Book  (2005)  Page(s) 131.  Includes photo(s).
 
Portland rose André Dupont, gardener to Empress Joséphine, received this rose from England in 1803 and was calling it Rosier de Portland by 1809. It reached him despite the continental blockade, perhaps given a fair wind by the duke of Portland who held high government office. For a rose with Damask and Gallica parents its red colour is unusually bright. There was speculation that this was due to genetic input from a Chinese red variety, but this has been discounted by DNA tests. A pinky red 'Portland' known since the 1770s appears to be a different rose.

Website / Catalog  (Jun 1998)  Page(s) 35.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (1997)  Page(s) 176, 177.  Includes photo(s).
 
Duchess of Portland ('Portland Rose') Portland. Italy c. 1790. Parentage obscure, said to be 'Quatre Saisons' x 'Slater's Cirmson China'. Description and cultivation... flowers: cerise-red with pronounced golden stamens... important as the progenitor of its race..

Book  (1995)  Page(s) 36.  Includes photo(s).
 
The Portland Rose, 'The Scarlet Four Seasons Rose'. Likely the results of a China rose-gallica cross. Resembles gallica 'Officinalis'. Originally known as 'Paestana', taken from the Italian town of Paestum, a centre of rose propagation for the insatiable Roman market -- for which roses were even grown under glass to lengthen the season when blooms would be available. Dupont named it 'Duchess of Portland' and it became the founder of the Portland rose line -- though many people continued for some time to refer to it as a damask perpetual in reference to its long and comparatively continuous flowering period. It was listed in a nursery catalogue in 1782. Redouté pictured it under the title Le Rosier de Portland.

Book  (1995)  Page(s) 157.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 44.  
 
The Portland Rose Redouté did a portrait of 'Le Rosier de Portland'. Description... flowers: in clusters, bright crimson, rather darker and more intense than the Red Rose of Lancaster, but smaller and semi-double. In hot dry seasons there is a long pause without flowers after the first flush at midsummer, but with good cultivation and reasonable moisture there are further flowers in autumn. Not strongly scented. Hips are long and are of true Damask shape.

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 152.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Duchess of Portland' ('Paestana', 'Scarlet Four Seasons', 'The Portland Rose'). Portland. Flowers: carmine-red with golden stamens, fragrant... the bush is Gallica-like... [it] will, if it is treated generously, flower a second time in the autumn... a rose of great historic importance, being one of the first fruits of the marriage of the Old French Roses and the China Rose.

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 146.  
 
Portland (OGR), medium red, ('Duchesse de Portland'; 'Portland Rose'); About 1800. Flowers bright scarlet. The first of the Portland class (Damask hybrids with some recurrence).

Book  (Feb 1993)  Page(s) 79, 80.  Includes photo(s).
 
Portland Rose Parentage: Unknown, but reputedly 'Quatre Saisons' x 'Slater's Crimson China', with possible R. centifolia involvement. It is also suggested that 'Quatre Saisons' and a Gallica rose were responsible. Released by Dupont in Paris in 1809, but date of origin is probably prior to that.... progenitor of the Portland group... Discussion of origins and naming... It caused a sensation at the time with its bright red colouring and ability to reflower in the autumn...

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 82, 83.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Listed under 'The Portland Rose'] Portland. Description. ('Scarlet Four Seasons' Rose') Flowers: light crimson, yellow stamens. Strong Damask fragrance.