Ultimate Rose

I bought three books on roses, this is the least favorite although I plan to keep in for reference. Nice pictures but it doesn't have a lot of detail on any subject. You get a taste of many things but it left me wanting more.

It is indeed an ultimate pleasure to look at the beautiful pictures of the American Rose Society's book the Ultimate Rose. It is clear looking through the book why the rose throughout the ages has seemed to hook and entice so many individuals into growing and breeding them.The book is well organized with chapters on history, classification, growing, arranging and drying. Each section important and necessary for a book about roses.The largest portion of the book is dedicated to the classification of roses with a description and history of each type of rose as perpetual, Bourbon, hybrid tea or other and numerous pictures of roses representing each type of rose. The pictures are exquisite. I look through the book and dream of more roses I could have and try to imagine where on my tiny plot I could plant one more. With each picture is a brief description as follows for the grandiflora rose "Queen Elizabeth", "The first to be classed as a grandiflora, this rose has won many top awards through the world"As would be expected from a Rose Society book the chapter on growing roses is very useful and informative. Here the pictures help to illustrate techniques as pruning and planting roses. This chapter describes how to choose roses to purchases, proper planting techniques, maintenance, pest control and pruning.For those of us with a rose habit, we not only want to grow them, arrange them, but learn everything we can about them. If you are starting a rose library this is one which should be included. It is simply a nice coffee table book to browse through and admire the photos, rose grower or not, it may induce you to begin planting roses.

This book has beautiful full color photraphs and discusses roses by species. If I were going to try to create a new cross- this book would be helpful. The chapter go into the histories of the different roses... By far the best part of this book.... Has to be the PICTURES!Not a single source book/ this is a book that should supplement your library of ROSES.

This book is a must have for any rose enthusiast. Much will be said about the dazzling color photography and it is the best I've ever seen. However, its chief virtue is organization and thoroughness.Each classification is represented in order of development, accompanied by its history and tips on care and use. Even half forgotten old timers like Ayrshire and Boursalt get a nod.It concludes with excellent advice from choosing a site to dry arranging.There's only one fault with this book - it's too brief.This is one time when the cliche "If you can have only one book ..." really works.