Carnation Rose

PICTURE SOURCE Les Roses, Volume I (1817)

ORIGINAL BOTANICAL NAME Rosa Centifolia Caryophyllea

ORIGINAL FRENCH NAME Rosier Oeillet

CURRENT BOTANTICAL NAME R. centifolia variety

COMMON NAME Carnation Rose

OTHER NAMES Oieillet, Dianthaeflora, Guenille, Multiflora, Onguiculata, Unguiculata

CLASS Centifolia

ORIGIN Disputed: Poilpré c. 1790 from seed, Du Pont c.1800 from sport

FLOWERING Once-flowering; summer

SCENT Strong fragrance

GROWTH Small shrub; 2 feet high (0.6 metres)

AVAILABILITY Still in cultivation?

For more information, don’t miss the introduction page; ‘Centifolia – The Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rose'

At left; picture of the Cabbage Rose, R. centifolia ‘Oeillet’, painted by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, portrait 045 out of 170, Volume I of Les Roses.

This is an unusual Centifolia – its flowers resembling a carnation. Redouté & Thory write that it ‘originated by chance from a Centifolia Rose that had degenerated in a garden at Mantes-sur-Siene in 1800’ They go on to say that it was Monsieur Du Point who rescued and propagated it under the name Rosa Caryophyllata.

However, the rose breeder Vibert recorded in 1824 that it had in fact originated c.1790 from a crop of Centifolia seed and not from a sport. The seedling was raised by Monsieur Poilpré, at Le Mans, who was the first to propagate it.

However it originated, Redouté & Thory describe it as having a tendency to revert to its original form and must, from time to time, be renewed on fresh rootstock to preserve it.

They also say it is rare to find the Carnation Rose growing on its own roots. Typically it is grafted. On both the Hedge Rose (?) and the vigorous White Rose (R. alba) rootstock they write that it produces ‘magnificent heads ‘ [many flower-bearing shoots] and a ‘multitude of flowers’.

Cultivation-wise, they write that it requires an eastern exposure, meaning presumably, that it performed better when sheltered from the afternoon sun. They describe its habit as growing into a small ‘sparse bush, to a height of two feet, or so.’ Its stems are ‘armed with a good many thorns’ and its leaves are bright green, paler and covered with down on the reverse. The flower is ‘rather small’ and composed of ‘five to six rows’ of petals that are ‘curled and crumpled within’. It is coloured a ‘delicate pink splashed with spots of yellowish-white’. Its distinguishing carnation-like feature is the shape and fringed-edge of its petals, which Redouté & Thory describe as ‘irregularly notched at the tip’ and ending in a ‘lengthened white claw’. They conclude that its hips are ‘absolutely the same as those of the Centifolia Rose.’