Beautiful Portuguese - Hybrid Rose of Gigantea 
 

Creator: Cayeux, France, 1903
Origin: “Queen Marie Henriette”
Flowers: 15 cm
Height: 10m

Also known as "Beautiful Portuguese" or "Beauty of Portugal”,  this was the first Hybrid Rose of Gigantea cultivated in the West. It was created by Henri Cayeux, a French botanist, who was head of the Botanical Garden of Lisbon. In 1896 François Crépin, sent to Portugal a plan of "Rose Gigantea” and when it bloomed, with beautiful flowers around 13 cm in diameter, Cayeux started to perform hybridizations with tea roses and hybrid perpetual.
His ambition was to achieve beautiful and vigorous rosebushes that could withstand the Parisian winter. From his meticulous work resulted five roses:  "Beautiful Portuguese" and "Star of Portugal" in 1903, "Amateur Lopes", "Lusitania" and "Beans Palmira" in 1905. Unfortunately, with the exception of "Beautiful Portuguese", they all disappeared.
"Beautiful Portuguese" is one of the first garden roses to bloom early in spring. Its flowers, exceptionally large ones, can reach 15 cm in diameter and they exude a slight scent of tea. The crimson buttons, thin and elegant, give places to beautiful flowers, rosy cream colored. The outer petals of a pale rose color on the back are huge. As for the ones on the inside, they are of a light pink, smaller and more concentrated around the heart of the flower, keeping it closed slightly, which produces a very unique effect.
The leaves are wide and of a thin light green, typical of “Rose Gigantea”.
Extremely vigorous and resistant, this rosebush can reach considerable heights, and is now a very popular rose in almost all the world, particularly in southern Europe, California, Australia, New Zealand and India.
After more than a century and in the "age of globalization" the "Beautiful Portuguese" remains the only Portuguese Rose, whose success is undeniably universal.

Madam Isaac Pereire - Bourbon Rosebush

Creator: Garçon, França, 1881
Flowers: 9 cm 
Height: 2,5 metros

“Madam Isaac Pereire” can provide the greatest joys and sorrows to the biggest diligent collectors. Its flowers the most fragrant of all roses, opens with a light purple color and gradually go over a rosy lilac, are exceptional examples of both beauty and elegance, but sometimes get deformed or damaged for no apparent reason. When the weather is wet the plant can be attacked by devastating attacks of black spots or powdery mildew. The leaves are small but the force of the bush is unstoppable and can reach up to 2,5 m height, requiring an appropriate support, otherwise it can break on very windy days.
Madam Pereire was a famous woman within the Parisian society in the 19th century. Her husband Isaac Pereire (1806-80) and his brother Jacob (1800-75) were called the "financial" of the Second Empire. Millionaires, thanks to their multiple investments and extensive contacts, they had a decisive influence over French politics at the time.

Roi de Siam - Climbing Tea

Creator:  Laffay, France, 1825
Colour:  medium red flowers

There is still some controversy as to the parentage of this splendid rose. Some collectors don’t even appreciate it. I, on the other side, have a special esteem for its large red flowers, semi folded, with large petals that appear generously throughout the year.
It reaches 4m of height and it is ideal for a rustic pergola.

Rose De Recht - Portland Rosebush 

Origin: France, around 1840
Flowers: 6 cm
Height: 1 m
   

It is said that this wonderful rosebush was presented by Nancy Lindsay, an English nurserywoman who found this rose in Portland, in a garden nearby Recht city, in Iran, and introduce it in Europe in mid-nineteenth century.
It is possible that this story may have some truth in it, however this is no Iranian rosebush at all and it has strong characteristics of Gallica’s Rose one. It is more likely that is in fact a French rose. Its buttons are spherical and its flowers, with over forty petals in perfect order, have a bright deep purple color. This rose has a copious bloom and the flowers appear in groups of three to seven. The leaves are of a pale green, slightly rough. This is a compact rosebush that can be cultivated isolated or in groups, so that it may form a border. Enjoys the sun but it can also be cultivated in gloomy areas, being quite resistant to diseases.

 Duchess D'Angouleme - Gallica Rosebush 

Creator: Vibert, France, 1821  
Flowers: 9 cm  

Height: 1,25m

Gallica Rosebush has magnificent fragrant flowers, whose petals are almost see-through and of a combination of colors: the ones in the centre are bright pinkish color and the external ones are pale white. The flowers came in groups of three to five. The foliage is dense and green having an imposing port, but of regular size, reason why this kind of rose is indicated for gardens of small or medium dimensions.

The duchess of   Angouleme (1778-1851), first born of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette was a woman of great personality  who had great political influence either over Louis XVIII, King of France (1814-1824) and Charles X, who succeeded his brother on the throne of France until the Revolution of 1830.

William Lobb - Moss Rosebush

Creator: Jean Laffay, France 1855
Flowers: 7cm 

Height: 2,5m

Also known as “Old Velvet” or “Duchess d’Istrie”, this beautiful musk rosebush is a robust and vigorous plant, with long branches that reaches over 2,5m tall and is recommended to shorten the new shoots, because this way the plant is kept within the desired height limits. The flowers are wide and of a rich aroma and have a brownish purple color when blossom, fading afterwards into a splendorous mauve lavender-lilac. Each flower has strong sepals with moss-like features. The buttons, also covered in moss appear in groups, in the spring, before single bloom. The leaves are wide, of a pale green, with some tendency to mildew. William Loob was an eminent botanist from Victorian times that from 1840 up to his death in 1863, explored the most isolated places in North and South America in search of rare and exotic plants. The “Auracária auracana” (Araucaria from Chile) and the “Lapageria rosea” (Chilean Bell-flower) were some of the species that he introduced and popularized in the gardens of the British Empire.

