A local used book store (pre internet days) had an area for books they thought were un-sellable. So I bought their "Roses of the World in Color" for 50cents. It looked interesting; it was only later that I discovered who J. Horace McFarland was and what all he had done for the ARS and for W. van Fleet's roses.

When we first moved here, 20 years ago, a local estate used to host an annual plant sale to benefit the humane society. One of the regulars was a guy who came up from the Poconos with Rosa hugonis suckers, among other things. One of the other things turned out to be Jack Harkness' Roses. I don't remember the price tag, but it was maybe $5. It came home with us, and only several years later did we find out what we had accomplished.

Wow! You both had wonderful finds! I looked at both books on the 'net and they both look wonderful. My deal wasn't nearly as good--about $10 for the book--but was very happy to find it. I need to check when our local library is doing their book sale again; rose books will be high on my list. :)

Roses by Harkness; the paper back edition of Rose Growing Complete by LeGrice (more complete than the 1965 hard back edition); The Complete Rosarian by Norman Young; Roses from Dreams to Reality by Swim; Papa Floribunda, the Gene Boerner Story; anything by J. H. Nicholas, particularly A Rose Odyssey; Hennessey on Roses by Roy Hennessey (you will laugh yourself silly. He was SUCH a curmudgeon and so hotly opinionated!) among others are great reads which will teach you MUCH. If you're in California and want to know everything there is to know about horticultural history, particularly about SoCal, Victoria Padilla's Southern California Gardens is a MUST. The first edition is large format and very expensive. There is a reprint in more usual book size with a cover price of $39.95. Amazon loves to supply you the $40 book for over $100, so beware. It's happened to several I know. They'll refund it if you make a loud enough stink, but why have to?

Thomas' trilogy is a wonderful read, but unless you live in a climate similar to his, do not take anything he says to heart. You will not enjoy the results. MANY of us ignorantly believed what he said about the cold hardy OGRs, spending much money, time and effort until we learned what he wrote is only applicable to HIS type of climates. The same holds true for anything written by Beales. Don't get me wrong, these writers were "experts", they wrote wonderfully and did great things for the world of roses, but their advice and recommendations ONLY apply to THEIR climates. If they are to be faulted, it would be for not realizing and stating "your mileage may vary" and explaining why. That would have saved many from failing and feeling they just can't grow roses. Kim

What a wonderful list--thanks so much, Kim! I'm in Washington State, the wet side of the mountains, so the climate isn't so horribly off from much of Britain. I was mainly interested in reading the story of his tracking down the "true" moss rose--Thomas Christopher mentions it in "In Search of Lost Roses" (another terrific read).

I'm going to start a list of books for the next library sale(s) and the next Powell's bookstore run to Portland. Thanks for the terrific head-start!

I love the way GST wrote. So poetic. I enjoy the history too. That trilogy is one Ive read many times!
Kim you always have great book suggestions. I'd like to know more about LeGrice.
Any hybridizer biographies out there?
Thanks. Susan

For my climate, the British books are disastrous -- just as Kim says.

Padilla is a must. Landscaping With Antique Roses (Druitt & Shoup) is a must. The Aussie Tea Rose Book is a blessing.

I love Old Roses, by Mrs. Ethelyn Emory Keays, and Everblooming Roses, by Georgia Torrey Drennan.

Since we are studying Old Roses, many of the Old Books are Treasures.

Jeri

I'm glad you're enjoying the suggestions! You'll find quite a bit of autobiographical information in the LeGrice, Swim, Papa Floribunda and Harkness books. Meilland's "A Life in Roses" contains biographical information about several generations of their family. They also contain quite a bit of rose information, not just specific cultural information, but historical information about specific cultivars. I agree with Jeri about Mrs. Keays' books. She was delightful and grew EVERYTHING.

There is much historical information about societies, some nurseries and many older types, from HPs, Teas, Bourbons and early HTs in Ellwanger, Foster-Melliar (The Book of the Rose) and Hole, but their writing isn't as easy to read (at least to me) as those already mentioned. Most of them contain enough personal information to really make them enjoyable. Kim

Jack Harkness' book, "The Makers of Heavenly Roses" has short biographies of a number of rose breeders and is worth having.

Mike Shoup's "Landscaping with Antique Roses" is the book that drew me into old roses a number of years ago. It is still a favorite of mine. I also have his "Roses in the Southern Garden" which is out of print; it has gotten very pricey on Amazon as a used book, so if you find it somewhere inexpensively, you'll have found something.

Praties, I looked at the "Landscaping with Antique Roses" book again this afternoon and I came across Mike Shoup's entry on 'Champney's Pink Cluster' which you've asked about.

