This summer, the lesser-known, but no less interesting part of the magnificent Rundāle Castle garden – historical roses – has been praised. Their short flowering time in June is over, but in the future most of the six hundred varieties of historical roses will be on view all year round in the book “Historical Rose Garden” by Lauma Lancmane, an expert at the Rundāle Castle Museum. This is the first time that the book brings together such a rich range of historical roses that were known in Europe until the beginning of the 20th century. The oldest roses in the book were described before the 15th century. And unlike many European historical rose gardens in Rundāle, their shrubs do not allow their wildlife to expand, so Rundāle’s historical rose collection can be considered one of the most colorful.
Lauma Lancmane’s book about Rundāle’s historical roses is publishedMara Rosenberg
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In the spacious rose garden of Rundāle Castle, Lauma Lancmane brings me to one of the few historical roses that are still in bloom. This is one of the main differences between historical roses: most bloom only once in early summer. “It starts at the end of May – we see how the rose hips bloom. And then there is the pre-Midsummer, Midsummer time, when Lancmane says.”
The roof of Rundāle Castle is currently being changed. But flocks of tourists roam the garden again. Roses are only 16 years old here, but have become the main magnet of the garden. “This beginning is very old – in the 70’s we went on expeditions to different manors and saw that there are still some old roses in the gardens,” says Lancmane.
And the idea arose that Rundāle also needs his rose garden. The road was not short before, but today more than two thousand varieties of roses grow on both sides of the ornamental parterre, including 600 historical ones, which were known during the time of the Dukes of Courland Birons and the later owners of Rundāle Castle, Counts Zubov and Shuvalov. Two-thirds of them have now been compiled by Lauma Lancmane in a book with gorgeous photographs and descriptions of roses.
“All these 16 years, I’ve been photographing roses all the time to recognize and compare them. So it’s a picture book, because there was a feeling that people have to show what they can’t see. When they go to see tulips, the roses don’t bloom yet. But, “When modern roses bloom, they have already bloomed. So I thought I needed a book that shows what all these historical roses look like. You can also see in which areas these roses bloom and who is the breeder,” explains Lancmane.
The historical roses in the garden of Rundāle Castle have come from nurseries in France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Some breeders take care of them for up to seven generations. Lauma Lancmane wants to highlight the contribution of breeders to the creation of these works of art the most.
“People somehow don’t appreciate that it’s an insanely complex breeder’s job. To be one breed, it’s been decades. (..) There would be no beauty in it if there weren’t such people who have dedicated their lives and many generations to this unimaginable job, where you don’t know the result, “says Lancmane.
The distinction between historical and modern roses is considered to be the middle of the 19th century, when the first European roses bloomed several times, they got a slimmer, modern “florist rose” look from the usual shrub shape, yellow and others enter the usual white, pink and wine color. But there are qualities in which modern roses are unable to compete with the historical ones.
“Also the shape is very different. But of course the main thing is the smell. If people talk about what is the smell of roses, then these are the ones who can also give that smell. We sometimes regret that people are scared and at the moment, when these historic roses bloom, do not approach them and do not smell, “said Lancmane.
Lancmane herself, a ceramicist and interior designer by education, started working with the garden of Rundāle Castle as a theorist: she studied the specifics of historical gardens. But for 16 years now, roses have been an integral part of the work. Every plant knows the name from a distance and can tell its history for a long time.
“I still consider myself a dilettante. And with this advantage, which is for a dilettante, he doesn’t have to be ashamed that he doesn’t know, and maybe that’s why he digs deeper and more thoroughly than another specialist who can’t admit that he’s not learned, “she points out.
Work on the historical roses of Rundāle Castle is far from over. The creators of the garden hope that in the coming years they will be able to get to the greenhouses that existed during the duke’s time – then in the summer they will be able to bring historical tea roses to the garden, which Latvian winters cannot withstand even with careful covering.
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