From time to time people ask for recommendations of rose books. We scramble to put together lists. Probably the first time was in the mid-1990's when the Antique Roses Forum was new and still under Spike's control. It wasn't the first time, just the time I happened to save it.

You will see many names of people who formerly peopled this forum. When you see "Paula_SFBay", that is me. We had the opportunity to rename ourselves at some point, and I becamse Rosefolly at that time, a name suggested by a friend on this very forum.

Please be aware that the thread is l-o-n-g. But it is rich in information. So here goes!

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Posted by Carla17 z7b NC (My Page) on Sun, Oct 17, 04 at 11:36

If anyone saved a list from the forums, please post it.

Thanks,

Carla

Follow-Up Postings:

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Carla17 z7b NC (My Page) on Sun, Oct 17, 04 at 19:15

Please someone answer this, if not I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep bumping it. I am not the only person who wants this list.

TIA

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: valeriegail Z5 N.S. (My Page) on Sun, Oct 17, 04 at 19:21

I want it too! Please. Or if not that how about the latest news on the newest books that will be coming out soon. I am just panting waiting for a new, glossy, information filled book to put on my Christmas wish list. It must be two years since I have seen a new rose book in any of our local book stores.

Valerie

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: maureenpm00 z7 NY (My Page) on Sun, Oct 17, 04 at 19:53

HI Carla.

"Me too"

Anyone have this list? We would love to see it.

Maureen

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: NearlyWild z7MS (My Page) on Sun, Oct 17, 04 at 20:04

I would like to see the list also so I'll bump.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Carla17 z7b NC (My Page) on Mon, Oct 18, 04 at 0:05

Bump

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Paula_sfbay 9-sunset 16 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 21, 04 at 15:39

I did not save this list, and it looks as though no one else did either, at least not anyone who is currently reading and posting. Perhaps we could recreate it somehow. Last night I pulled off my shelves a couple dozen of my favorite rose books. When I get a chance I'll post a list with brief commentary, if anyone would think it useful.

I'm noticing several recent posts on rose books, more than I have been used to seeing. If there is anything I love more than roses it is books, so I have been enjoying this interest.

Paula

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Diane_NJ 7a/6b (My Page) on Thu, Oct 21, 04 at 18:22

I don't have the complete list, but it usually contains (looking them up at Amazon.com isn't cheating, it's research):
Roses for Dummies
Ortho's All About Roses
Botanica's Roses (hard and soft cover)
Taylor's Guide to Roses
Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses by Field Roebuck
Landscape with Roses by Jeff Cox
The Organic Rose Garden by Liz Druitt
Classic Roses by Peter Beales
The Rose Bible by Rayford Reddell
The Ultimate Rose Book by Stirling Macoboy
For exhibitors: Showing Good Roses by Robert Martin

Does anyone have Reliable Roses by Philip Harkness? I see our "local" (she lives in NC now, but they still get her to write for a NJ paper) garden writer will be reviewing it next week.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: maureenpm00 z7 NY (My Page) on Thu, Oct 21, 04 at 20:06

Thanks Diane. I just ordered Botanica's roses, and 20th century classic roses. I can't wait to get them.

Also -- thank you Paula. That was really nice of you to offer to do that :)

Maureen

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: McCormick z9 CA (My Page) on Thu, Oct 21, 04 at 20:26

I also enjoy further to above (but maybe they are not bottom line essential for all):
Roses in the Southern Garden by G. Michael Shoup
Visions of Roses by Peter Beales
Designing with Roses by Tony Lord
Pretty much anything by Brent Dickerson
Roses of the World in Color by J. Horace McFarland (old HT lovers in particular would like this one)
100 Old Roses for the American Garden by Clair Martin

Its hard to say what makes a book essential though. Probably it would be helpful to breakdown books which are basically catalogs with pictures and brief descriptions of cultivars and others which are more technical/cultural/dig down in the dirt and talk disease, pests, and soil nutrients.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Palustris Z6 MA (My Page) on Thu, Oct 21, 04 at 23:13

Lists like this can't help but be personal choices and, as such, reflect the interests of the creator. My personal preferences reflect my interest in OGRs and the history of rose cultivars and less about learning techniques for care and propagation. After all that is pretty universal and most books should cover that. Pictures are not a big concern for me; an accurate description from which one can identify a found rose or ensure that a rose is correctly identified is much more important.

_The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book_ by Graham Thomas, 1994 - I have to put his book at the top of my list. If I could keep only one rose book there would be no question that it would have to be this one. Thomas was a wonderful writer as well as one of the truly eminent authorities on old garden roses. I treasure his opinions and only rarely disagree with him here or there on a particular rose.

