- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Nov 21 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0747530092
- ISBN-13: 978-0747530091
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 15.4 x 2.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 440 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Well known are the rambling rose and its literary equivalent--the rambling gardening book. Both are venerable genres that cover a lot of ground, and horticulturalist/writer Christopher's brief account of his journeys searching out the hardy yet subtle shrubs classified as "old roses" provides many satisfactions. A reader learns that "Autumn Damask," which has its legendary roots in Damascus, may be the most fragrant of all roses; and that the Chinese "Gigantea" boasts canes as long as 50 feet, while those of "Rosa Rouletii" reach only six inches. Chapters, organized loosely around the author's visits with old-rose aficionados, include some satisfyingly tall tales, particularly of his jaunts with Texan rose "rustlers" who travel, caravan-style, to find and take clippings of plants growing by abandoned houses or in graveyards. Christopher's knowhow can explain why the rustlers soak their cuttings in water in which they have previously soaked willow chips: willow hormones promote rooting. Illustrations not seen by PW. Garden Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
This highly readable account is the story of one man's quest for the old-fashioned roses, fragrant and beautiful flowers largely forgotten following the introduction of tea roses in 1867. The author recounts his explorations through backyards, cemeteries, abandoned gold rush towns of America, and old gardens of Europe, describing the roses he found and the dedicated specialists he met along the way. By one estimate, only several hundred of the originally thousands of old rose cultivars still exist. These roses' wealth of form, color, fragrance, and habit made each unique; the same cannot be said of the new, uniform varieties. This is a welcome record of the efforts of the few who are preserving this agricultural legacy.
- Annette Aiello, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Panama
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Annette Aiello, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Panama
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting personal story,
By "jem@vaughncpa.com" (ALBUQUEQUE, NM United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In Search of Lost Roses (Paperback)
This book was an interesting compendium of the experiences of the author in looking for and finding old roses. He gives insight into the background of roses, where to find them and practical knowledge of the collecting. I do think it is a scientific work or an index, rather an interesting read about how he approached collecting old roses and what made them interesting to him. I enjoyed it!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews) 22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
~a life-long collector of garden writing says...~,
By _willow_11_ - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of Lost Roses (Hardcover)
There are few books in my gardening library so excellent I buy extra copies; miserly dealt out only to The Worthy. One of them is In Search Of Lost Roses.In Search Of Lost Roses is a romp. A detective story. We are outlaws. We skulk through forgotten cemeteries. We drive old dirt roads. We meet eccentric old folks over garden gates, guardian angels of roses whose scent we will remember all our lives; things foreign to hybridizers in white lab coats. I defy you to read this book and ~not~ acquire at least one of the old roses lauded within. My first choice was 'Aimee Vibert', a climbing noisette from 1828. England and France have an ancient horticultural feud. French nurseryman J.P. Vibert named his fragrant white masterpiece after his daughter. (As an aside: hunt plants with a woman's name. Only the best plants were named after wives, daughters, and mistresses.) Vibert said of his delicate climber "The English when they see her will go down on their knees." As I did and still do. For the three weeks she blooms on the arbor she is the goddess of the garden. She has a magnetizing effect on garden visitors and I tell them the story and say the punchline in my Inspector Clouseau accent. It is a testament to Mlle. Vibert that 200 years later she is still enchanting, passed down gardener to gardener. I never would have known her without In Search Of Lost Roses. You will never forget this book. But buy it for the rose rustler's cutting recipe alone, if you will. With it I rooted cuttings from a fragrant and summer-long unknown in an ancient cemetery (I gave her the name of the lady she was planted over) after two years of trying other methods. And buy two. Perhaps someone you know is worthy. 5 Stars for Mr. Christopher.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Few gardening books like this one,
By Tim Warneka "Leadership Expert, Keynote Speak... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of Lost Roses (Paperback)
For me, Gardening is about feeding my soul with beauty. If you are weary from reading the countless "how-to" gardening books that fill the shelves of the bookstore, then I would highly recommend this book.Did you know that public parks evolved historically from cemeteries? Read this book to find out more. And, no doubt, as other reviewers have noted, you will go out and find yourself one of these roses after reading their story. Great book! :-) 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delight for rose lovers, and a fun read for anyone,
By P. Lozar "plozar" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of Lost Roses (Paperback)
My family has a long-standing love affair with roses: a "Belle of Portugal" that my grandmother planted in the 1920's has been passed down through several generations. So I found this book utterly delightful, full of fascinating anecdotes about old varieties of roses, the characters who developed and distributed them, and the even wilder characters who "rustle" and propagate old roses with passion and gusto today. The chapters are thematic and geographical, rather than historical, but they're immensely fun to read. I learned all sorts of amazing historical trivia -- e.g., why the Grass Valley, CA public library owns a Cornish/English dictionary, and the political aspects of rose nomenclature. And, as someone interested in "heirloom" plants in general (I'm a card-carrying member of Slow Food), I found his discussion of rose genetics and propagation fascinating. Some of his stories are poignant, too -- e.g., the elderly black women in rural Texas who propagated roses over the centuries from sheer love, but were dying out even as he wrote. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and recommend it even if you're not an old rose buff.
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