Following are a few of the many sites available on the Internet devoted to the dissemination of information about roses (or closely related subjects). There's an amazing amount of material available -- these links are to some sites which I have found most interesting or helpful and they open the door to many other rosy web pages. Enjoy browsing through them.

Yesterday's Rose is a paean to the Old Garden Roses, replete with wonderful and accurate pictures. It also contains many pictures and descriptions of roses introduced since the Old Rose cutoff date of 1867. It is full of dependable and lovingly presented information. Somewhat slow to load because of its size, it is worth the wait.

The Rose Rustlers, who have scoured Texas over past decades in search of abandoned roses at long-vanished homesites and in old cemeteries, have contributed enormously to the preservation of rare old beauties and to a resurgence of interest in these heirloom roses. They have finally put together a web page with plenty of interesting reading about their activities and what they have learned in their years of questing after The Rose.

And if you become inspired by the Rose Rustlers, you may find yourself irresistibly drawn to a beautiful rose growing in the ditch down the road or over the wall of the old cemetery and you'll want to try starting one for yourself from a cutting. Give a visit to my pal Mel Hulse who has prepared a well-organized and lucid set of instructions for starting roses from "slips," or cuttings. Mel is one of the movers and shakers at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden and he has vast experience with getting roses to grow from little bits of stem. Give it a try. You could be greatly rewarded.

Pierre Joseph Redoute was an illustrator who produced (among other uniquely beautiful works) Les Roses, a lush compendium of rose paintings encompassing the collection of the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Josephine's rose garden represented most of the known varieties in the Western world in the first decades of the nineteenth century. Redoute's sensitive and botanically meticulous portraits of her roses are some of the finest ever created. This page reproduces them with decent enough quality that you can get some idea of the magnificence and educational importance of the work.

The American Rose Society hosts a complex and interesting page filled with information about its mission. There is everything from up-to-date results of rose competitions to long treatises on the history of the rose. There are links to cultivation techniques and lists of nurseries. Click on Ask the Experts and find a list of Consulting Rosarians, listed by geographical area, who will amiably answer your special rose questions. This is an interesting, ever-changing page full of good reading for the student of the rose.

Brent Dickerson, the author of the Old Rose Advisor, has put together a fascinating page with his lengthy and knowlegeable discourses on rose history and genealogy. And more. Brent is a multi-faceted, bright and interesting guy with a unique writing style and a wide range of interests. Drop in and spend some time with him -- you'll enjoy it, and you'll learn something. Guaranteed.

Karl King's Cyber Rose Page is packed with esoteric rose data. Here you'll find that Karl has taken the time to provide us with long, detailed articles from classic writers on the subjects of roses and rose genetics. Karl is a dedicated independent hybridizer and many of his own ruminations on the ins and outs of rose breeding are offered, along with some pictures of some of his "babies." Lots to jump off from on this page. Check it out.

Baldo Villegas hosts the Bugs and Roses page and the site is packed with very reliable information about both. Baldo really knows his bugs and you can return over and over again and keep learning new things from him. The page keeps changing and you'll always find something intriguing there.

Dr. Malcolm Manners is the leading expert on rose viruses in the country. His page has the most current and most reasoned info on the subject I've every seen.

Griffith Buck was a visionary American rose breeder whose life's work was the hybridizing of cold-hardy roses with the form, color and reblooming capabilities of the more tender Hybrid Teas. He produced a lot of roses, many of them very lovely. I'm beginning to collect them for propagation as there is great interest in these plants and not very many sources for them. The listings make me drool. This is an interesting site, listing and depicting Buck's introductions.

This is a pretty good list of the species roses. I'm going to keep searching for more of these. I really enjoy this stuff.

The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden has been called the Sangerhausen of the West. It is an incredibly ambitious undertaking which has come into existence in only the past couple of years. Hundreds of volunteers, marshalled and inspired by Tom Liggett, Ed Wilkinson, Lorrie Freeman, Mel Hulse and other members of the South Bay Heritage Rose Group, have planted over 3,000 varieties of roses of all eras and all classes. It is an overwhelming experience to visit this garden and I recommend it to any and all rosarians. It is a trip to Mecca. They are just getting their web page together. Keep watching it.

Then there's Mack. Mack Stephenson has compiled one of the most eclectic pages I've found. The main focus is roses but Mack deviates delightfully into wildly unrelated realms. His page is endlessly changing and endlessly fascinating. It also contains some of the best rose photography on the web.