Gardening With Old Roses
Long neglected, antique roses with their extravagantly blowzy flowers, quite unlike the tight-petaled blooms of their modern cousins, hybrid teas, are deservedly enjoying renewed popularity. These two titles by British rosarians are evidence of this trend. Scarman, owner of an English nursery that specializes in old-fashioned varieties, presents a beautifully illustrated directory of 150 roses as well as chapters on plant design, companion planting (with examples of innovative combinations), and basic care. Although Beales, a commercial rose grower and daughter of renowned old-rose specialist Peter Beales, intended her Rose Basics as a general guide to growing all types of roses, she features many heirloom roses worthy of cultivation. Particularly useful is the chapter on roses for difficult conditions, such as shade and poor soil; such information is often neglected in basic rose culture guides. Because both of these titles were written for a British audience, they lack specific critical advice for American gardeners, i.e., appropriate rose selection and care for the highly diverse climatic regions of the United States. For such information, readers should turn to Rayford Reddell's A Year in the Life of a Rose: A Guide to Growing Roses from Coast to Coast (LJ 11/15/96) or Judith McKeon's Encyclopedia of Roses: An Organic Guide to Growing America's Favorite Flower (LJ 9/1/95). Nevertheless, these new titles should be included in general gardening collections.ABrian Lym, City Coll. Lib. of San FranciscoCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.