Vintage Roses: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden

by Jane Eastoe, Georgianna Lane (Photographer)

Romantic blooms for novice, expert, or armchair rose gardeners. Who wouldn’t be romanced by names like Lovely Fairy, Desdemona, Elegantyne, Anne Boleyn, Leonardo da Vinci, and Blue for You? Vintage roses encompass both the true “old” roses and the best of the “modern” roses, developed to celebrate the classic, ageless, enduring beauty of the old varieties. The 60 specially selected specimens include those that have the best visual appearance and most fragrant perfume, and are also easy to grow and produce beautiful flowers for cutting. The perfect mix of engaging, inspirational commentary and no-fuss gardening notes shows that roses can be grown and enjoyed by all―whether a novice, an expert, or an armchair rose gardener. Jane Eastoe 's previous books include Reigning in Style, Fabulous Frocks, and a series of guidebooks for The National Trust (UK) on everything budding homesteaders need to know, from Henkeeping to Home-Grown Fruit. Georgianna Lane is a leading floral, garden, and travel photographer whose work has been published internationally in such magazines as The New Yorker, BBC Gardens Illustrated, Britain magazine, Romantic Homes, and Gardener’s World (UK).

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Coffee Table Books

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 2016

Reviews

[Dovile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent rose guidebook to a rose novice who wants to plant some romantic roses with vintage-style blooms. The author gives the basic advice needed and does so in a simple and fun tone. The plants listed for selection are for every taste, but before buying any you would do well to check the rose's hardiness online (here's an excellent resource), because, while all of the varieties of roses listed in the book will thrive in the UK, some might not be hardy enough for colder zones (like any Tea, China or Noisette varieties), even with covering, while some others might not do well in hot winter-less areas.

Also, newbie gardeners should be aware that the advice to plant bare rooted roses from November to April and prune established bushes in winter is aimed (as the author has already said in the book, but I think it wouldn't hurt to repeat) at UK gardeners with warm (not hot) summers and dry winters without frost mostly, where roses might bloom even at Christmas (US hardiness zones 7-10). For those living in colder zones, with wet and frozen winters (like, for example, mine which is US zone 5), planting bare-rooted roses should be done by the end of November, with molehills of earth piled over each rosebush old and new and topped up with pine bark mulch, and the annual pruning should be done only in spring, around the time when the Forsythia bush blooms.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weirdly, given the title, most of the roses are of more recent introduction. I was expecting Old Garden Roses, and there were a couple, but I'd say the majority of roses in the book were David Austin English roses. I think there were a few from French companies that were introduced in modern times, but looked like older sorts. I don't think of things from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as vintage, though perhaps this is a message that I should. But I thought most of the roses in a book titled Vintage Roses would be roses from the 1800s.

I'm still trying to get over the fact that irises from the 1990s may be considered "heirloom" irises. I try not to think about that too much, and concentrate on growing ones from the 1800s and early 1900s, and some of the ancient natural hybrids.

For clarification, I don't have a *problem* with David Austin roses. 'Sharifa Asma' has proved to be surprisingly hardy for me, and has beautiful flowers. 'Teasing Georgia' is also a tough survivor of a plant, and extremely floriferous. Its flowers are lovely. I planted more this summer, 'Heritage' and the 'Mary Rose' rose, and a few others that are considered "classic" English roses. I wouldn't define them as "vintage," though.

I will say that the pictures of the roses in the book are beautiful.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

*sigh* A rose gardener came and gave a talk at my school, with a slide projector and everything. I was one of 4 or 5 attendees. He was an immigrant from Iran, a doctor (Dr. Henry Najat) who loved roses and was able to coax them to thrive in our harsh midwestern area. Someday I want to have my own garden, but for now I'll settle for a miniature rose pot on my desk at work.

[Heidi Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing like a picture book of gorgeous roses to relax with before bed. This book is perfect for just such a routine. The writing style is pleasantly chatty and easy to read, as well as being informative. The photographs are superb, highlighting each variety beautifully; not just a picture but a portrait of each rose.

