Posts from — November 2008

The problems of identifying “unknown” or “foundling” roses are often underrated. With thousands of roses hybridized and introduced since 1800, simply giving an unknown rose a name is a process fraught with all sorts of issues. Discerning a name from among all the possibilities without a named example in a garden is always to be questioned. That is why the standard practice today is to give these foundlings a ‘collection name.’ 

New technologies give us great promise. Take for example DNA mapping and ‘fingerprinting.’ The problem with depending on DNA is that one must have a known example of the subject to provide the fingerprint. With many of our foundlings this is next to impossible. Another technology with great promise is GPA location mapping. GPA, now available in many cell phones and cameras allows the discoverer of a foundling to accurately locate a rose or plant on a map for future reference and discovery.

But to my mind the most important new technological development is the almost universal availability of communication across the world via the Internet. Blogs and websites allow discoverers and researchers the advantage of comparing foundlings and via electronic publishing, descriptions and photographs with GPS data embedded for future researchers. 

Don’t let the quality of a cell phones camera’s image prevent you taking a photo especially if your camera has GPS enabled prevent you from taking that image and publishing it.

Paul Zimmerman forwarded these photos of an unknown red climbing rose to see if anyone could identify it. 

He reports that the rose is not remontant but has some fragrance and not many thorns.

The color is red magenta.

According to Paul, “It is magenta like ‘Vielchenblau’. The photos aren’t very good. I never saw the blooms but looking at the canes and foliage I suspected ‘Vielchenblau’ until I saw the photos.”

Hopefully, Paul and this rose’s discoverer will provide us with a collection name soon.

My first thought was that it might be one of the Pemberton Hybrid Musk roses but the fact that it is once-blooming and has a number of characters in common with the Hybrid Multiflora ramblers makes this unlikely.

Please feel free to make comments and share any thoughts to the possible identification of this rose.

Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, The New York Botanical Garden, photo Peter Kukielski

The Great Rosarians of the World organizing committee is please to announce the selection of San Jose Heritage Rose Garden of San Jose, San Jose, California as the first inductee into the Great Rosarians of the World Rose Garden Hall of Fame.

Conceived by Tom Liggett as a repository of historic and “found” roses the ground breaking took place in October 1994. March 1995 volunteers planted 4,000 roses of 3,000 cultivars and the garden was dedicated on September 9, 1995.

The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden is a joint project of the City of San Jose, The Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, Santa Clara County Rose Society, and South Bay Heritage Rose Group. Jill Perry is the current curator of the collection.

Tom Liggett, Mel Hulse, Kelly Kline, and Lorrie Freeman at the initial planting, Photo from JSHRG Website

The purpose of the award is to promote a wider knowledge and appreciation of these garden treasures to the rose growing world and the gardening public.  

Former GROW honorees were asked to nominate up to three rose gardens each that they considered worthy of the induction into the GROW Rose Garden Hall of Fame. The GROW organizing committee makes the final selection and will announce one award at the GROW West program in San Marino, California and a second award at the GROW East event in New York City each year.

To be considered for the award a rose garden must be open to the public (with or with out a fee); be recognized as having an outstanding design or historical significance; display an outstanding collection or broad display of roses; and/or promote rose growing with educational outreach programs.

Congratulations to all the hard working volunteers who maintain this important collection and the City of San Jose, CA, The Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, and all those who worked with the local governments to make this concept a reality.

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) on Butterfly Weed (Ascepias tuberosa), San Marino, CA

First Year Rose Field, Meilland Star Roses, Cutler, CA

‘Mme. Marie Curie’, Hybrid Tea, Gaujard, 1943

The Great Rosarians of the World Blog is announcing its first reader contest. We are asking you, our readers, to share your best ideas and tips for managing a sustainable garden program. Your tips can be anything from rising early and going out into the garden to step on snails to tips on using kitchen waste in composting.

Sustainable gardening is nothing more than managing our gardens in an environmentally sound manner and maintaining a healthy balance in our gardens. A healthy soil is often the main focus of most sustainable gardening practices but a whole range of ideas and practices can fall into this broad category.

Email your tips and ideas to us at info@greatrosarians.com. Please include your name and contact information along with your submission. 

Entries are limited to one (1) tip per day but you may enter as many times as you wish.

The contest will be open until noon (Pacific Time) Friday, December 12, 2008. The names all participants will be placed in a hat and the winner will be selected by a random drawing and announced on Monday, December 15.

The winner will receive a autographed copy of 100 Old Roses for the American Garden, written by Clair Martin.

We are planing to hold panel discussions on Sustainable Rose Gardening at both our West and East Coast programs next year and your idea just might be one included in the presentations. We will publish a collection of the best tips in a later blog.

‘Chicago Peace’, Hybrid Tea, Johnston, 1962

Rose Tree and Palms, Whittier, CA

Peter Beales was the first honoree of the Great Rosarians of the World Award in 2001. 

