"James" no wrote in message

Thank you, FarmI for the good info !!!

I hope I've been of some small assistance.

You asked a question about a group of plants that has always fascinated me
for their beauty, their history and the fact that as you've found in the
case of your son's rose, can survive and thrive even with no care.

After posting I thought of many other things I should have written so I did
a Net hunt and found some sites that may help you in your quest -some of
these sites are in Oz, some in the US, but it may help you with the terms
used when asking about old roses so the sites may help you find a source for
the sort of roses you need.

The US will have rosarian societies who will have worked hard to save old
varieties and keep them in cultivation. Sadly most nurseries don't stock
these plants and an active hunt from specialist suppliers is needed to find
them but I'm sure that these US suppliers are like those I know of in Oz and
will ship them to you bare rooted at the right time of the year. Sadly many
people don't know about the range of roses and when they hear the word
'rose', they only see in their mind's eye a 'rose' that looks like a hybrid
tea. They are missing out on such a rich field of flower types.

It also occurred to me that, as in Oz, famous old houses like Jefferson's
'Monticello' would have heritage garden plants growing and looking at what
is in similar old US gardens would be a good source of info on these old
plants.

David Austin who is an English rose breeder has produced roses which are
described as being 'old'. Don't buy them for the situation you described as
they need more care than you would want to give them. You could take a
cutting off your roses rose though and that is an easy way of reproducing
his gorgeous rose.

Anyway, here's the cites (BTW are you also known as 'Jim" and post under
another addy in another newsgroup I infest?)
http://www.rkdn.org/roses/
http://www.antiqueroses.com/public/a.../rose_care.htm
http://www.monticello.org/chp/leonie_bell.html
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1866654.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2163640.htm

Enjoy! It's a fascinating area, but be warned, old roses can become
addictive.