Pick up any general reference book on roses with a list of internationally recognized rose gardens and the odds are overwhelming that prominent among the citations will be the International Rosarium of Descanso Gardens.

If, like most people, your sensory memory bank fails after a couple of hours, a half dozen visits will be necessary to begin to appreciate the varied pleasures of the Garden. As you enter the north facing Entrance to Decanso Gardens, the Rosarium is to the western end. The longer than wider tract is bounded on the north by a picnic area, on the western by an extra parking lot, a relic of the old entrance to the gardens, and a bird observation station. On the southwest exposure the iris gardens periodically come to life in spring. Along the eastern side a deep waterway separates the rose gardens from a broad path paralleling the length of the garden bedded with exotic hibiscus (known in the advertising as Hotbiscus), impatiens, tithonias (orange Mexican Sunflowers) and cosmos.

The International Rosarium extends over five acres of landscaped beds, themes, ponds, tunnels, and arches. The tram tour guide carefully explains that it is a rosarium because it includes plants other than roses; this belies my dictionary definition of a rosarium as a rose garden, but the deliberate inclusion of plants other than roses distinguishes this rose garden from one in which the emphasis is on the rose as the sole focus rather than in a context of other plants. A small brochure with a line drawing locates various sites within the rosarium. The line drawing resembles nothing so much as a board for the children’s game of ‘Life,’ although the contents are significantly less stressful. Twenty beds of roses and companion plantings contain more than fifty identifiable sites organized around three main principles: rose class -- Moss or Hybrid Musk or Noisette; the nationality of the hybridizer -- English, French, Spanish -- and miscellaneous function -- such as the white garden, butterfly or the cottage garden. Roughly the division is some twenty classes, fourteen nationalities, and a dozen function or other themed groupings.

The original rose garden was designed by Dr. Walter Lammerts, an extraordinary horticulturist whose work involved camellias, lilacs, stone fruits and roses (‘Queen Elizabeth,’ ‘Mirandy,’ and ‘Chrysler Imperial’). His design focused on the historical aspects of the development of the rose in terms of the chronological appearance within a Eurocentric context; the other main aspect included beds of AARS winners (ten of each winner for successive years from 1940). In the creation of the International Rosarium particular attention was paid to incorporate the themes and ideas of the original garden as well as the maintenance of a degree of informality in the presentation. A plaque dedicated to Dr. Lammerts characterizes him as ‘the father of scientific rose breeding’ and notes that he pioneered a ‘unique conception for a collection of roses based on the history of the rose (that) remains today in the design of the Descanso International Rosarium.’ The current garden was dedicated in 1994 with a view to providing both the ambience of a private personal garden as well as an opportunity for the study and appreciation of the development of the rose in the context of various class groupings.

The arguments for and against companion plantings with roses have raged without quarter for a hundred years without bringing a truce. For the simple rose purist, a definition from a high school biology book of a half-century ago will suffice: A weed is anything that goes where you don’t want it. Thus, any plant near a rose is a weed. A more sophisticated argument posits that since plants near a rose are in competition for nutriments, the very existence of another plant is a derogation from the teleology of the rose and thus to be condemned. However, the arguments for joining roses and other plants find support in the basic cultural changes both portended and intended in the United States. Homes are larger, but the gardening spaces are smaller. Two-career couples are on the cutting edge of social developments with less time and energy for labor intensive activities like roses or gardening in general. Companion plantings may cover a multitude of horticultural sins and problems with the least amount of effort. But, for the serious rosarian, contemplation of the notion that other plants have not only the right to exist, but might actually be desired by someone is not a conceit to be endured.

A truly astonishing number of plants can be arrayed with roses if Descanso is any indication. Some twenty trees are spread about the rosarium to good effect -- weeping silver leafed pear (pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’) provides both contrast in texture and its own fruit in the Gallica section. Other companion plants range from armeria alliacea ‘Bees Ruby’ (sea pinks with deep cerise foot tall circular blooms) in the Japanese garden to the seemingly casual placement of a California fuchsia (zauschneria californica). Sometimes the effect can be almost whimsical as with the placement of Kangaroo Paws (anigozanthus favidus or humilis) in the Australian gardens. On other occasions the use of companion plants with roses can be almost overpowering as with the placement of three very large artichokes in the corner of a bed of David Austin roses; they tower above the English roses planted there and almost mock the dictum of the hybridizer that English roses be planted in groups of three so as to show them at best advantage. Frequently used companion plants include yarrow, potentillas, various thymes, santolinas, and geraniums (both ‘Biokova’ and ‘Sanguineum).’. Sometimes just one plant speaks volumes, as in the placement of a single agapanthus ‘Elaine,’ a medium size lily-of-the-Nile with spikes of a blue so intense it crowds out other colors from view.

