Heritage English Roses

The Heritage group of English roses are plants that have been blooming in England before 1869.  There are several old heritage types from which all contemporary English rose blooms are bred.

One of the oldest of roses is the Alabas which grow on shrubs and have clusters of white or light pink flowers. They were brought to Britain by the Romans. They have blue leaves and thrive even when it is very cold.

Bourbon roses are also old heritage blooms that are named for Bourbon, now called Reunion, in the Indian ocean. They range in color from deep reds to pinks to whites and were brought to England in 1819. They have many layers of petals.

Damask roses, originally brought from the Near East and Middle East in 1254 is a large fragrant ruffle rose with grayish green leaves. It ranges in color from bright white to a gorgeous deep pink and can thrive in cold weather that plunge to minus twenty degrees.

Tea roses are tinier, tightly wrapped blossoms that when open smell like tea. They have round heavy heads that start out light pink and then fade to white.  These roses come in all colors including reds, pinks, whites, yellows, gelds, oranges and types that have two or even three shades blending into each other.

The Noisette is a classic old fashioned rose with less petals and more of a star shape. The rose was actually imported to England from Charleston, South Carolina in 1800.  These delight small roses come in all kinds of tints of yellow and pink (or both) and many types are actually climbers.

Also quite simple are the English rambling roses which were bred with roses from Japan and France in the 1890s. These are simple blooms with few petals that successfully climb all over old fashioned English arbors.

Much fancier is the Polyantha which is a very fancy ruffled rose with a lot of spiraled petals in one bloom.  They grow on compact bushes that only grow one to three feet in height and come in every color imaginable. They were first brought to England from Lyon, France in 1875.

Also quite fancy are the Gallica roses which are also descended from French roses. Around since the 1300s, they were imported from France and known as the apothecary roses. These roses have big heavy blossoms that range from blush pinks to maroon. Some varieties are spotted and stripes as well.