years ago
jim -- that's precisely the point. why write/market a book about disease-free roses unless one identifies precisely where those roses are disease free?

seeing a claim like that would really turn you off? well, the author is making some such claim, is he not?

and yes, i am really turned off -- as should be anyone who's not growing roses in the author's immediate neighborhood.
sandandsun
Original Author
9 years ago
jim1961,

Thanks for posting that 2010 NYBG link. I've posted it in these forums before so you know that I'm aware of the list.

The thing about that list is that I don't know whether it is a report judging the performance ONLY that year OR the performance as long as they had been in the garden up to and including that year. The implication is that it is just for that year. And we know that one year doesn't tell us about long term performance.

I'm hoping that the book's list is based on longer term observations. And although I always remind myself and others that making an assumption isn't a good thing, I will say that if I were the author that I wouldn't risk my reputation using short term observations.
sandandsun
Original Author
9 years ago
As for the question about claims in the book, I can't answer that because it hasn't even been released yet.

But the publisher, Timber Press, has the page linked below about the book and I saw there: "...tells which perform best in each region of the country...."

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses Without Chemicals Book Details
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
Yes a review of the book would be great sandandsun!
mzstitch
9 years ago
Sandandsun, I would really appreciate you reviewing the book for us as well. If its worth it, I would buy it. Here in S.C. many "disease resistent" roses still get blackspot for me. If I were to start all over again, I would have planted less Austins, too late now. After all the work digging my heavy clay soil and amending planting roses is an all day affair and after all that work I'm not shovel pruning them! I would like to know how he researched by region though, as I'd be more inclined to buy a book from a southern author than one from New York.