by Keith C. Hansen, Extension Horticulturist
Mention the Tyler Rose Garden, and what comes to your mind? Do you see the
dazzling display of thousands of hybrid tea roses? Wait a week or two and there will
be an explosion of color as the hybrid teas make their annual spring display.
But, did you know that there is another rose garden within the Tyler Rose Garden? It's
called the Heritage Rose Garden, and, as the name
suggests, it displays roses that
predated the modern hybrid teas. But, this is not a stuffy museum of decrepit old roses
not worthy of a sniff. In the Heritage Rose Garden you'll find rose varieties that your
great, great grandparents (maybe further back) probably grew and enjoyed. Today,
they are just as beautiful and worthy of admiration.
Many of these roses are once-bloomers, making a screaming display in the spring, and then receding into the background the rest of the year. Other varieties, like the China roses, bloom repeatedly throughout the year. But, the heaviest display is in April and early May during the spring. I suggest that you hop in your car and visit today to see a beautiful display of roses artfully mixed with perennials and annuals, tucked
into the a quite corner of the
Rose Garden.
The Heritage Rose Garden dates back to the late 1970's as a project of a local civic club when it was a sensory garden located in the southwestern corner of the Tyler Rose Garden grounds. In 1986, the Gertrude Windsor Garden Club offered to develop the area to be devoted to preserving and displaying antique roses. Arbors, trellises, benches, an attractive fence and a hedge of roses defined and enclosed the corner plot of land and created a restful retreat where old fashioned roses and perennials could be displayed in a landscape setting. Since many antique roses have strong fragrance, the garden preserved the original thought of a sensory garden.
A collaboration between the Gertrude Windsor Garden Club, the Tyler Rose Garden staff, Texas A&M University, and the Smith County Master Gardeners combined to upgrade and refine the Heritage Rose Garden. Today it is a showplace under the management of Smith County Master Gardeners and the Rose Garden staff .
Among the roses you can find blooming there are several China varieties. The everblooming
habit of China roses provided crucial genetic material for today's everblooming roses.
Before their introduction in the mid 1700's, roses Euorpeans were familiar with bloomed
only once in the spring.
There are several specimens of 'Old Blush' in the Heritage Garden. Also known as
'Old Pink Daily' and by several other names, this variety is one of the most commonly
found roses in old home sites and cemetaries across the south. A steady stream of
loose clusters of medium pink flowers can be found all through the growing season,
making it a favorite for generations since its original introduction in 1752.
Other China varieties represented in the Garden include one of my favorites, 'Archduke Charles', whose flowers open red and pink, and then darken to crimson, giving a multi- colored appearance. The nice bush habit of the plant makes it a great landscaping plant. Other China roses include 'Cramoisi Superieur', 'Slaters Crimson', 'Ducher',
'Hermosa' and the Green Rose.
As you approach the entrance of the Garden, one rose is sure to catch your attention.
'Mutabilis', also called the 'Butterfly Rose', is in full bloom right now. Large, single
flowers open yellow, and then go through a series of changes from orange to pink and
dark rose or crimson, giving the appearance of butterflies hovering over the large bush.
Another China rose is used in a formal hedge leading up to the arbor in the corner.
'Martha Gonzales' was found in 1984 in a Navasota, Texas home of its namesake. This neat, compact plant has small single red flowers all summer long.
Other types of antique roses in the Garden include hybrid musks, teas (the forerunner
of hybrid teas), species roses, Bourbon roses, and polyantha roses.
In the garden you can see how pillar roses are trained. Three old garden roses are trained in spiral fashion on iron pillars, and are in full bloom by mid-spring. 'Erfurt', a hybrid musk with a lax growth habit blooms with arches of flowers draped next to a flagstone path.
Perennial and annual flowers compliment the roses, and visiting gardeners can take home ideas about how to combine roses with other sun loving plants. Some of the perennials inhabiting the Garden include blue and white irises, phlox, candytuft, and Bath's Pink Dianthus. Creeping thyme and alyssum are planted in the cracks of flagstone paths. As spring-blooming perennials fade, others take their place throughout the summer. Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas Cooperative Extension. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu Educational programs of Texas Cooperative Extension are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.
Back to East Texas Piney Woods Gardening Home Page