_The Old Rose Adventurer_ by Brent Dickerson, 1999 - This book is truly indispensable for those seriously interested in the once blooming OGRs. Simply put, they are all described here. If it was listed in any book or catalog Brent found it.

_The Old Rose Advisor_ by Brent Dickerson, 1992 - as above but for repeat flowering roses.

_The Random House Guide to Roses_ by Phillips and Rix, 1988 - We all like pictures and when it comes to photographs of roses for identification purposes or to get a real idea of what the flowers look like, I think this book wins for the overall consistent quality of the photographs and the huge number (1400) that it archives.

_The Rose Garden_ by William Paul, 1881 - This book is divided into two sections the first includes chapters on the history of the rose, various practices of cultivation, hybridizing and raising seedlings. The second section provides the descriptions of over 2000 roses regarding color, size, form, habit and purpose for which they are best suited. This is a wonderful book beautifully written in an engaging style. My copy is the eighth edition from 1881. There were many editions and they differ primarily in the roses included under the descriptions.

_The Rose_ by H. B. Ellwanger, 1906 - There are several books written around this period, Rivers, Hole, Parsons, etc. all contributed to the literature at the turn of the last century, but I really like this little book as it is so readable and unpretentious (unlike Hole). While it has the usual chapters on classification of roses, cultivation, and propagation, I particularly like the chapter on the raiser of the best roses where all the hybridizers are listed along with the roses they released into commerce with the date. Another chapter is has an excellent reference on seed parents of the leading roses and then a description of the peculiarities which pertain to families of hybrid remontant (HP) and other roses.

_Roses, Their History, Development and Cultivation_ by Rev. J. H. Pemberton, 1920 - This is a new book for me but I am already very impressed with the breadth of knowledge and the writing style which is for the most part congenial and straightforward. This is a very comprehensive book that covers the usual subjects of history, cultivation techniques and a descriptive list of selected roses.

_Roses a Celebration_ edited by Wayne Winterrowd, 2003 - This is a book for the bedside table where it is possible to pick up the book and read a chapter at random. Thirty three gardeners from Peter Beales to Allen Lacy write a short essay on their favorite rose. Only David Austin had the bad taste to suggest one of his own creations ('Eglantyne'). Roses included range from 'Alchymist' to 'Veilchenblau'.

As I stated above, a list like this is a personal choice. I make no apologies for the rarity or price of some of these books. If roses are your passion you will find the books and pay the price.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: lemecdutex z9 CA Fresno (My Page) on Fri, Oct 22, 04 at 1:54

One of my long-time favorites is Graham S. Thomas' "The Art of Gardening with Roses." Truly an excellent and useful book, no matter what part of the country you live in (I've found it useful from Florida to California).

For landscaping ideas, Gertrude Jekyll's "Roses for English Gardens" is pretty useful and interesting, filled with great ideas about using roses in various places.

For just the photos, the book "Rose" by Rix/Phillips is pretty hard to beat.

--Ron

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: altoraMA 5/6 MA (My Page) on Fri, Oct 22, 04 at 6:34

Paula-Books are probably coming up more because winter is coming!
Alida

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Elks US5, Can6b (My Page) on Fri, Oct 22, 04 at 7:12

I'm surprised this book hasn't been mentioned in such august company, and I own, or at least have purused, most of those above.
My favourite of them all, though there isn't a picture to be found, is 'Roses' by Jack Harkness. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of roses, and a delightfully acerbic style.
I, too, value Stephen Scaniello's 'Year of the Rose' I think it's called. I take it out of the library and reread it just about yearly.
Elk.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Paula_sfbay 9-sunset 16 (My Page) on Sat, Oct 23, 04 at 21:51

She who hesitates is saved a lot of work. By now the books I was going to list have all been covered. Not only that, but Palustris has suggested a couple I am going to track down for myself. Thanks!

Paula

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Wendy_in_SD 4 SD (My Page) on Sat, Oct 23, 04 at 21:56

I'm cheap...I get my library to order them through inner library loan before I decide which ones I absolutely need to have and then I watch for them on bookfinder.com (my absolute favorite book search engine)

Plus my librarian has started to actually ask me which gardening books are worth having in our library so that is kind of nice!!

One that hasn't been mentioned is Shepherd's book...I can't remember the title off the top of my head.
W

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: debrazone9socal z9losangeles (My Page) on Sun, Oct 24, 04 at 0:39

I don't know if anyone has seen this book, but I picked up The American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses, by Charles/Brigid Quest-Ritson (pub. Dorling Kindersly, 2003).

