Growing Cabbage Roses in my Cottage Garden

“I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday sweet and fragrant, between its leaves.” 

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

Growing Cabbage Roses in My Cottage Garden. June 9, 2024.

The new cabbage roses were not going to be hurried. No amount of rose food was going to rush them along. All the other new rose plants were eager to grow and show the world their finery, but the cabbage roses wouldn’t budge. They were going to take their time. That first season, while all the other new roses were producing lots of flowers right away, the cabbage rose remained empty, thorny, and unconcerned. But patience is a virtue and so is self-control, both of which were rewarded the following Spring when the canes began to leaf out and produced round green buds with bright pink peeping through their sepals. Then one day, the pink frilly roses made their debut. Hidden Bluff now had cabbage roses.

Cabbage roses are not your stiff roses with tightly and perfectly curled petals born of the modern era. These antique roses come from the yesteryear of charmed pastoral gardens and idyllic countrysides. The flower of the Cabbage rose is wide open and friendly, filled with an abundance of ruffly petals, rich with the old rose smell we are so familiar with. There is nothing pretentious about these roses. They send out beautiful sprays of roses on top. You will also find them peeping demurely through the green leaves of the bush as if they had a secret. Their old-rose smell is perfume of the highest quality. Cabbage roses are enchanting to the right sort of people, such as those who love old English style and provincial life, adore secret gardens, and Austen romance books.

In the early days of cottage garden planning at Hidden Bluff, a longing for growing cabbage roses sparked inside and began to grow. I simply couldn’t imagine a garden without these charmed roses. The casual elegance of the old garden roses speaks to my inner beauty seeker with all its Anglophile tendencies. Cabbage roses defy formality, which makes them the perfect flower for the carefree nature of the cottage garden. Sometimes people refer to many-petaled roses as cabbage roses, but today I am talking of the original cabbage rose: Rosa x centifolia.

A Different Sort of Rose….

Sometimes called the Provence Rose, the Cabbage rose has been around for hundreds of years- a very old-fashioned rose indeed. It is said to have been developed by the Dutch in the 16th century and is considered an Old Garden Rose. Old Garden Roses are those that have been around since before the modern rose era began in 1867. This was the year that hybrid tea roses were introduced, a new form of rose that took center stage. The new roses had tightly formed centers as compared to the wider, flatter, and ruffly style of the old garden roses. Famous gardener Gertrude Jekyll preferred the old garden roses because, according to her, they “blend harmoniously with other garden plants,” a point I agree with, even though I adore my modern roses with their full cups bursting with petals and light, fruity-floral fragrances.

While I am only in my second year of growing these old-fashioned lovelies, I have noticed a few things. The gentle beauties are hardy and were strong in the winter winds at Troutdale. Even the destructive ice storm that coated the garden in several inches of ice didn’t bother them. Those few bare canes were resilient. And while they were slow to get going, they are now quickly overtaking the other roses in size. They are even producing suckers that I have successfully transplanted. These are roses that will spread. This is a point to consider when planting. I am already considering moving them to a roomier spot.

Caring for Cabbage Roses

I find I need to spray our Cabbage roses weekly with neem oil or an organic insecticide, as the insects seem to like old garden roses. Additionally, I have noticed the leaves are prone to issues, although I have had no major problems with them. All Hidden Bluff roses are fed a seaweed-based plant food and monitored weekly for any signs of trouble. So far, they have proven quite hearty, if a bit slower-growing, in the first year. They like the full sun but tolerate some shade. Of course, good-draining soil is always best, and a good rose food is a good investment. And don’t forget to mulch before winter sets in if your area is prone to cold snaps. This step was likely what saved our roses from the ice storm mentioned previously that killed so many things in our area.

Cabbage Roses, like many other Old Garden Roses, are extremely fragrant. The downside of this rose is its many thorns. Additionally, the rose blooms only last a day or two when they do open. However, this quality also makes them the perfect roses for using in the kitchen or at home. Dry their petals to use in the kitchen for teas or edible decor, or make infusions or syrups with fresh petals. You can also use dried rose petals for sachets. I dry petals spread out on a paper towel. It only takes a few days.

When inhaling the rich fragrance of an old garden rose, my mind travels back to a simpler time. Visions of homemade rosewater strewn with petals come to mind. Or perhaps I think of Victorian women filling small baskets with the pink petals to make sachets. Perhaps I shall get out my small basket and collect roses to make potpourri….

Have a beautiful day!

*No monies received from affiliates. All opinions are my own.