La Ville de Bruxelles - Brussels Village Damask Rose

Creator: Vilbert, France, 1836 

Flowers: 11cm 

Height: 1,75m

This vigorous rosebush, of single bloom and of unique lush light green foliage, discerns from all the others due to its large curved flowers, fuchsia colored, numerous petals arranged around a center button and cup shaped. These dazzling and breathtaking flowers have been on being praised with the highest encomium by all old rosebush lovers.

Louis XIV - China Rosebush

Creator: Guillot, France, 1859  
Flowers: 7cm  

Height: 60cm

The color and fragrance of this rose is truly unusual. The intense dark red of its petals astonished Peter Beales, who wrote in his most recent catalogue “the red is so profound that it is almost black”. The scent is also special, sweet and persistent. Louis XIV is a small rose but quite elegant, with an almost continuous flowering in hot climates. In order to enhance its characteristics, it is recommended to plant these rosebushes, small sized, in groups of three to five, in open spaces. Guillot introduce this rose, in China’s market, eight years prior to the production of the first hybrid rosebush tea, the famous La France Rosebush, of a single class. Louis XIV rose is a tribute to the Sun King, allied to beauty and at the same time invoking a great period on French history.  

Richelieu Cardinal - Gallic Rose-bush

Creator: Laffay, France, 1840
Flowers: 6 cm      

Height: 1,5 m

There is no doubt that this Gallic Rose-bush Hybrid drivens from a rose in China, in what comes down to its genetic structure. The color of the flowers is unique: of a strong dark purple fading into a darkish slate. Bent, with the petals numerous and well sorted, lighter on the base and stronger in the center, the flowers emanates a fresh and pleasant perfume. The bush is compact and the foliage is small and bright.
This rose was named after Armand Duplesis, an ecclesiastic and a powerful statesman, who was cardinal and duke of Richelieu (1585-1642). Impeccable politician, intelligent and sharp, he ruled France for over 18years and up till the day he died, despite the often hesitations of his king Louis XIII and the so many attempts from his aristocratic enemies. He also achieved victory over the Protestants – the Huguenots. On foreign policy, he fought and weakened, even through unorthodox alliances, the hegemony of the Habsburg and the House of Austria in Europe. In internal administration he made useful reforms in finance, the executive and civil law.
Richelieu was one of the creators of the French Colonial Empire and laid the foundations of the navy, being also the founder of the French Academy.
On the 3 December 1642, as he was dying, he was asked if he would like to forgive his enemies, in which he replied back: “I never had any, apart from those that were for the State.”

La France - Hybrid Rose-bush Tea 

Creator: Guillot France, 1867
Flowers: 11 cm 

Height: 1,5 m

La France was the first hybrid rose-bush tea being introduced in the market, resulted from an accidental crossbreeding between the perpetua hybrid and the rose-bush tea. The importance of this rose-bush was not immediately recognized. Its flowers cone shaped are well formed and large, and of a light pink color, with the reserve of the petals a little darker. If the elegance of its port is unquestionable, the same applies to its perfume, equally strong, sort of a damask rose-bush, dazzling most lovers. The branches are wide and quite flexible. The bright foliage, of a mild green color, is unfortunately characterized by tendency of having black spots. Apart from this, this rose is quite adapted to resist most climates.

Boule de Neige - Bourbon Rose-bush 

Creator: François Lacharme France 1867

Origin: Blanche               

Flowers: 7 cm   

Height: 2,5 m

This upright bush, of bright dark green foliage, produces wonderful fragrant pure white flowers, camellia shaped. The outer petals bends toward the stem when the flowers blossoms, forming a perfect sphere inserted in a rigid stem. This is an elegant rose-bush that blooms all year long and is quite adapted to cold temperatures.

Mme Pierre Oger - Rose-bush Bourbon 

Creator: Oger, France, 1878
Flowers: 7 cm      

Height: 2 m

This rose drivens from a perfect mutation performed by Lá ReineVictoria. Its flowers of a unique porcelain pink color, entirely bent, with its petals casket shaped among each other, are very eye-catching and quickly gain an envious popularity among collectors. Its fragrance is quite pleasant and its portage is very elegant.

This rose was created by Oger, a nurseryman in Caen and commercialized by the Parisian rose breeder Charles Verdier in 1878.

Fantin - Latour - Rose-bush centifolia

        

Origen: Unknown Prior to 1900    
Flowers: 9cm     

Height: 1,75m

This beautiful rose was found by G.S Thomas, who named it Fantin Latour, in memory of Ignace-Henri Theodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), a well known French painter from the XIX century. This vigorous bush with large flowers, rich fragrance and of a warm pinkish color is nowadays quite popular. Its flowering is unique but prolonged.  

Queen Victoria - Bourboun Rose-bush 

Creator: Schartz, France, 1872

Flowers: 7 cm 

Height: 2 m

This rose-bush is a paradigm of both scent and charm and glamour that any rose can offer a garden. The flowers are globular, of a light pink shade, the petals are short and numerous and have a delicate and translucent beauty that amazes all rose lovers. These roses come in groups of three to nine, up till the end of October. The bush is vigorous, of a good size, and has coated foliage of a pale green that unfortunately tends to have black spots and mildew. This rose-bush is good for dry and warm climates.
The rose-bush was baptized after Queen Victoria (1819-1901). Crowned in 1837, during her reign England approached France (1852), took part in Crimean War and it was also under her reign that India took the revolt and pacification, claiming her Imperatriz in 1870. Queen Victoria a strong character and a keen political sense woman, married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. She was succeeded by her son Edward VII.