It's flawed (lots of stuff is missing, and some roses are listed by original, not familiar names and there is no cross-reference; also, sports are often not separately listed)

However, I find myself referring to this book constantly. Overall, it is really informative, and it has almost 2000 entries, including lots of OGRs.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Paula_sfbay 9-sunset 16 (My Page) on Sun, Oct 24, 04 at 12:22

What I like about The American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses is the quality of the photographs, very useful in seeing what the rose actually looks like. Clair Martin's two books also have outstanding photographs, with pictures of leaf, thorn, and stem good enough to aid in identification.

Paula

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: maureenpm00 z7 NY (My Page) on Sun, Oct 24, 04 at 20:59

I also have the American Rose Encyc. of Roses and thoroughly enjoy reading this book. Alida, do you have this one, if not I think you may really enjoy it. I went on vacation this weekend and took it with me!

We got some great lists for books on this thread.

Maureen

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: maureenpm00 z7 NY (My Page) on Sun, Oct 24, 04 at 21:47

Woops -- sorry, meant to type "Carla" , do you have this one, if not I think you may really enjoy....

Sorry Carla.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Luanne z9,Richmond CA (My Page) on Mon, Oct 25, 04 at 1:01

I 'd like to add Jack Harkness's "The Makers of Heavenly Roses" and "The Rose. Also The Bermuda Rose Society Book, "Roses in Bermuda".John Scarman's Gardening with Old Roses" has lots of thoughtful info as well. Harkness is not only a personal friend of many of the breeders, he is charming.
LA

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: altoraMA 5/6 MA (My Page) on Mon, Oct 25, 04 at 13:37

Luanne, I was just going to ask about that one, definitly on my list.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Roselovr_in_EH Z6b Eastern LI (My Page) on Mon, Oct 25, 04 at 15:54

A few more books I have enjoyed:

- Climbing Roses, by Stephen Scannielo (out of print but you can find it on Amazon.com or Half.com). More than just a brief description of each rose, he give details on growth habit, how quickly the rose establishes, bloom. All of his comments are from personal observation of the roses growing while he was at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

- Climbing Roses of the World, by Charles Quest-Ritson. At first I was put off by how the book is organized - by type and by breeder - but if you read it through it gives a wonderful scope of the historical development of the climbing rose. Where else have you seen all the New Dawn descendants discussed together, or all the Gloire de Dijon descendants? On the minus side - no zone hardiness information, and he is EXTREMELY biased (ie al multiflora ramblers are bad because they do not drop their petals cleanly).

- Rosa Gallica, by Susanne Verrier. A must have for Gallica lovers.

Finally, for historical value, Les Roses, and the companion volume Les Liliacees, by Redoute. Look for the full size editions published by Taschen, unfortunately out of print, but occassionally they're offered for a reasonable price on Amazon.com or Half.com.

George

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Luanne z9,Richmond CA (My Page) on Mon, Oct 25, 04 at 19:21

George I just got the Climbing Roses book from Allibris used books for around 35$ Can't wait to bury my nose in that one. They had others at about that price or up to $175 if you had the notion.
LA

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Amanda_WA 9 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 25, 04 at 20:26

I enjoy rose books that tell the story of the authors garden, or read like a story rather than a reference book ie a good read but educational as well:

Susan Irvine an Australian author has three books in this style: Garden of a Thousand Roses, Hillside of Roses and The Garden at Forest Hall. The first two books were republished in one volume called Susan Irvine's Rose Gardens which makes that good value. Both have recently been published individually again too. The first two books did a lot for old roses down here!

Nancy Steen's classic book "The Charm of Old Roses"

Christopher Thomas' book "In Search of Old Roses"

Antonia Ridge's two books "The Man Who Painted Roses" the story of Redoute and "For the Love of a Rose" tells about the Peace rose.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Roselovr_in_EH Z6b Eastern LI (My Page) on Tue, Oct 26, 04 at 8:49

One more -

I debated endlessly about whether I needed another rose porn book, and finally gave in and ordered Phillips and Rix's "Best Rose Guide" from Amazon.com. I just got it yesterday and I'm pleasantly surprised. GREAT photos, including quite a few full bush shots, and this is a book about the roses they love, so you have to forgive them for gushing. It's NOT comprehensive (the subtitle is "A Comprehensive Guide") in the sense that the ARS encyclopedia is comprehensive, but definitely worthwhile.