I have not grown this rose, but Mr. Shoup mentions that it tends to have fungal issues in "conditions of low light and poor air circulation. As long as the plant gets plenty of sun and space, fungal diseases should not be a problem."

Since he grows this rose in Texas where sunshine is definitely plentiful I thought it worth mentioning to you, since you too live up here in western Washington.

I've used Liz Druitt's book on organic rose gardening quite a bit.

Gean

ps, I like GST too, esp since I live in a mild, wet climate. A favorite passage is this one from his section on tea roses:

"There remain the tea roses and I wish my cultivation of them were more successful so that I could hand on plenty of first hand experience. They do not thrive in my bleak part of Surrey. One has to go to the sheltered, rich gardens in the heart of Sussex or in the west of England or in Ireland ... to see them really thriving. And yet every now and again one comes across a grand old plant making a great show in the most unexpected place. These old Tea roses are best grown against a wall; they should be encouraged to build up slowly, with light pruning, and should be given protection in winter with mats or evergreen branches and a good deep mulch..."

That phrase, "And yet every now and again one comes across a grand old plant making a great show in the most unexpected place" encouraged me to try to grow them - I'd love to think someone years from now might one day find a grand old tea rose in such an unexpected place as my yard in western Washington!

Not exactly a book about growing roses, but I have a book of Redoute Plates of Roses. When I first moved into this house 12 years ago, I bought two pictures at Home Depot of roses. I didn't realize that they were Redoute plates. I didn't even know who Redoute was and I didn't have any roses at that time.

Well fast forward a few years, I have over a 100 roses and of course the rose Redoute. I became obsessed with Redoute plates and googled them and found some for sale on ebay. I did buy a few, but I'm not good with online auctions. So I went back to google and found this used book for sale:

The Roses: The Complete Plates (Taschen 25th Anniversary)

I did have dreams (or maybe delusions!) of taking the book apart and framing some of the plates, but I haven't done that yet. Still, it's an amazing book.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I loved reading Hole--I found it hilarious and pious and enlightening! But yes, he writes like a churchman. HA.
Gean, this is one of the GST quotes that summarizes his personality and writing style for me:
"How do we most enjoy our ramblers and climbers? Their use in our gardens really depends upon whether we are tidy--or, shall I say, untidy--gardeners; putting it perhaps more subtly, it depends on whether we impose our will on the roses or let them display their personalities to us,".
I would deem myself a HYBRID gardener!
Susan

Jeri, I really enjoyed "Passalong Plants" that you recommended. I just wish I knew more gardeners!
Susan

Oh, that "Passalong Plants" book is a GREAT one. I enjoyed every bit of it, right on through the Crown Tires. :-)

I was lucky enough to get that one for $8., at a discount book store. It has a permanent home here.

But while we're talking books, I want to mention again Mrs. Keays "OLD ROSES." You can get the reprint for as little as $20., and if you don't have it, you SHOULD. It's filled with information -- and easy to read.

Jeri

Jeri, just ordered it online. Also printed "Everblooming Roses" by Georgia Drennan free from Googlebooks.
Thanks!
Susan

So many wonderful books! Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. And Gean, thank you for the tips on Champney's. I think I have a good spot picked for it--lots of sun all day and we get breezes, if not winds, most days. We'll just have to hope for the best.

As an aside, I think I've got Mike talked into Graham Thomas...he mentioned a spot that would work well for it today. Now, I'll have to wait until next year for it. :( If I planted it now, it'll be in the way where we have to take down a couple of firs (only because they're threatening to become a hazard of falling on the house one of these windy/stormy days).

I second Jeri on Mrs. Keays Old Roses. It is a must-have for people that love old roses. It is beautifully written and her love for her roses is very inspirational. It's a classic.

My top rose book - The complete book of roses by Gerd Krussman.
No pictures as such (I guess the nearest for me would be Hilliers Trees and Shrubs while yours in the US would be Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Shrubs).
However, it has the most comprehensive section on species roses I have ever come across, great botanical keys, cultural and social history, hybridising --in fact, a sort of hard copy of HMF. The only drawback is that it was published and last updated in the 80s so many modern roses are not included.
A serious and helpful book, especially for colder climate rosarians, which is the antithesis of a glossy coffee table book which has lovely pics and zero useful information..

*runs to get a larger piece of paper for the book list*

Thank you all so much! Expect a nasty-gram from Mike when he sees my birthday list later this summer. :D

I'm just tickled that some of y'all are picking up on Mrs. Keays. She's my hero.

And Susan, when you're reading Drennan -- to put her in context, her husband commanded the defenses at Vicksburg, during the Civil War. His letters to her are considered the definitive work on that event.

Her family still lives (or did, before Katrina) in the home she and her husband moved to, in New Orleans.

One of the great things about Old Roses is the way they put you in touch with history.

Jeri