Among the most striking of the rose/companion plant arrangements are the following:

• A very small triangular bed near the open air pavilion encompasses the use of lavateras, dusty millers, penstemons and a red rose, most likely a Hybrid Perpetual. The open loose rangy form of the lavatera is complimented by the dense silver foliage and compact stature of the dusty millers while the penstemons and rose add definite color blocks to punctuate the arrangement. (A short note about signage: signage -- or rather, the lack of it -- can be the bane of visiting any public garden. And it is difficult for any garden to maintain a 100 per cent level of signage for every and all plants; nevertheless, whether the acceptable level of effective signage hovers at some ‘good enough’ range of 80 per cent efficiency or a more stringent level of 95, per cent, the International Rosarium would meet all but the most unrealistic of standards. Even better, the newer tan and black signs are much easier to read than the older black and white ones.)


• In the Portland roses section, the 'Duchess of Portland' -- a compact bush with some loose flowers of deep rose is placed away from the path with a border of verbena rigida, a low bush with foot and a half spikes of magenta. Verbena bonariensis displays deep purple spiky blooms on long stalks with sparse foliage and is used in many different venues in the rosarium. Although it is usually listed as reaching 4 to 5 feet tall, it seems not to have attained that stature in the rosarium beds. On the other hand, people in other parts of the country complain that the sharply toothed leaves can be painful and difficult to cope with; some caution might be exercised in utilizing this plant in a home garden.


• Another effective use of companion planting occurs through the technique of growing clematis vines up and through tall and sturdy roses. One such effect occurs in the Austin beds where Clematis ‘Betty Corning’ weaves in and out of 'Kathryn Morley'. ‘Betty Corning’ flaunts two-inch light blue flowers of four petals; it helps to conceal the somewhat asymmetric growth of ‘Kathryn Morley’ and the flowers contrast nicely with the soft pale pink blooms of the rose. Two especially unusual conjoinings of clematis and rose occur in the French quarter of the Rosarium. The Clematis ‘Richard Pennell,’ an eight foot vine is aligned with a park bench arch where the rosy purple, 8-petal flowers contrast with the nearby Romanticas, especially 'Traviata'. Even more vivid is the linkage of Delbard’s cherry red large climber ‘Altissimo’ with the Polish clematis, ‘General Sikorski,’ with its six inch mauve blue flowers with a reddish flush at the base of the petals. When the four petals fade and drop, all that remains are the once prominent golden stamens now a gray powderpuff against the red flowers of the climber.

The general design of the Rosarium locates the species beds at the edges of the northern and eastern entrances. The mostly once-blooming older classes such as Albas, Gallicas, and Centifolia beds circle around a Tudor Herb garden at the northern end. The recurrent and remontant classes occupy the space between the older groups and the educational pavilion just to its immediate north and west. This placement generally confirms to the historical development of the rose in keeping with the Lammerts notion in the original garden design. Again, generally, the more modern classes such as Hybrid Teas, Teas, and Polyanthas, are just to the south of the pavilion. With the exception of the Hybrid Musk grouping at the extreme southern end, the nationality groups predominate to the south of the pavilion.

At the western edge of the gardens astride a broad walkway sits the Noisette Tunnelle. This structure consists of some seventeen arches the height of three or four California athletes at the bases of which are planted numerous Noisettes. Since many if not most of this class of roses tend to be climbers, this mode of display is especially effective although the process of covering the arches is not yet complete. In addition to many noisettes easily found in commerce, such as 'Nastarana', 'Claire Jacquier', and 'La Biche', there are a few roses more difficult to come by, such as 'Mount Vernon Purple Noisette', 'Mary Washington', and 'Deschamps' (a medium red). In the spaces between the arches, both pentas and euphorbia x martini plants have been established. The pentas range in color from white to pink to blue clusters and rise two to three feet from the ground covered with long, bright green, hairy leaves. Euphorbia x martini is a striking member of a large family of plants including the poinsettia; this has mahogany red stalks of about two to three feet tall. Clusters of chartreuse flowers with little brown or maroon eyes appear at the end of the stalks.

