[...] The world-renowned plantsman and rosarians, Graham Stuart Thomas, referred to the R. gigantea as “ the Empress of wild roses.” And indeed it is by far the largest wild rose plant – easily attaining 15 metres or more in its natural habitat – with gigantic flowers and hips similar to small apples. (In fact, in NE India the area of the wild – dangerous - Naga tribe, these fruits are sold at markets and are rich in vitamins.) The foliage is evergreen and resistant to disease, the grey-green leaflets long, pointed and tend to droop elegantly. The curved prickles assist the plant as it twines its way through and up and eventually over shrubs and trees in the warm areas – North Eastern India, Burma and South Western China – which it calls home.

The R. gigantea appears in a number of forms, the first of which was discovered in 1882 by Sir George Watt, Surveyor General of India, in Manipur at a height of some 2,300 metres. 

He gave the rose the name R. macrocarpa, underlining its huge hips, but later changed the name to R. xanthocarpa to stress the distinctive colour of its fruits.

 

In 1888 Sir Henry Collett, looking through his field glasses in the Shan Hills, in northern Burma, noticed, at a considerable distance, the wilderness festooned by a rampant plant with flowers up to 14 cms. resembling Magnolias. He named it R. gigantea and sent specimens to the botanical gardens at  Kew and Calcutta, whence they were sent to François Crépin.

 The distinguished Belgian botanist in Bruxelles had also received 6 specimens of George Watts’ find from the Botanical Museum in Berlin, which he at first believed to be identical to Collett’s Gigantea.

Consulting the Kew Herbarium however it was confirmed that the 1882 specimens had received the name R. macrocarpa.

 Crépin rightly predicted an enrichment of the cultivated European rose, thanks to the splendid form of its enormous corolla and its beautiful foliage.

 

 The main differences between the two forms are today understood to be:

The colour of the buds and flowers – creamy yellow in the Macrocarpa and pure white for the Gigantea.

The width and number of leaflets – 7-9 for the Macrocarpa, 5-7 for the Gigantea.

And the colour of the hips – yellow in the case of the Macrocarpa and red in the case of the Gigantea.

 

In Yunnan, S.W China, one or more other forms were later discovered by Wilson, Forrest, Hancock and Augustine Henry.

It is believed that the characteristic high centres of the Tea and later Hybrid Tea roses of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries derived from earlier Chinese horticultural varieties of the R. gigantea. (It should be remembered that the first European variety to be considered a Tea, “Adam,” dates from 1833, and thus long before the R. gigantea arrived in the West!)  In this respect we are again indebted to diligent and patient generations of Chinese gardeners, who preceded European rose breeding techniques – notably hand pollination - by very many hundreds of years.

 

In April 1896 the R. gigantea bloomed for the first time in Europe in the Botanical Gardens of Lisbon, where the Frenchman, Henri Cayeux was its Director. The following year a plant received from Kew several years before produced a number of blooms at the home of Baron Soutellinho at Porto, Portugal.

Cayeux, who was later to become the Director des Jardins et Promenades de la Ville Le Havre, immediately set about crossing the Gigantea with various varieties of Tea roses and Hybrid Perpetuals and using the Gigantea both as seed and as pollen parent. In 1903 the first flowers appeared, amongst which was the variety named “Etoile de Portugal.”(R. gigantea x “Reine Marie-Henriette.”) This was followed by “Amateur Lopes,” “Belle Portugaise,” ”Dona Palmira Feijao” and “Lusitania.”

Of these first hybrids only the “Belle Portugaise” is still available – and indeed very popular – in climates to its taste. There is a wondrous plant in the Municipal Rose Garden in Rome, which was planted in the early 50s, when the garden was replanted after the 2^nd World War. It is all along the Mediterranean, in Australian and New Zealand, South Africa and the warmer states of US. Undoubtedly is would also do well in Bermuda and South America.

“Belle Portugaise” is a cross between “Souvenir de Leonie Viennot” and R. gigantea,  the buds are long and elegant, and the semi-double blooms pink with a touch of apricot. The display is abundant but only once a year. This rose produced two offspring, both in the United States – “Belle Blanche” a mutation, (in my opinion even more beautiful than its parent) and “Susan Louise” attributed to a Mr. Adams in 1929. While the former has retained the characteristic vigour, the latter grows to a large bush, which is covered in soft pink blooms throughout  very many months and well into November, at least in central Italy.

 

Soon after Cayeux’s work, Mr. Busby, the English head gardener working for the 3^rd Lord Brougham at his home, Chateau Eléonore, near Cannes, also started experimenting with the Gigantea. In 1910 he produced the glorious “Follette” – the name changes at times to “La Follette” and “Sénateur La Follette” – with large, double pink blooms and a distinct perfume. Its parentage was never disclosed. Although Busby’s other creations have been lost, “Follette” may still be seen along the Riviera, and there is a particularly fine example at Villa Hanbury, near Ventimiglia, the former residence of Sir Thomas Hanbury in Italy.

