Unusual! That's like a magnate for me. I guess you mean not usually grown rather than odd. Schneesturm comes to mind. This is a shrub rose with small numerous pale pink to white blooms, tough and wonderful. Sherri's Cheers to You is a favorite. Ivory Triumph, Padre, Frances Bower's Pink Tea,Poema,Jardins de Veil Maisons, Chateau Frontenac, Climbing Richmond. I could go on and on.

Anita, congratulations on your joining the board of the Heritage Rose Foundation. They would have had to look far and wide to find someone more qualified (and nicer) than you.

You've picked a wonderful topic and it's made me think about the roses I have in a novel way. I too have Cels Multiflora and think it's an enchanting rose and would now hate to be without it. Mme. Melanie Willermoz is another tea that's not mentioned often that I like although it's too young to have reached its full potential. Romaggi Plot Bourbon is also new and I'm waiting for its first bud to open. Lilac Dawn is a floribunda from Vintage that doesn't seem to be grown often, and it's had a slow start as an own-root band, but the flower I've had was lovely. Rotkaeppchen is a polyantha that has had a gorgeous reddish-purple bloom on a tiny band. Single Cerise China is a darling rose that is very prolific with its blooms. Souvenir de Germain de St. Pierre is a tea with charming drooping purple blooms. To end the list Mme. Dore is a small Bourbon which also has its first bud waiting to open.

Ingrid

Anita, we should be congradulating the HRF for getting you!

Unusual roses that are fun? I have three that I think meet that description.

One is the R. arkansana that was given to Kim Rupert by Candy Craig, who collected it in a dry alkali lake in Utah. He calls it "R. arkansana Peppermint Candy."

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Another is 'Willie Winkie,' a 1950's deVink Micro-Mini. A bit like Cinderella, I suppose, but I like this one a lot better. (See HMF photos, below)

And then, there's 'Hi'. This is apparently a single sport or seedling of 'Si,' and I don't think you could find anything cuter than 'Hi'

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Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful: Willie Winkie at HMF

I don't think I grow any that are truly rare or unusual, but I do grow a few that you rarely hear about. I think I chose them exactly for that reason. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for things that seem overlooked or underappreciated.

BTW, Jeri....that 'Peppermint Candy' looks good enough to eat...lovely! I really love the singles.

Celeste

PIERRE NOTTING, hybrid perpetual

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POMPOM PANACHEE, gallica.....
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BOULA DE NANTEUIL, gallica.....
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HEINRICH SCHULTHEIS, hybrid perpetual....

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ESTHER, gallica.....(now deceased, thanks to moles)

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ROBBIE BURNS, spinosissima hybrid....(one of the lesser-known Austins)

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GESHWIND'S ORDEN....rambler

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CRESTED SWEETHEART, modern climber....
(A Ralph Moore introduction, from Crested Moss)

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MARECHAL DAVOUST, Moss.....
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SOUVENIR DU PRESIDENT LINCOLN...Bourbon
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I would like to add that many of these above are the most
intensely-fragranced roses I have in my entire yard of hundreds.
Those that are deeply perfumed and unforgettable are: Pierre Notting, Heinrich Schultheis and Souv. du Pres. Lincoln. Pompom Panachee and Boula de Nanteuil are the most fragrant of my gallicas. Crested Sweetheart is also very fragrant.
Pierre Notting is still pushing forth more buds, even though it snowed here recently and it gets below freezing at night! Somebody forgot to tell him he isn't supposed to be that hardy here! LOL. His blooms are incredibly dark in cold weather, like a fine merlot. The above photo was in June but the fall blooms were much darker.

I also grow Klaus Groth (spinosissima hybrid), Duchesse de Galliera (hybrid perpetual) and Madame Souchet (Bourbon).

LOVE those Boula and Pompon Panachee photos, and to hear that they're so fragrant is great! I just planted bands of those 2 within the last few weeks, so now I'm really excited about them.

I'm hoping to add "Petite Perle d'Or" if I can find one next spring. Talk about something cute!

I have two that are unusual.

R. chinensis Serratipetala - in a pot because I thought he'd only be 3' tall. When he was 6' tall, DH fell off one of those scaffold-looking step stools when the tree limb he was cutting swung around and knocked him off into Serratipetala. After that he (the rose bush) was only 2' tall and still is about that. I might try harder to find him a place in the ground except I'm afraid he'll get too huge, but maybe he'd bloom more. Flowers are about the size of a quarter.
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and R. Roxburghii plena, the Chestnut Rose. (Just took this photo in the dark.) Haven't seen my first flower yet. I've read that it takes 3 years for this one to bloom - 2 yrs 2 mos to go. I'll be starting his new bed in a few weeks - hopefully. This rose has peely bark, beautful pink flowers, teeny leaves and DOES NOT get blackspot.
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And the buds look like this.
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Jeri, I still love R. Arkansana.