George

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Marianne018 mid-Sweden (My Page) on Tue, Oct 26, 04 at 9:50

I enjoyed Keith Money: The Bedside Book of Old-fashioned Roses, from 1985, bought second hand. It is a personal book by a Kiwi now living in England. His photo of Reine des Belges really stirred me and I think of it constantly.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: lemecdutex z9 CA Fresno (My Page) on Tue, Oct 26, 04 at 12:52

Amanda, I happen to have that "Garden at Forest Hall" book, I bought it during my trip to gardener's paradise (Tasmania), and in fact, her place is in Tasmania in view of that ridge of mountains, I believe not far from Launceston. Thanks for the reminder, brings back very good memories of that trip, which I'd recommend for anyone.

Now I'll have to get those other books of hers.

--Ron

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: linrose 6b (My Page) on Tue, Nov 23, 04 at 15:50

The one I always reach for is "Roses" by Peter Beales. A nice mix of rose porn and good information, encyclopedic by class which is very helpful with a good introduction to history and geographic origin of the species.

Rosa Gallica and Rosa Rugosa by Suzy Verrier. Indespensible.

For northern growers - "Roses for the North" put out by the Minnesota Ag Experiment Station at the U. of Minnesota written by Kathy Zuzek, Marcia Richards, Steve McNamara and Harold Pellett, a good scientific study of hardiness and disease resistance. Also "Hardy Roses" by Robert Osborne (Corn Hill Nursery) - a very good introduction to organic culture and cold hardy roses.

Another favorite that emphasizes an organic approach is "The Encyclopedia of Roses" by Judith McKeon. Not a comprehensive encyclopedia, but full of good info on culture, disease and pest problems, and landscape uses for around 175 varieties.

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Paula_sfbay 9-sunset 16 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 23, 04 at 17:51

Amanda, thanks for the reminder about Susan Irvine's books. I saw a copy of A Hillside of Roses I'm trying to think where -- at Mendicino Rose's house perhaps? -- and decided to look for a copy of my own. I forgot all about it until I saw your note.

Paula

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: Riku Z3 Canada (My Page) on Tue, Nov 23, 04 at 19:10

Agree that Phillips and Rix's "Best Rose Guide" (strange title imho) is worthwhile ... photos actually look real and the discussion is good and keeps my interest ... but holy smokes never knew my Rosa Hemispherica bloom was suppose to look exactly like my like my Rosa Foetida bloom and be a five petal single sulphur yellow ... oh so confusing ...

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: llpnut 8 NTX (My Page) on Tue, Nov 23, 04 at 19:49

Antique Roses for Southern Gardens, that's Bill Welch's book
go ahead, LA, Diary of a Rose Lover, Delbard's book, with fragrance analysis and watercolors of a bunch of roses I never heard of, but it's pretty
David Austin's English Roses, and Old Roses and English Roses, and 100 English Roses for American Gardens are all worth having
so are GST Shrub Roses of Today and The Old Shrub Roses
Roy Genders, The Rose, was fun to read
Roses for Dummies has good regional and zonal lists
I like the pictures in Derek Fell's Roses
A Heritage of Roses, Hazel le Rougetel, was like reading The Book of Classic Old Roses - Jack Harkness -English climate was so different there were so many roses I never heard of
there are great general gardening books that have a good chapter or so on roses too - Barbara Damrosch's Theme Gardens and A Garden Primer both are books to read and reread; so is Color for Adventurous Gardeners, Christopher Lloyd and The Heirloom Garden
I grow plants other than roses, I like roses - integrated books
for newbies - Ortho's the 100 Easiest Roses to Grow is a Godsend
many more have already been covered, hope these help too
P.S. Tom Christopher's Books on Vegetable Gardening and Easy NA Roses are a hoot - so is In Search of Lost Roses
Taylor's Guide to Roses is easy
so are Sunset and Better Homes and Gardens and Time-Life - you can get old copies of these in used bookstores for a coupla bucks and they have great stuff on middle aged HTs and floribundas
the Brooklyn Botanical Garden series booklets are cheap and terrific - I have just about worn out Easy Care Roses, and their old Roses and Gardening for Fragrance volumes are chock full of good stuff and sigh Roses of America, yum
It's just a start

o RE: Rose Book List Request

* Posted by: luvaduck z5 Toronto (My Page) on Tue, Nov 23, 04 at 23:01

I'm so glad to see Roger Philips' books on people's lists. He was here speaking recently and also has presented at the Canada Blooms flower show. He is a very charming man who was a young hippy photographer (his dad wanted him to be an accountant--works every time) whose life just got taken over by roses. He developed the botanical drawing style of photography that distinguishes his books. I don't think I saw Orietta Sala's book "Roses" on anyone's list. It is in the Firefly Guide series. I like the way she organized the roses by functional type rather than the usual classes. And for each rose she offers several substitutes which