  

Around this time too “Belle Portugaise” was imported into the US by the Italian Dr. Francesco Fenzi, a passionate amateur botanist, who had inherited a bank from an uncle in Florence. He was obviously more interested in plants than finance, for the bank folded and Fenzi preferred to discreetly change name and emigrate to the US with his wife and numerous children. In Santa Barbara, Southern California, he set up a nursery and acclimatizing station where he introduced a great number of valuable foreign plants.

In 1904 he imported the R. gigantea directly from India, according to his son Cammillo, and crossed it with the R. moschata. Today however, the only variety of his, which is still available, is “Montecito,” named after one of his properties. It closely resembles the Gigantea in growth, flowers and foliage, but has inherited the enchanting perfume of the Moscata.

Fenzi was eventually sent by the Italian government to direct an agricultural station in its colony of Libya, where he died in 1926. Two of his children continued with the nursery in California for a number of years. Today there are efforts to revaluate the overgrown property as a public park, where there remain a large number of the original plants, which Fenzi imported.

 

Also in Santa Barbara, California, the Reverend George Schoener had made the Gigantea the base of practically all his rose hybridisation, arriving at almost 1,200 crosses, which produced some 20,000 seedlings. Schoener’s work was however plagued by a series of natural calamities including fire and hurricanes, so none of his creations seem to have survived, except perhaps “Glory of California”, which received a special award at the Bagatelle Rose Trials in 1935.

 

In France in the early twenties, at the historical rose nursery of the Nabonnand family at Golfe Juan, the third generation Paul introduced seven hybrid Giganteas, which produced blooms before the Riviera “season” came to an end at Easter. Of these only two are available today: “Emmanuella de Mouchy” a cross between the Gigantea and “Lady Waterlow.” The flowers are very full, a good pink with darker centres, and a translucent quality to the petals. In my garden this variety repeats very well indeed in September, October and November. It is also hardy and may be admired in the garden at L’Häy-les-Roses, near Paris.

The second of Paul Nabonnand’s Gigantea crosses to survive is “Sénateur Amic”, the issue of R. gigantea crossed with “General MacArthur.” The blooms are an intense, dark pink, which occasionally flecked with white, well scented and semi-double. A number of blooms also appear in the autumn.

 

In the meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in Australia, near Melbourne, a gentleman gardener by the name of Alister Clark had started experimenting with the Gigantea in the hope of producing varieties suitable for the warm climate. Clark, the son of a Scottish immigrant who had made a fortune during the Australian gold rush, was not interested in producing exhibition roses, but wanted interesting and healthy garden plants. He was a wealthy man with a passion for gardening, rose and daffodil breeding, horse racing, fox hunting, golf and photography. Clark released 122 roses between 1912 and his death in 1949. His Hybrid Giganteas are the single greatest group of its type ever bred.

• “Jessie Clark” (1915) was named after his daughter and is a cross between R. gigantea and “Mme. Martigner.” It is a vigour climber, attaining 6 metres, which flowers early in the spring. The blooms are very large (120mm), single rose pink and fragrant. The foliage is leathery, new growth typically red and the hips round.

• “Flying Colours” (1922) The parentage of this variety is unknown, as indeed that of many of Clark’s roses – he did keep approximate notes of his crosses in a notebook however, one evening towards the end of his life, the notebook was left in the garden and that night the rain destroyed all traces of his seedlings’ pedigrees. The flowers of this rose are large, single, and deep pink to red with prominent stamens and slight fragrance. Again it is a vigour climber reaching 6 metres.

• “Golden Vision” (1922) is the issue of “Maréchal Niel” crossed with the Gigantea, and has double fragrant, yellow flowers, which fade to cream and are recurrent blooming. The foliage is light green, prickles are few. This climber may reach 4 metres.

• “Squatter’s Dream” (1923) is a second generation Hybrid Gigantea bush rose, which was named after a racehorse. The long pointed apricot-orange buds open to semi-single, slightly cupped, bright saffron flowers, which fade to creamy yellow. They are fragrant and fully recurrent blooming.

• “Lorraine Lee”  (1924) is perhaps the best known of Clark’s varieties. It too is a second generation Hybrid Gigantea bush rose, being a cross between “Jessie Clark” and “Capitaine Millet.” Clark considered the colour and habit of this variety unsurpassed by any of his later roses. The flowers are rosy apricot-pink, semi-double and cupped. They are fragrant and fully recurrent. The foliage is grey-green and there are few prickles. “Lorraine Lee” produced two offspring, a sport in the same year, “Baxter Beauty” and “Lady Mann,” issue of an unknown cross, in 1940.

• “Baxter Beauty” is, like its parent, a bush rose, and has double, golden-apricot, cupped flowers, which are fragrant and fully recurrent. The bush is evergreen and may bloom in the winter.

• “Lady Mann” is also a bush rose with semi-double, rosy salmon to mid pink flowers with prominent stamens. It is fragrant and fully recurrent, and forms a large – 2m x 1.25m – bush.

• “Tonner’s Fancy” (1928) – another rose named after a racehorse. This climber has double, globular, white to blush pink flowers in the spring only. The foliage is extremely disease resistant.