Peter moved straight into horticulture after leaving school in 1952. He became apprenticed at that time to the famous Rose Breeder and Grower, Edward LeGrice of North Walsham, Norfolk. He also studied horticulture in his navive county of Norfolk at Burlingham Horticulture College, now Easton College.

He fell in love with roses at an early age when introduced to the old Alba rose ‘Maiden’s Blush’ by his grandfather. Peter’s Headmaster at school was also a rose lover and he learned a great deal from him. His passion for roses evolved over many years.

‘Attleborough’, LCl, Beales, 2002 Photos ©Peter Beales Ltd.

From 1959 to 1965 Peter managed Hillings Rose Nursery, Surrey, under Graham Stuart Thomas and later founded Peter Beales Roses Ltd. in 1968 which he has built into one of the leading rose nurseries in the UK. He has bred and introduced some 25 new varieties of roses, several now grown world wide. His catalog contains a rose collection with 1300 varieties, now recognised as one of the largest commercial collections in the world.

His speciality is Classic Shrub Roses, Climbers and Ramblers. The history and evolution of roses is of special interest to him, hence his large collection of Old Roses, several of which he has saved from extinction. His catalog has become one of the most respected works of reference in the rose world.

‘Horatio Nelson’, Shrub, Beales, 1998

His company exhibits roses at major shows in the UK and overseas. For example he designed a stand for a large exhibition in Tokyo, Japan held in May 2000 and won the award for the best exhibit of roses at Hex in Belgium in 2000. Peter has lectured around the world and is the author of books. His Classic Roses, Harper Collins/Harvill was published in 1985 and has been translated into French, Italian, and German. Published between 1976 and 1978 the series of four books published by Jarrolds, Norwich, Georgian-Regency Roses, Early Victorian Roses, Late Victorian Roses, and Edwardian Roses, are classics and very hard to find today. Other books by Peter are: Twentieth-Century Roses, Harper Collins/Harvill, 1988; Roses-An illustrated encyclopaedia, Harper Collins/Harvill, 1990; Visions of Roses, Little Brown, 1995; and A Passion for Roses, Mitchel Beazley, 2004.

Peter served as President of the Royal National Rose Society from 2003 to 2005 during a time of intense reorganization. He and his company have been honored with awards too numerous from around the world. Following the Great Rosarians of the World award in 2001 Peter was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honor from the Royal Horticultural Society for his outstanding contributions to horticulture in 2003. In 2005 Peter was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen in recognition of his services to horticulture.

‘Norwich Castle, Shrub, Beales, 1980

Having met Peter first at the Second Heritage Roses Conference in Adelaide, South Australia in 1986 he has become a good friend and it was an easy call to nominate him to be the first honoree for the Great Rosarians of the World award in 2001. Peter’s love of roses is surpassed by no one, yet he is wonderfully free with advise and continues in high demand for his programs.

This is the first in eight posts covering all the Great Rosarians of the World honorees to date. To celebrate our ninth year we are planning a number of new additions to the program and two outstanding honorees. To view schedules for both the West coast and East Coast venues and to order tickets for either please  Click Here. We look forward to seeing you there!

Huntington Rose Garden Panorama, ©Yazmin Afshar

Clicking on the photographs will enlarge them.

The Sustainable Rose Garden: Exploring 21ST Century Environmental Rose Gardening, Edited by Pat Shanley & Peter Kukielski, published by the Manhattan Rose Society, 2008, Cover art ‘Knock Out’ by Maria Cecelia Freeman

Asembled from contributions to the panel descussion at the Great Rosarians of the World east coast probram this year at The New York Botanical Garden, The Sustainable Rose Garden represents the freshest ideas in the movement away from chemical dependency to gardens free of such extreme practices. 

Contributors include such noted rosarians as: Peter Kukielski, Clair Martin, Anne O’Neill, Steve Jones, William Radler, Marilyn Wellan, Stephen Scanniello, Pat Henry, Gene Waering, and Paul Zimmerman. James Sotillo, owner of a organic landscape company discusses soils, and Billy Styles president of Organic Plant Healthcare also contributes an article on soils as the key element of the sustainable garden.

What does “sustainable” gardening mean for the home gardener? Fads and buzwords come and go but a healthy respect for the soil and environment has always been the key to agricultural success. A healthy soil is a “living” soil full of a full component of healthy micro and macro organisms working in conjunction with the roots of plants to support the long term health and growth of farm and horticultural flora.

Gather ten rosarians in the same room and you will get fifteen diverse opinions! Shanley and Kukielski have made a marvelous contribution to the field by gathering these diverse contributors and presenting their opinions in this compact book.

You can order The Sustainable Rose Garden from The New York Botanical Garden Bookstore online by Clicking Here.

And mark your calendar for the Great Rosarians of the World IX program to be held at The Huntington, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California on Sunday, January 8, 2009 and at Brooklyn Botanic Garden over June 5-6, 2009 and sponsored by the Manhattan Rose Society.

Click Here to view Great Rosarians of the World IX schedules (both West and East) and to order tickets.