Chinas - The Friends of Vintage Roses

Chinas

Hermosa

Mutabilis

Cramoisi Superieure

Comtesse du Cayla

Mme Laurette Messimy

Miss Lowes Variety

Twiggy, smooth-wooded plants that seemingly put flowers out of every joint. Most are compact and short to moderate growers. Flowers come in white, pink, and a hundred shades of cherry-crimson, the colors intensifying with passing days. A few, bearing Tea rose blood, are shaded with apricot and yellow.

In listing our “Mystery” Chinas, we warn the collector that we merely pass these on as they come to us, trying to avoid obvious duplicates. Even those red and pink Chinas which we offer with “official” names may not be what they are believed to be. Nonetheless, this group of roses is so exceptional in the garden, and there are such charming variations, we cannot recommend them too highly!

We currently have no curator for the Chinas. If you are interested in becoming one, please contact: curator@thefriendsofvintageroses.org.

Chinas are very twiggy shrubs that seem capable of putting new growth on from any given point on the plant. Nearly every new growth ends in flower, hence the exceptionally continuous flowering of Chinas. We distinguish the Chinas by three principal habits of growth (left to right, above).

(E.g., Hermosa) The old monthly rose group, which are more upright and open than the red Chinas. [Ch #1]
(E.g., White Pearl in Red Dragon’s Mouth) The red Chinas, which form a dense intercrossing mass of light wood and are often wider than tall. [Ch #2]
(E.g., Mutabilis) The most upright, open, spreading Chinas, which can get quite tall, to 7′ or more. [Ch #3]

Brackets refer to Explanatory Information page.
China roses original Book of Roses pages: VCG_Chinas.pdf

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About TFoVR

TFoVR owns and maintains the historic roses in our collection, currently located in Sebastopol, California, about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Rosarians world-wide consider the collection to be one of the most comprehensive multiple-class collections of old roses ever assembled. Of particular note — the Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons, Gallicas, Hybrid Chinas, Teas, Noisettes and Chinas — are among the most complete in North America and the old Hybrid Teas include an extensive group of Pernetianas.