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Old Rose Identity

gerry.loughreygerry.loughrey Posts: 5
in Plants
I posted this a few days ago but being new to this, put it in the wrong place so trying again here!
Can anyone help identify the attached rose please? It has come from my childhood home when my parents moved in in the early '50's. I'm sure the rose was already there. This is a cutting but the fully grown rose is about 3-4 feet high with an open habit. It has a modest scent.

Hope for some clues! Thanks.

Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It is hard to tell as there are a lot of red roses and we can't see the bush. It doesn't really matter which category you post on. The reason you don't have a reply is probably because we don't know. @Marlorena is the rose expert but she is taking a break at the moment. @Nollie may know.

    Have you looked at online catalogues, such as Peter Beales Classic Roses?
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • gerry.loughreygerry.loughrey Posts: 5
    Many thanks for this Busy-Lizzie. I realise it's a needle in a haystack but hoping that given its age, this would rule out all roses developed in the last 70 years which must be a huge number. I'll look at the catalogue for clues.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    A bit before my time @Busy-Lizzie, I don’t have many red roses and none from that era. My parents didn’t grow roses so no help there! I’ve mooched through some of my rose history books, but nothing is jumping out.

    Does it reflower throughout the summer Gerry? If so, with single flowers to a stem it’s  likely to be a hybrid tea rose, if it flowers in clusters then likely an early example of the floribunda class. If it only reflowers once in Autumn then a Hybrid Perpetual. Any further info or photos you can provide will help. If we could narrow it down to a class, that with the age will narrow the field, but the early part of the 20th century was a febrile time for creating new cultivars so it may be an impossible task, I’m afraid. Many produced at that time have long since fallen out of cultivation.

    Ideally, another forum member will jump in to say I know that rose!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • gerry.loughreygerry.loughrey Posts: 5
    Many thanks for this Nollie.

    Yes it did flower earlier in the year as well as the current crop of buds. This is only one 1st year cutting which did produce just one flower bud earlier in the spring and has now produced a fresh crop of four buds. I'm sure the parent plant flowered throughout the summer. Each flower is on its own stem so is not a floribunda. Attached is a further photo showing the current crop of flower buds each on its own stalk. I'm sorry but I didn't notice the caterpillars in time so the leaves are looking rather sorry. Taking a closer look, the petals have a bit of a point which I've never noticed before. The original bush was rarely if ever pruned, but even so, it is still only about four feet high and three ish wide. I took some cuttings before the house was sold late last year but only this one survived. I can't explain why it didn't occur to me to take cuttings when I was living there for a couple of decades myself, or during the four decades that have passed since I left! 

    Thanks for your help.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @gerry.loughrey I am not a rose expert either but I do remember a lovely red rose in my parents garden called Ena Harkness. I doubt if it is that as it has a lovely scent.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • gerry.loughreygerry.loughrey Posts: 5
    Thank you GardenerSuze. Looking at images of Ena Harkness, I think this is a possibility especially as I see it was first developed in the '40's so the timeframe is supportive as well. I think I mentioned in an earlier thread that it does have a nice scent, although I can't smell anything from the current flowers. Maybe the time of year and weather. Grateful for your suggestion. 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @gerry.loughrey I don't know if Harkness roses can help. I do think it is a long shot. Rose ID.s are very complex.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    I came up with this one @gerry.loughrey

    https://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/josephine-bruce-bush-rose.html

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    The pointy rose buds look hybrid tea-ish so combined with repeat flowering and a single rose per stem I think we can safely say it is one. I think @Fire grows Ena so might be able to rule that one in or out.

    Ah yes, I see the pointy petals now. The blooms don’t have lots of petals and apparently that was an early requirement in an HT for the UK market - they were deemed hardier and better suited to the climate. Dicksons Roses were very active breeders in the early half of the century so another one to try.

    Hope you solve the mystery!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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