Oh, another Regan fan. Well, , , you have Victoria at Regan's. She's a gem. You can get great information from her. I also live in you neighborhood.

I don't know about damasks, but if you are looking for fragrance and roses that love our area (I live on the eastern delta area. Hotter and drier than the Fremont area where Regan's is.) Firefighter is as potent as any of my ustins. And Pope John Paul has a great fragrance. My Firefighter is only 1 year old, so is just getting going. PJP, didn't seem to need any time to get used to our area. He started blooming like crazy within a couple of months. Firefighter isn't prolific yet, but Olympiad took almost two years to start producing a good number of blooms.

I have to tell you, I bought my first rose bush from Regan's about 35 years ago. It was Pristine, and was a present for my mother. Two years ago when I started my own beds,
the first one I purchased was Pristine, also from Regan's. She is the most beautiful in both foliage and blooms. AND NO BARE KNEES. She's a knockout in this area. Not a very strong fragrance, but a rose that people (and me) swoon over.

Others that do well here are Peace (my mother had this one in 1955), Brandy, and Gemini.

Well I wish you happy rose shopping. And ask Victoria what she thinks about planting at this time of year. I planted my first two beds in May and then June. They are great.

Also about Pristine, she likes to be big, so I have to do deadheading a little more severely than most. But she responds to it very well

andreark

Anchita, the rose you are seeking is likely the Autumn Damask (one of its many names, see the HMF link below. I've grown it here in Livermore and it would be an easy rose for a beginner to grow, I think, the main problem mostly being keeping it under control (a vigorous rose). Its main bloom is in the spring but it has scattered blooms later in the season and it does smell heavenly.

Other roses along that line that do well here, blooming a bit more frequently due to added genetics in their backgrounds, are Rose du Rescht, Joasine Hanet (Portland from Glendora), Jacques Cartier, and other "damask perpetual" or "portland" types.

You are not likely to find this rose, or any of these, at Regan Nursery, which mostly carries only newer roses. The tiny selection of old roses they have at the very beginning of the season are gone in a blink and I've never seen a damask of any type there. (In fact, I've only ever bought one rose from them, Valencia, for my mother -- not the kind of roses I grow, for the most part -- but they have the one of the best selections of fruit trees and shrubs of anyone in the Bay Area in early January).

So, unless you can find them by chance at some other nursery (Annie's Annuals in Richmond frequently has Rose du Rescht), mail order is you best chance. HMF lists a number of nurseries offering Autumn Damask (click on the "Buy From" button on the upper right side of the HMF page).

A rose in a pot can be planted any time of the year as long as it is kept supplied with water during dry times, though it is usually better to avoid planting during really hot periods (providing temporary shade really helps in that situation). If the plant you buy is "band" size (a rooted cutting, essentially, with maybe some further development), it is usually safer to repot it into a gallon-size pot and allow it to grow a better root system before planting it into the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: HMF Autumn Damask

If you would like to learn a little more about roses, go to the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. Look around, find something you like, write down its name (or take a picture), then go to www.helpmefind.com and do some research. The website can also point you to vendors of a particular cultivar. There you can see Autumn Damask, and many other old and modern roses. The Heritage has a fall event at the end of September (check their website) where you can buy some roses too.

Also, you can drive to Watsonville to tour Roses of Yesterday. It is a nursery and display garden. They sell some pretty unusual roses, potted, year round. They definitely carry Rose de Rescht, a few teas and chinas, Austins and so on. It is a fun trip.

Masha

Anchita, you might want to look at what Greenmantle Nursery sells. They have a nice selection of damasks and are located in northern California. I believe shipping stopped this year in May, but Marissa is very nice to talk to, and I'm sure she could recommend something for you. You can reserve a rose or roses for next year. All the Greenmantle roses are own root.

This year I bought the damask R. sancta (growing nicely in a pot while I make the garden spot ready for it), and next year if I'm lucky I will get another damask from Greenmantle, called Omar Khayyám (raised from seed collected from the rose growing on the poet's grave). This rose is hard to propagate so I might not get it until 2016, but I don't mind waiting. It gets quite a bit larger in this area than Help Me Find indicates and is very fragrant. Looks wild and primitive, which fits in with other plants in my garden.

Another damask you might like to consider is Kazanlik. This rose is widely grown in the Middle East and elsewhere for the production of attar of roses. It is a VERY fragrant rose.

There is a lady at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens named Judy Polinsky(sp?) who has done a lot of research on the roses the Huntington owns, as to which ones produce the best rose water. She made some scrumptious desserts (has written a book on the subject, not published yet AFAIK), using the rose water or containing rose petals, for past Great Rosarians of the World events held on site. There were some cookies made with petals from the Austin rose William Shakespeare 2000 that were absolutely delicious. That rose is red however.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenmantle Nursery Roses

Thanks for all the replies, info and tips! I feel like a dangerous addiction coming on... I appreciate the direct link to the Autumn Damask and the very helpful website. Looks like I'll be spending some time on there. Definitely going to check out the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden! I'm very excited that we have something like that here so close by. I haven't actually been to Regan's or any other nursery specializing in roses - just heard about it from people. Good to know about Greenmantle nursery too! Again, thank you for that wealth of information and guidance.

One more place to check, if you are up for a drive and a day of antiquing Rosemary's Roses in Columbia (Gold Country) A wonderful lady full of knowledge and has a great selection of 5g interesting roses.