[Ankit Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vintage Roses: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden Hardcover Edition
by Jane Eastoe (Author), Georgianna Lane (Photographer).
First Know What Is Vintage Roses , are predominantly hybrid roses that are grown as ornamental plants in private or public gardens. They are one of the most popular and cultivated groups of flowering plants, especially in temperate climates. Numerous cultivars have been produced, especially over the last two centuries, though roses have been known in the garden for millennia beforehand. While most garden roses are grown for their flowers,
Now Comes To This Book a Perfect Collection of Various & Rare Beautiful Roses, I Specially Impress With the High Resolution Images of Various Roses in the Book With Details About How You Keep Grow In Your Garden Or Home. Through This Book I Got Knowledge About Several of Roses Exist In Our Planet out of which I Personally Not Known Earlier Or Haven’t Seen In My Life But After Getting Details About Them I Grown A Curiosity To Seen Those Roses By The Touch Of My Hand.
This Is A Hardcover Edition With More Than 230 Pages & Each One Is Unique As The Photographs Or Roses Taken By A Very Effective Manner & It looks If You See In The Book. The Most Important Thing About This Book You Don’t Need Any Botany Knowledge To Understand The Anatomy of Plant But Just Open The Book & just forget yourself & Just Imagine The Beautiful World Of Roses in this Book.
I most Like Some of Roses Mentioned In The Book Like ‘’Celsiana Rose’’Which is a pink Rose &has a long pedigree along with ‘’Eglantyne Rose’’also Tuscany Superb &Lady of Shalott with several other.After Read this Book I Personally Want Several of Roses Must Be In My Home & Will Definite Try To Find Some of Them In My Famous Gardens But I Don’t Think Those One present Their Because Those Are A Vintage Roses Which you Seen Rarely Near By You.
I Personally Gives Hand On to This Book & Recommend All Readers To Must Read At Once Because I Don’t Think You Find Those Useful Information On The Vintage Roses Anywhere Else but In This Book You Get All Info. I Recommend You To Read & Find The World of Colorful Roses By Just Turning Pages Of This Book. Very Useful Book & Will Must Be A Part Of Your Book Shelf.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can devour garden books like candy. Most of my gardening knowledge (what little I possess) was gleaned from reading extensively on the subject. I was most excited to "inhale" this book since vintage roses are one of my weaknesses. There's a lot of good information between the covers but I was a bit confused about the contents. With a title "Vintage Roses" I thought the entire book would be devoted to Old Garden variety roses which are of particular interest to me. However, the author has chosen to include a number of new Hybrid Tea varieties which seems slightly misleading. There are only a handful of pages of substantive reading ~ the bulk of the book is two page spreads featuring specific roses (one side of the page, info ~ the other side, a photo.)

To be fair, it would be a behemoth task to write a book encompassing all the Old Garden roses in the world. This one barely skims the surface. It's a beautiful coffee table book tho & the photographs (even if you're not a reader) are inspiring. I imagine I will flip thru this one many times over the upcoming winter months & dream about my garden returning to life & perhaps adding a new rose or two to it.

[Charise D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite photographs of stunning roses, some antique, many introduced by modern English rose breeder David Austin. I got this in hopes of learning more about Old Rose varieties, but I'm afraid by reading it I've been converted into a fan of David Austin as well. In otherwords, if you're only interested in learning about old varieties, this may not be the book for you, but if you want to see gorgeous blooms beautifully photographed, with a little information on history, aspect, and care, this book is a wonderful choice. It's one of the few "coffee table books" I've ever read cover to cover.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good coffee table book! Includes beautiful photography, covers a wide variety of roses and clearly clarifies the different rose types and the history of each. I also really enjoyed the section at the end that covers how you select, grow, and maintain your roses, though I wish this had been covered at the beginning of the book. There are slight editing errors throughout the book, though they don't detract from the content - just slightly distracting.

[Chanelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful introduction to old, vintage roses! I'm new to rose growing and greatly appreciated the author's balance of straight-forward advice and whimsical descriptions. The photographs are gorgeous as well!

[outdoortype · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a beautiful book of photos of beautiful roses. Although there is some history and basic rose care, it’s not useful for selecting or caring for roses in general as the info is specific to specific varieties.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a risky book to read because it will increase your rose wishlist 10x. Gorgeous photos. Gorgeous descriptions. I am literally going to try to see how many of these I can fit in my own garden because they all look like heaven!

[IE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photographs, easy to understand text, a great help when choosing suitable roses to plant.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So gorgeous. The perfect coffee table book, particularly for those who love flowers and gardens.

[Debra Schoenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and informative.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This turned into a list of roses I need.

[Baroness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect inspiration for planning an English rose garden. Sound advice and filled with gorgeous pictures of more modern rose varieties that provide a vintage feel.

[Lauralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is this informative, it’s gorgeous! One of the prettiest books I’ve ever read!

[Mrs Reddy Katzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Book , Beautiful photos but could've done more with the variety of colours of roses

[Louise Brunsdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and informative

Lovely book and very informative. Love it. A must have book for any rose and garden lover!! Would definitely recommend