Alba roses are recognized by their tall, arching stems, grayish-green leaves, and white or pale pink flowers, which are produced in great quantity over a short period. Their scent is excellent, and they were probably first cultivated for their perfume as much as for their ornamental value. Even today, they are first-class roses for the garden, forming large and exceptionally hardy shrubs that are unrivalled in an informal garden setting, as might be expected from a rose that has a wild rose as one parent.

The earliest Albas, such as ‘Alba Semi-plena’, are probably among the most ancient of all cultivated plants to survive, and ‘Alba Semi-plena’ is likely to have been grown by the Romans for both scent and ornament; even today, plantations are still found in Bulgaria for the production of attar of roses. The scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus described a double white rose that forms a large shrub in the 13th century.

In medieval painting throughout Europe, roses, especially white roses, were particularly associated with the Virgin Mary. In the English royal conflicts from 1455, which came to be called the Wars of the Roses, the white rose was the badge of York and the red rose the badge of Lancaster; after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Henry VII took as his symbol the Tudor rose, made up of a small red rose superimposed upon a white one, beginning the reigns of the Tudors, which lasted until the death of Queen Elizabeth I.

The parentage of R. x alba is still in some doubt. C.C. Hurst, a pioneer in the field of chromosomes who studied roses between 1920 and 1940, considered that Albas were crosses between a dog rose, R. canina, and a Damask.

Graham & Primavesi’s BSBI handbook Roses of Great Britain and Ireland (1993) gives the parentage as R. arvensis and R. gallica. Both these parentages could result in the same number of chromosomes; the latter would make the plant a fertile hybrid that should come true from seed. A general survey of the DNA of cultivated roses shows the Albas well separated from other groups, and suggests that the R. canina parentage is more likely; the general habit of the larger types is also consistent with this theory.

Albas are tough shrubs, often surviving in abandoned gardens long after the nearby house or cottage has collapsed; they do well in grass and will flower in more shade than other rose groups. The long, arching shoots that they send up in summer should be encouraged, because they will produce next year’s flowers. When the new shoots are well developed, in late summer, the old shoots that have flowered may be cut away or tidied up; however, some varieties, such as ‘Semi-plena’, give a fine crop of hips which can be left to ripen, and then any pruning can be left till winter. As with all roses, a good top-dressing of manure or compost will give stronger growth, but Albas will thrive in poorer soils than most roses.

Albas flower only in midsummer, but will make perfect hosts for late-flowering climbers such as Clematis viticella and its hybrids. The stronger-growing species of clematis, such as C. orientalis, will need cutting to the ground after flowering, so that they do not totally smother the rose. More restrained climbers with annual stems, such as Aconitum, Codonopsis, or Dicentra will do no harm to even the most delicate Alba rose.