Help me identify a rose

May 25, 2021 9:34 AM

My mother has this lovely rose bush in her garden with exceptionally fragrant roses that bloom in May for a short time. She makes jam out of rose petals and it is very fragrant and delicious. Bush itself is about 1.5 meters high, grows wild and spreads itself. She had it for at least 60 years. I managed to grow some from seeds. Do you know what kind of rose could it be? Picture1 Picture2
posted by leigh1 to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

When you say 'grows wild,' do you mean that it sort of rambles all over the place? Long canes and that sort of thing?
posted by jquinby at 10:02 AM on May 25, 2021

Response by poster: Like this, a tall bush.
posted by leigh1 at 10:37 AM on May 25, 2021

Maybe Sophy.
posted by loveandhappiness at 10:49 AM on May 25, 2021

Best answer: Dunno about Sophy - the DA website says it was introduced in 1997. My first thought was one of the older varieties used as rootstock. We bought a climbing rose from DA a couple of years ago and the stock got out of hand. Rather than the pink 'Shropshire Lad' blooms, we got a completely bonkers vigorous climber with similar looking blooms, though not as layered as the picture. Ours was - I think - Dr Huey.

There are other roses in that database that might get you closer, but I'm seeing warnings as I dig around - rose's tendency to hybridize easily can make ID'ing them something of a challenge.
posted by jquinby at 11:23 AM on May 25, 2021

Best answer: A type of Rosa gallica?
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 12:50 PM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

'Baron Girod de l'Ain' (scroll down for rl garden pics) (aka Baron Giraud de l'Ain, Prinzess Christine von Salm) is from the 1890s."Occasional repeat later in the season," though, when your mom's only blooms in May; cooler climate/older plant, maybe?
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:48 PM on May 25, 2021