I purchased this last fall, and now with the first blooms, I don't think it's correctly labeled according to pics I have seen. Does anyone know what it might be?

It doesn't look like Rosa Mundi. It reminds me of Portland from Glendora.





Why did you buy a Gallica, Rosemary? It wouldn't bloom much, if at all, in your zone.

I had seen one at the Woodland Library Garden last summer (not in bloom, and it was rather small), and having an ancient rose that traditionally was used medicinally intrigued me. so when I saw it, I bought it(in zone 9!) I don't know very much about OGR, as to which ones do well or don't do well in my zone. I bought a second one as well that is definitely different but still labeled the same. I was hoping there might be one of each. But maybe it's just as well if they were mislabeled, if they won't do well here.

It reminds me of what I have as 'Bella Donna'. Now the caveat there is that what I have as 'Bella Donna' is a foundling that's rather common in the NJ-PA area, often collected around cemeteries and old homes/gardens. Mine was given to me as a sucker from a plant collected in such a way. It's been known here as 'Bella Donna' for a long time -- I think Leonie Bell actually identified a rose she thought was 'Kazanlik' by matching it to something grown at the Wyck House in Germantown, PA that was called 'Bella Donna' -- and that rose has a documented history at the garden since it was originally purchased and planted. Here is her botanical illustration, labeled as 'Kazanlik' because that's what she thought it was originally.






But apparently what you get and see as 'Bella Donna' from nurseries and on HelpMeFind nowadays has a lighter petal color -- see below.

https://www.helpmefind.com/ros...

The 'Bella Donna' at my job is the "conventional" form with lighter-colored petals, as seen in most of the pics on HelpMeFind -- except this one.

https://www.helpmefind.com/ros...

If I recall correctly, the rose in Joe's garden is also a sucker from a collected 'Bella Donna', and possibly from the same source, since we have my source as a friend in common.

Is it a sport? Is it a totally different rose? I don't know. But that button eye, the prickles, the leaves -- it all looks like what I know as that. However, there are quite a few pink Gallicas and Damasks and Hybrid Gallicas (which have Centifolia ancestry) out there, so hopefully someone better acquainted with a larger number of these types will chime in. And after I put all this together in this post, it'd be funny if I was totally wrong! Hahaha.

:-)

~Christopher

Thank you, Christopher—and Zuzu! I guess there are a lot of Old Roses that look quite similar! I agree it looks very much like Bella Donna, but if it blooms later rather than earlier like the one I have (and it's in partial shade), it's probably not the same one. I do have a couple of OGR books I decided to look through, and it's definitely not Kazanlik as the petals are much tighter. More similar to the one Zuzu suggested. One that stood out to me in the OGR book is Koenigin von Danemarck, and the description is on target. Anyone familiar with this one?

It does resemble Queen of Denmark, but I'm not sure an Alba would be any happier in your zone than a Gallica.

Rose (Rosa 'Queen of Denmark')

I'm not saying it's 'Kazanlik'. What I'm saying is that Leonie Bell illustrated a rose she thought was 'Kazanlik' -- I put the picture in my post -- but later she saw the same rose growing at the Wyck House, labeled as 'Bella Donna'. She acknowledged this error later, but because the illustration was published with the incorrect name, I mentioned the story to clarify why the illustration shows a rose that looks like yours but is labeled 'Kazanlik', which it is not.

:-)

~Christopher

Zuzu, maybe that's why they were being sold in the bargain section of the nursery.

Thank you, Christopher, for the further explanation. It's an interesting story in the quest of correct ID"ing and yes, the illustrated pic very much looks like mine.

I decided to hop over to the Sac Hist. Cem. Rose Garden and see if there was anything similar in bloom and found the last one Zuzu suggested. The prickles are a bit different and the petals slightly larger, and the color stays vivid rather than fading.






But I found another one that looks more like mine (I brought one with me from home to compare:





Guess the tag is blurry, but the name is 'Duc de Cambridge'.