Our Former Garden: A Collection of Gallica Roses

Do you have a favorite kind of rose to collect? Is it Hybrid Teas? Is it Climbers? I can recall many conversations with other rosarians about this very topic and we rarely agreed about what class produced the most exquisite cultivars. For example, I’ve had people tell me quite emphatically that the Teas are the only roses worth growing. Do you agree? Then there are the Hybrid Musk admirers who have a lot of strength in numbers and don’t even get me started on those who will die on the hill that it’s the Alba crosses that produce the best roses. I used to think that, along with the species, gallicas were exactly what a rose should look like so I always sang their praises even if I did feel like I was alone in that assessment. I still collect them but I’m not sure I have a favorite class anymore. These days, I think they’re all great–I’m even coming around to the Hybrid Teas!

Anyhow, my rose collection will look rather different in our new garden, but in our former garden, we had a tidy little collection of roses with gallica heritage that I’d like to share with you today. Here they are, in no particular order:

Let’s start out with this one which was sent to me incorrectly labeled. If I had to guess, I’d say the correct identification for this little beauty is ‘Alika’. Although it looks similar to R gallica officinalis, they are not the same rose. This one has smaller flowers and more ovoid hips than Apothecary’s Rose which I also grow.

Again, another incorrectly labeled plant sent to me from a different nursery. I get mislabeled roses all the time, does this happen to you, too? It’s a hybrid gallica of some kind–and quite a pretty one–but I haven’t figured out which one it is. I’m open to suggestions!

I’m sure you all recognize ‘Tuscany Superb’ seen above. A clone of a clone of a clone…that I keep bringing from garden to garden. That deep burgundy, velvety wine color is simply unmatched. Here’s a post about TS that I wrote a little while ago with more photos.

I’m starting to sound like a broken record but here is another one sent to me incorrectly: ‘Charles de Mills’. It was a happy accident, though, because what gallica collection is complete without Charles? Here is a post I wrote about the CdM that is growing at the Arboretum with lots of photos. Theirs is a mature plant so you really get a sense of how big this rose can get.

I recently reserved another Rosa Mundi from David Austin. I wish they didn’t graft their roses, especially the OGR’s, but it can be challenging to find this rose so I’ll take what I can get and I’ve never been able to successfully propagate this one for some reason. I absolutely adore striped roses–the tigers of the rose garden–but I’ve yet to find one that is as healthy as Rosa Mundi. In fact, if you have any suggestions for a striped variety that isn’t prone to blackspot, I’d love to hear it!

Next up, we have four roses that look so similar that I’m going to simply group them all together. Seen above is the incredibly lovely ‘Ombrée Parfaite’ This gal wants better air circulation than what I gave her at our former house as whenever we had excessive rain–not uncommon in Pennsylvania–she struggled a bit with powdery mildew. Otherwise, this is a wonderful rose. Following, we also have ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’, ‘The Bishop’ and ‘Belle de Crecy’ which also have a wonderful purple coloring and a similar habit. Here are some more photos of these four roses:

All very similar, right? I have a hard time telling them apart in these photos!

Of course, ‘Désirée Parmentier’ should also be included in this bunch. I recently wrote a post about her with lots of additional photos and info so be sure to take a look!

Here we have ‘Agatha Incarnata’ a rose that I didn’t get many photos of while we were living at our former house since I put it in a bit later and also the flowers tend to ball up in wet weather. So few photos, in fact, that all I could find was this one where you see her in the bottom right corner doing her best to blend into ‘Ispahan’ (the flowers are incredibly similar.) Maybe this isn’t one I would grow again… 😉

Last we have R gallica officinalis, AKA ‘Apothecary’s Rose’ which, if you follow this blog, then you know I’ve already written quite a bit about. I do love this rose! I purchased mine from David Austin Roses because I know they’re selling the correct one even if it is grafted. Here’s a post I wrote a while ago with some more photos.

Thanks for reading! I hope these photos have given your mind a place to rest during these difficult times.