• “Traverser” (1928) The flowers bloom early in the spring, are semi-double, cream to yellow, and often in clusters. They are slightly fragrant.  The leaves are heavily veined and healthy. This climber may reach 6 metres.

• “Courier” (1930) is probably a cross of the Gigantea with “A. Joseph” and a large, climbing rose. The double, soft creamy-pink flowers, which show prominent stamens, bloom in early spring.

• “Nancy Hayward” (1937)still a great favourite in Australia!  The large, single, cerise pink flowers with slight fragrance are fully recurrent. The leaves are smooth and mid to deep green. New growth is bronze.

• “Pennant” (1941) is possibly a cross between “Flying Colours” and “Lorraine Lee.” The early spring flowers are double, cupped and profuse, of a rich begonia pink. There are few prickles on this vigour climber.

• “Mrs. Richard Turnbull” (1945) is the last of Clark’s Gigantea crosses. The large, single lemon yellow, fading white flowers have attractive stamens and appear in the early spring. Once more it is a vigorous climber with few prickles.

As said, Alister Clark’s breeding records were lost, and a number of his varieties were previously taken to be Hybrid Giganteas, but now though to be incorrect. This is the case of “Kitty Kininmonth.”

 

Hella Brumme of the Sangerhausen Rosarium believes that Clark’s “Queen of Hearts” has Gigantea blood, and Charles Quest Ritson lists “Cicely Lascelles” as a Hybrid Gigantea. However in the excellent book “Australian Roses” by Peter Cox, both roses are attributed to non-Gigantea parents.

 

In Australia there are two collections of Alister Clark’s creations. One is the Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden at St. Kilda, Victoria State, and the Werribee Park, near Melbourne. In addition David Ruston’s National Collection of Roses contains a large number of Clark’s varieties. The vast majority of these are completely unknown in Europe and indeed outside Australia. All of Clark’s Hybrid Gigantea varieties have now been imported to Italy to complete the collection at my home, where visitors are most welcome.

 

Until recently work with the Gigantea seems to have been abandoned, but now a number of European breeders are experimenting in that direction, as well as at least one American, Mr. Rippletoe, and also the Indian, Viru Viraraghaven, some of whose creations I would like to show you:

• “Manipur Magic” is a cross between “Reve d’Or” and R. gigantea.

• “Cargiant 3” – the code name – is a cross between “Carefree Beauty” and R. gigantean.

• “Naga Belle” is a second generation cross, as is also “Sirohi Sunrise,” while “Pink Prelude” and “Golden Threshold” belong to the third generation.

• “Apricot Tea” is a cross between “Safrano” and a R. gigantea seedling.

 

 Viru and his wife Girija visited me some years ago in Italy and brought from India a plant, which he had grown from seed of the Gigantea in his garden, and which he believed to be the R. gigantea.  But when the first flowers appeared came the surprise, for they were very double and a rich creamy colour with an enchanting tea perfume. It will be registered under the name “Double Cream.”  

 

However to my mind, one of the most beautiful of all Hybrid Giganteas was brought to Europe from China by a group of Italian rose enthusiasts.

This rose received notoriety in the book “The Quest for the Rose” by Martyn Rix and Roger Phillips, published in 1993, and inspired the Italian friends to follow the same itinerary. And indeed along the road to Li Jiang in the Yunnan Province they came across this splendid variety – the “Li Jiang Road Climber” – here seen in my garden. It has large, semi-double, pure shell-pink blooms, which tend to nod, so that one may enjoy them from beneath. The once flowering strong climber in full bloom is a delight to behold.

 

So, if that you have the conditions which these plants require, that is, a warm climate and the necessary space, where they may cover high walls or trellises, decorate pergolas and trees or, even better, be planted alone on lawns, the Hybrid Giganteas present plants of the highest ornamental interest, giving abundant blooms each year.  If you are uncertain as to whether your climate is suitable, the only thing I can say is – try! My home in central Italy is at 400 metres above sea level, while a friend of mine living north of Bolzano in northern Italy, where there was a metre of snow last year, successfully grows “Emmanuella de Mouchy” and the “Li Jiang Road Climber.”

All the Hybrid Giganteas in my collection will gradually be made available to the rose-loving public via two rose nurseries:

In France via the “Roseraie du Désert” in Panjas, near the Spanish border, belonging to the Englishman John Hook, And in Italy via “Le Rose di Piedimonte,” in Umbria, owned by Rita Oliva.

 

I am sure they will give you as much pleasure as they have given me.

 

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Bibliography:

- Cox, Peter:  Australian Roses, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1999.

- Ducrot, Vicky:  A Garden for Roses, Rome, 2002.

- Harkness, Peter: The Rose. A Colourful Inheritance,, London, 2003.

- Quest Ritson, Charles:  Climbing Roses of the World, Portland & Cambridge, 2003

- Rix, Martyn & Phillips, Roger:  The Quest for the Rose, London, 1993.

- Stuart Tomas, Graham:  Climbing Roses Old and New, London, 1965.

- Willmott, Ellen:  The Genus Rosa, London, 1910-1914.  

 

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