I have added a reference but am uneasy about which rose it could be for. It was taken from A.S. Thomas’ Growing Roses 1983, page 105. Dr. Thomas had reprinted the list of roses from Shepherd’s (the Darling Nursery in Sydney) 1851 catalogue. He lists under Deciduous No. 38. Black Prince. It is not William Paul’s 1866 Black Prince and not Boyau’s 1854 ‘Prince Noir’. Does anybody have any idea of what Shepherd’s 1851 Black Prince’ could be?
Yes, very possibly. Rather than add it to my too-hard basket, I have given it a file of its own. It now joins other Thomas Shepherd, The Darling Nursery‘s oddities like ‘Australia’, ‘Generalissimo’ and ‘White Cluster’.
Just got one of this this year, but our dog promptly dug it up. Fortunately there were still some roots attached, so we potted it and it recovered. It's now back in the ground with a barrier. :)
I'll update this if the rose makes it in our zone 5 area.
