You are on page 1of 2

8/2/2018 About Portland Roses

HOME ROSE INFO CALENDAR OUR GARDENS JOIN LINKS


WHAT'S NEW ROSE SHOW CONTACT US SEARCH OUR SITE SITEMAP ROSE BLOG
ROSE CONSULTANTS OFFICERS ABOUT WEBMASTER EVENTS SUBSCRIBE SPONSORS

Our Facebook Like 507 people like this. Be the first of Our Videos
your friends.

'Rose du Roi' Portland Rose 'Comte de Chambord' Portland Rose

About Portland Roses


By H. Scott Hansen

Portland roses are another of the Old Garden Roses that repeat bloom. Along with the
Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, Bourbons, Hybrid Perpetuals, and a few others they help dispel the popular
notion that OGRs are only once-a-year bloomers.

Portland roses apparently originated from natural crosses between Damasks and Chinas. Autumn
Damask and Slater's Crimson China are reputed to be the parents of the first Portland found near
Paestum, Italy.

The progenitor, Duchess of Portland, also known as Portland Rose, is dated about 1800 and is red.
This rose was taken to England and France where hybridizers pounced upon it and produced many
more. The Portlands were very popular in the mid 19th century before the advent of the Hybrid
Perpetuals and they are still popular among OGR enthusiasts.

They are important in the development of modern roses as they, along with the Bourbons and Hybrid
Chinas fathered the Hybrid Perpetuals, the parents of our modern Hybrid Teas. Indeed, Rose du Roi,
an outstanding red Portland, is said to be the progenitor of the first and many more Hybrid Perpetuals.

At one time there were some 150 varieties of Portland roses. Today there are only 16 listed in Modern
Roses 8 and 9, but there are about a half-dozen more varieties that could possibly be classed as
Portlands. There are no climbing types.

Portland roses are vigorous growers for the most part but do not get unduly large as a general rule;
they are a nice garden size.

Their distinguishing characteristic is the blooms "on the shoulder," that is, blooms with extremely short
stems between the bloom and the first foliage. The blooms seem to rest on the foliage.

The range in color from white to pink to red to purple with no yellows or oranges.

Some of the more well known and popular that have come down to us are:

Arthur de Sansal. Cochet, 1855. Very double, rich crimson-purple, and like a Damask.

Bernard (Pompon Perpetual), 1846). A sport of Rose du Roi with salmon-pink flowers.

https://scvrs.homestead.com/Portlands.html 1/2
8/2/2018 About Portland Roses
Blanc de Vibert. Vibert, 1847. Quite double, white with light green foliage. Not dependably recurrent.

Comte de Chambord. Moreau-Robert, 1863. Very full, flat, very fragrant, pink tinted lilac and with erect
growth.

Coeline Dubos. Dubos, 1849. Bright pink and somewhat recurrent. Listed as a Damask in Modern
Roses 9, some sources class it as a Portland.

Palmyre. Laffay, 1844. Pale pink, often repeats. Damask in Modern Roses 8 with the note, "Portland
type."

Pergolese. Robert et Moreau, 1860. Bright purplish crimson, shading to lilac; very full, medium size,
fragrant and somewhat recurrent.

Rembrandt. Moreau-Robert, 1883. Scarlet-red, even described as vermillion. This is unusual for any
OGR.

Rose de Roi. Lelieur; Souchet, 1815. Bright red shaded violet, semi-double, large bloom, very fragrant,
vigorous and quite recurrent. One of the earliest and still one of the best and most popular of the
Portlands.

Rose de Roi Panache. A sport of Rose de Roi, pink striped red showing that Portland roses too can
be varied.

I can personally vouch for Rose du Roi and Comte de Chambord which have done well for me. They
can both be candidates for Dowager Queen if you are into exhibiting.

In 1992, H. Scott Hansen, the author of this article, gave a disk full of his articles to Kitty Belendez with
permission to publish them. H. Scott Hansen is now deceased.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL-COLOR FREE SAMPLE OF


OUR AWARD-WINNING NEWSLETTER
"ROSE ECSTASY"

© Copyright Estate of H. Scott Hansen. All rights reserved.

Updated January 1, 2016

https://scvrs.homestead.com/Portlands.html 2/2

You might also like