I transplanted these roses from our farm in upstate NY about fifteen years ago to northern VA. They pretty much grew wild along the drive up to the house in a long, untended shrub row... I have moved them several times since first transplanted and the place now seems to be the best... Morning sun, partly shaded in the afternoon. It has spread out underground with new stems coming up all over the place. They bloom once during late spring for a couple weeks. The scent is glorious!! One of the reasons I moved them was to get them close to the deck so I can drink coffee in the morning and smell the roses!

I have checked a lot of sites and these seem to be close to Damask roses, except their color is darker than the pics I have seen... Damask are white to pink... these are very dark pink/red.

They grow very tall (I have some right now over 6') but they tend to
droop because of the weight. I have them staked upright now but would like to positively identify them to be sure I treat them right. Cutting them way back during winter didn't hurt them, they came back strong, ignoring them and not pruning them didn't effect them except I had some deadwood to cut in the spring... I would like to know what they are so I know if I can shape them by pegging or an Arbor or some other way. Right now they are just gangly...

Thanks in advance for any help!! I am truly ignorant about roses except that I love them... :-)

There are some darker damask roses. The most popular are Rose de Rescht and Arthur de Sansal.





These two, and most of the other damasks, rebloom in fall, however, so it's more likely that your rose is a Gallica. Gallicas are once-bloomers and are famous for spreading by underground runners.

Whatever it is, it certainly can be pegged or grown on an arbor. Ideally, you should be pruning it right after it has finished blooming. Pruning a once-bloomer at any other time can reduce flowering in the next year.

I agree with Zuzu - it sounds like a Gallica. Such a bright pink it's hard to get a good shot of it - and you only get the chance once a year (but it's worth the wait !)



The leaves on mine are longer and more narrow than most other roses, almost prickly at the edges and not shiny or smooth.

And speaking of the scent, Gallicas are the roses perfumes are made of

Thanks so much!!! I missed my pruning window then. I will try pegging them now and see how they turn out in the spring.

could it be a Charles de Mills?

Yes, it could be. Charles de Mills is one of the most popular Gallica roses. I personally have never seen a Charles de Mills that's over 6 feet tall, but I'm sure it's possible.

I think I have one of each of these ; Rose de Rescht and Charles de Mills
maybe we can both figure out what is what next spring

Rose de Recht has several buds.Now I know which rose this is. After Charles de Mills blooms it`s one time next spring how far back do we prune it?

Hello, I was just browsing around the rose forum and ran across your post. What caught my attention was you description of the runners (suckers) your rose puts out, plus it is once blooming and very fragrant. I agree that it is defiantly a gallicas. I transplanted 3 of these or similar to yours about 8 years ago. I couldn't even tell you exactly how many I have now. They are once bloomers, very fragrant and obviously sucker. I also have a rose de recht and its growing habits are nothing like this gallica.