Sherry

Sherry, I'm pretty taken with that R. chinensis seratipatala!
I owe Paul Barden a sucker from Arkansana, and maybe I could send you one.
But where did you find seratipatala?

Jeri

I like the roxburghiis, too. We grow the usual double, a single seedling from China, and Carl Cato's version of the double one, with spineless calyces.

I'd add Clytemnestra to the list -- a relatively less-grown Hybrid Musk.

Jeri, I got Serratipetala from Ashdown in June, 2007 - one of my first rose orders. I think I recall that R Arkansana is fairly small. Is that right? If so, I sure would love one. I'm a sucker for such things. :)) Would you like a cutting or two of Serra?

Sherry

Sherry, it's been here for several years, and likely doesn't make more than 18 ins. OTOH, it WILL sucker. We have it in a squat in the ground, and it STILL suckers a little.

And yes, I would LOVE Serra!

Jeri

Portland Marie de StJean very fragrant small blooms that blow quickly, Duchess of Albany (sport of LaFrance) with a Deeper Pink reverse. Madame JP Soupert creamy white many petaled HT. Old Korbel Gold deep yellow often with a blush of orange or copper Ht. Catherine Guillot Bourbon seedling of Louise Odier, Leonies Appoline fragrant deep magenta/pink fragrant blooms balls in wet weather but beautiful shades in a very compact bush.

My favorite unusual roses are species roses and their hybrids. I enjoy their vigor, their variability, their health (at least among the ones I keep), and their raw wildness. You'd think I'd miss the rebloom, but I don't. A few bloom continuously or unexpectedly, like R. californicia, Nevada and Schoener's Nutkana. My need for blooms is otherwise satisfied by plenty of Teas, Chinas, Polyanthas and Hybrid Musks. I'd guess I have between 25 and 35 roses that would fit in this group, from species collected in the wild or grown from seed to species selections and hybrids like Marguerite Hilling, Wickwar, Alba Odorata, Guadalupe Volunteer and Californica Plena. All are extraordinary foliage plants.

The very existence of many of these roses is obscured by their inconsistent classification by the ARS, with some classed as "Hybrid This or That" and others as "Shrubs." Pffft. Calling Belinda's Dream and Sophia Renaissance "Shrubs" like Wickwar, Cantabrigiensis and Schoener's Nutkana hides the uniqueness of the species hybrid. We must be fairly sophisticated rosarians before we recognize that the virtue of these remarkable seedlings and their obvious connections to their species forebears. If the objective is to dumb down what these roses really are to make them palatable to amateurs, I wish the ARS would adopt a class called "Species Hybrids." I think its perfectly consistent to call them what they really all, like Hybrid Soulieana, Hybrid Moyeseii, or Hybrid Nutkana, but when the mother plant isn't known, Species Hybrid would work for me.

but when the mother plant isn't known, Species Hybrid would work for me.

*** Makes sense.
Have you hit them up about it?

Jeri

No, Jeri, I haven't. I doubt species hybrids are a high priority for the ARS.

Unusual roses, I guess you know it is unusual when nobody knows it's a rose.The Bishop Darlington and most hybrid musks no one kmows they are roses, many singles.
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Nobody ever thinks that all of these are roses.Marjorie Faire, the deep pink musk in the front,Lyda Rose the apple blossom look-a-like.
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Rosa Palustris with the bamboo foliage.
Schnekoppe, palest lavendar rugosa with a maddening fragrance. Then there is the band of Chinensis Wilsonii which is supposed to have 10 inch long leaves and grow 50 feet and yes start the chorus of "Luanne, what on earth posessed you????" It won't hold up in court.
la

Reverend H. D'Ombrain: a very neat compact almost miniature bourbon rose. Found very few places in Europe - seems to have been an heirloom from the Habburgske European royal family - growing at the Castle of the Danish Royal familys summer residence close to me - that I propagated and in some of their German family members castle Gardens in Germany: Today there is probably about 120 plants growing world wide of this rose - extremely fragrant and blooms almost continously:

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Centifolia à fleurs doubles violettes:

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Unknown centifolia - never been able to identify it - very compact growth, diesease resitant and very fragrant:

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Slater´s Crimsom China:

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Champion of the World: (Bourbon or HP?):

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Rose Ellen - Very double sport of Raubritter:

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Souvenir D'Alphonse Lavalle´:

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Village Maid.

