Tammy, I bought a band of Cliff's "Kraskoje Kawaskole" through Vintage Gardens last year. Later that same year I wrote to Cliff asking him if he had any photos of this rose because I wasn't finding any pictures of the rose anywhere on the internet. He wrote back saying that all the rooted cuttings were sent onto Vintage Gardens, and that his records were not complete, but he thought that it was one of his newer roses that were under quarantine.

I only found one photo of "Kawkasskaja" on a foreign website and that photo looks similar to the photo that Bernard Loubert supplied to HMF that is now listed under the heading of "Kraskoje Kawaskole".

The photo of "Kawkasskaja" that I found shows a gallica rose of a cerise-ruby color, and the pattern of the petals is the same as Bernard's photo. The only difference is that the photo was taken in low light conditions, on an overcast rainy day, and the bloom is much fresher. Bierkreek lists a "Kraskoje Kawaskole" but there is no photo.

Gregg at Vintage Gardens has two listings, and under "Kawkasskaja" his says "We wonder if this is not the Karaiskaki attributed to Prévost by Suzanne Verrier, introduced in 1838." (Gregg means the Suzanne Verrier book of Gallica roses.) I haven't had the chance to track down that book to see if there are any pictures of that rose, but I was intrigued by the name "Karaiskaki" and a historical mystery.

I can't quite remember, but I think Gregg put that comment under "Kraskoje Kawaskoe", but I see it is now under "Kawkasskaja".

It took quite awhile to translate "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" at Google Translate; I tried lots of different languages, splitting the words up to find common patterns, and the closest language I came up with was either Slovak or Slovenian. It translated to "Beautiful Coffeehouse Rose".

I'm sure Jedmar is right, I didn't take the time to write down the translation of "Kawkasskaja", I roughly remember that I saw the word red, but seeing a rose labeled as "Kawkasskaja" and not "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" clinched my hunch that there are two roses, and that "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" is a found rose, and since the name is closest to one of those two languages it might be fair to think it was found in either of those two countries.

When I looked up Karaiskaki or Kawkasskaja, I found a few historical references, and found this gem of a page written by a history buff: http://zh-cn.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=149899258384552

I don't think "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" and "Kawkasskaja" are the same rose, it's hard to keep those "Kawa" and "Kawk" straight when you are essentially learning a new language. If they really are the same rose we won't know until "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" blooms, but I think Gregg might have found his long lost rose, and it is "Kawkasskaja".

(May 9, 2012, Amazon has Verrier's Gallica, the index lists "Karaiskaki" "Mid-size, double, convex, crimson-purple to dark purple with paler edges." So, without a picture, I'm wrong. I'd take crimson-purple to be darker than the cerise I see in Bernard Loubert's photo, and unless poetic words are being used, the REAL "Kawkasskaja" is still to be found. The story gets better with each telling. Maybe when Cliff's "Kraskoje Kawaskoe" blooms he can upload some photos that might help sort this out.)

That rose has a great history behind it, just as the found rose "Kraskoje Kawaskoe", planted long ago in the garden of someone's house, was passed along to be enjoyed by all of us. Thank Cliff for taking a chance on this found rose-he has a sense of daring and a good eye for the beautiful things in this world, and enjoy the roses that you pick.

MARCH 9. 2013: Tammy has uploaded a photo of her new rose with some nice fall color!
When looking up any information on Ivan Mazepa, I came across a few references about a Cossack town, Kavkazskaya, in the Kuban Region of Russia. A few Cossack came regiments from that area.

With a "V" and a "W" being close in many Slavic languages I subbed a "W" for the "V", and found that Kavkazskaya is very close in spelling to "Kawkasskaja". The town's name has since been renamed Kropotkin. But some rose breeder/s decided that at least two heroic Cossack warriors needed to be remembered.