An innovative themed/class garden concerns early or classic or ‘vintage’ Hybrid Teas. These are roses introduced between 1867 and 1940; these roses, according to an explanatory plaque ‘are most in danger of extinction.’ Though there are many roses such as 'Mrs. Oakley Fisher', a single dark yellow or buff colored bloom with noticeable fragrance, sold by literally dozens of nurseries world wide, many more are in the position of 'Mme. Jules Bouche', a tall bush with white flowers flushed pink that are only available at one nursery and that by custom budding over a two year period. Of the more than two dozen roses in the grouping, over half of them are not at all available in this country or only through nurseries specializing in the preservation of old and rare roses.

The nationality gardens are at least partially misnamed, for in many instances the nationality garden really consists of the plantings of one or two hybridizers only. Thus, the Spanish section of the nationality garden consists of the roses of Pedro Dot ('Para Ti', 'Condesa de Sastago', 'Catalonia') or in the Belgian area the work of Louis Lens ('Pascali', 'Running Maid', 'Poesie'). Of particular interest are the nationality gardens designated the Japanese roses and the Australian ones. The two gardens are antipodal in the sense that the Japanese roses are located at the extreme northeastern end of the Rosarium and the Australian one at the extreme southeastern end. The Japanese roses are primarily the work of two particular hybridizers—Seizo Suzuki and Kikuo Teranishi. Suzuki is primarily known in the United States for ‘Mikado’ (flaming red petals with yellow bases) and Teranishi for ‘Madame Violet’ (large mauve blooms amidst luxuriant dark green foliage). Most of the other roses are not commercially available here. According to a posted notice, the collection of Japanese roses is one of the ‘displays of Japanese roses in the United States.’ ‘Awayuki’ is a 1990 ground cover with single white blooms with yellow stamens that covers an area four feet high and ten feet wide near an Eastern garden entrance.

A more recent addition to the nationality gardens are the roses of Alister Clark, an Australian hybridizer whose career spanned most of the first half of the 20th century. Nearly twenty of his roses were added to the Australian section of the Rosarium; some half a dozen of these are polyanthas currently unavailable in this country. In fact, the only Clark rose that seems to be available is 'Lorraine Lee,’ a pink Tea. However, there are plans to make cuttings of the Clark roses and make them available to the public through the agency of the annual plant sale generally held in mid-October. Arena Roses, contributors of the Clark material, continue to evaluate the Clark roses with a view to introduction into general commerce in 2003.

One of the theme beds also presents a rose not generally in commerce: At the entrance to the Child’s Secret Garden, entwined around the entrance gateway is a Hybrid Musk rose named, appropriately enough, ‘Secret Garden.’ The rose climbs up and around the entrance way featuring clusters of half a dozen tight buds edged in pink that open to a brilliant white stellate one inch flower with prominent yellow stamens. The foliage is a mid-green featuring nine leaves and there are relatively few thorns. However, the standout feature is the scent. It is difficult to describe because the primary and outstanding characteristic is that it is deliciously clean -- almost approaching the purity of that scent described by manufacturers of deodorants and the like as ‘no scent.’ Whatever its history or lineage, it is a rose to be reckoned with and plans to reproduce it for the commercial market cannot be far away, given its many virtues. The Child’s Secret Garden also features a number of other white roses including 'White Wings', 'French Lace', 'Long John Silver' and 'Descanso Dream'. A pint size maze leads to a center square with miniature chairs and miniature roses. But, like many things designed with children in mind, the absence of children seems to cast a melancholy pall over the garden as if there were Memories to be exorcised rather than children celebrated.

The Rosarium does not seem to seek the latest and hottest roses fresh from the marketing scheme of major vendors. While the AARS display garden does contain the roses chosen as the best for a given year, this feature of the garden does not overpower the design and display of other aspects of the rose and its history. You can examine over sixty roses developed by the Kordes and Tantaus in the course of family involvement in the development of the rose. You can enjoy the prospect of examining Tea Roses in the context of an Edwardian garden, or the mauve, lavender and black accents of a Victorian garden. This is a place for reflection upon roses as well as enjoyment, but it is not a place where time is of the essence. Like the rest of Descanso, there are pleasures here to be savored and revisited and recounted to others. One can only contemplate with quiet excitement the future extensions of the Rosarium.

However, the Rosarium is not without a flaw. The Meillands consider ‘Papa Meilland’ to be among the most fragrant of all the roses that they have ever produced. The temptation to enjoy the fragrance close up is almost irresistible. However, placing it and other fragrant roses beyond signs that enjoin people to stay on the walkways is an act of provocation that would justify the disobedient before any jury in the land.