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Rosa Centifolia Muscosa; 'Mme Louis Lévêque':

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Souvenir de Mme Auguste Charles:

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Tuscany:

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Felicite Parmentier:

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Jacques Cartier:

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Souvenir de la Malmaison:

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Niels, I'm in total awe of the gorgeous pictures of these roses. Are these all from your garden? Apart from SdlM and Jacques Cartier, the only rose I've grown is Champion of the World. The purple Centifolia is incredible; I'm surprised it's not better-known.

Thank you for showing us these stunning beauties.

Ingrid

Niels, are you trying to get me to leave Florida and move north? Gee, a couple more of those photos, and I'd be packing my bags!!! No more, please! There's only so much a person can take.

Sherry

Niels, I have to comment about the purple centifolia. Mine isn't compact at all and a friend has used it as a short climber. I got it as a rooted cutting in 2004 and it's now 6 ft tall, wide and floppy and a prolific bloomer. It came from the Lykkes' nursery in Denmark by way of this friend and Hugo and Ellen Lykke's own plants were the same size in 2005 when I visited their garden. The original is in Sangerhausen where the true name is lost.

It's not quite fair to list roses that are only available in Europe and may not be at all unusual over here. But I have a few roses that seem to be uncommonl on both sides of the Atlantic in spite of being American: Betty Bland, Dr. E.M. Mills, Jean Lafitte, and Ruskin.

But I have to confess that the only one that I love with passion is Jean Lafitte, Horvath's setigera from 1934. I like Ruskin much better this year than ever before and I've had it since 2003.

I thought of one I have that's unusual--the Wingthorn Rose (R. omeiensis pteracantha). 4 petals instead of five on the single white spring blossoms, and those gorgeous red thorns! It's getting fall color now--really a neat plant all year.

The first that came to mind as "unusual" was already mentioned by Sherry, with a super photo..R. chinensis Serratipetala. Mine has grown to be a rather large specimen and repeats very well. Love the form of the bloom and the color variance! Another fav here is Rouletii.

Oh I couldn't help it to show off the beauty of some of my OGRs. Had I read Anitas original post more carefully - I would not have posted half of them since they are not that unusual or rare. (And inconsiderate of those with slower connections ...) even though we like Sherry never grow tired of good pictures :-)

Yes Ingrid all these roses grow in my garden - and grow very well. I also agree - the purple centifolia is really unsual - I love the colour.

Mariannese: It was the blush pink centifolia, that I wrote had a compact growth habit... the purple centifolia is like you write more lax and uruly. I keep mine pruned to about 4 feet tall and stake it when it blooms - so the weight of all the flowers don't make the bush flop over. Mine are of course from Ellen and Hugos rose nursery too - I am lucky to live near 2 big rose nurseries - Ellen and Hugos and Knud Petersen - within 10 miles - both have big gardens and collections of old roses - and the Royal Marselisborg Castle is just 3 blocks away and have 600 different old Garden Roses - so I have the opportunity to study many different OGRs up close all the time I wish and pick those I consider the best, most beautiful,most fragrant and have decent disease resistant and growth habit.

No - not unfair to show roses only availble in Europe - I have sent plenty of budwood to European nurseries, who exchange roses with US rose nurseries - so sooner or later these roses will be availble in USA too.

I also grow 'Serratipetala" - mine is however rather scraggly - even if it aint raining men in my garden! It defoliate almost completely here from blackspot - I think this rose like many other chinas perform better in warmer climates - but the flowers here can become very beautiful too. (I have posted both full bush shot and flower on HMF). Had it been warmer and sunnier mine would also darken - funny how some chinas - instead of fading become darker as they age.

I also grow some roses I do not have clue what they are - and that I after 8-12 years still try to identify with no luck - even though I have a photographic memory - I have not seen them anywhere. Most are centifolia roses and HPs. Many 1000s HPs were grown in Europe and most have been lost. But some have been passed on for generations. Their names unknown. If they blackspot terribly or have little vigor I don't want to grow them and they retire to the hillsides around here - and I give some of them a handful of fertilizer in the spring.

And then there are the seedlings found in old neglected gardens - look for these underneath or around old rose bushes (they are not suckers) all a little different and I can't help but rustle these and pot them up and plant them all over to see what they eventually become. I am particularly interested in seedlings from repeat blooming bourbon and Portland roses. I also think I need to make a map of all the roses I have planted around here - I have thought of making a map and plot their positions with GPS ... I just have my notes and visit them a few times every year to see how they are doing - they gotta be tough to thrive under these conditions.

Go for it, Niels! yours sounds like a fun garden.