Damask Rose 'Autumn Damask': The Ancient Four-Season Rose

Dating to 1819 (with roots far older), 'Autumn Damask' (also Alexandrian Rose, Bifera, Rose des Quatre Saisons, Four Seasons Rose, Old Castilian) is the legendary Damask that broke the once-blooming barrier. A sport of the ancient summer Damask (Rosa × damascena), it possesses the remarkable ability to bloom again in autumn—hence its many names referencing four seasons. This trait, passed to countless descendants, revolutionized rose breeding.

The flowers are medium (3 to 4 inches), very double, quartered, and a clear, rich pink with the intense, classic Damask fragrance—arguably the finest perfume in the rose world, the source of commercial attar of roses. The plant forms a dense, suckering shrub 4 to 6 feet tall with grey-green, downy foliage and numerous prickles. It blooms heavily in early summer, then produces a lighter but welcome second flush in autumn.

Extraordinarily hardy (zone 3), disease-resistant, and tolerant of poor soils, 'Autumn Damask' is a survivor. Its historical significance cannot be overstated: without this rose, the entire lineage of repeat-flowering modern roses—Hybrid Perpetuals, Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, English Roses—might not exist. For historical gardens and fragrance lovers, it is an essential living artifact.