Breeders of Note:
Dr. Griffith Buck
Ed Cunningham
When a lot of us were
growing up, we wanted to be Paratroopers, or Marines, or Seals because they
were the toughest, the best. In his sermon for this past Easter, the pastor
included a reference which very vividly made the point of how formidable
paratroopers can be. (Somehow, he did tie that into the Easter sermon !).
But what does this have to do with roses, you ask. The answer is, at first
blush, an oxymoron: a very widely known and respected rose breeder who was
also a paratrooper helping to save the world in WW II: Dr. Griffith J. Buck
!! Reports estimate that he introduced between 80 and 88 roses during his
career.
Heirloomroses.com tells us that "Dr. Griffith Buck was a plant breeder at
Iowa State University, breeding new varieties of soybeans and corn, but
roses were his true love and passion. He started breeding roses around 1950
using strains of very cold hardy roses combined with modern hybrid teas and
others. He would plant them outside in the field and those that survived
harsh Iowa winters of 20-30 degrees below zero with absolutely no protection
would be the seedlings he chose to introduce." According to Sam Kedem's
Nursery, Buck's roses are semi-hardy even in Minnesota's zone 3b - 4a. (
They might even have pictures of penguins frolicking in the Buck rose
patch). An additional advantage of his roses is that, unlike many other
roses, they were not bred and raised in ideal climates. They were raised in
the Midwest, which has long, hot, and humid summers. If the rose survived
the winters and the summers there, it had to be pretty good.
How did he achieve this hardiness ? A review of the parentage of his roses
at helpmefind.com revealed that he made frequent use of R.Laxa, R.Eglanteria,
"samling" (a rugose rose), and occasional use of other species roses. They
noted that R. Laxa is also known as " 'The Semi Rose' ... because of its
collection on the steppes of Semipalatinsk, Siberia...." A Siberian rose ?
Hmmm.... Eglanteria is a hardy species rose, and is famous for scenting the
midsummer night's air with the apple fragrance of its foliage. But, there
was more to his breeding than mixing in species roses.
A hybridist always seeks roses which will reliably contribute some specific
trait to its offspring. Once obtained, these "breeder roses" are like a
painter's palette, from which the artist takes known quantities and then
judiciously mixes in with new elements, creating new beauties. Buck had his
own stable of such breeder roses (incidentally, R.Laxa and R.Eglanteria were
prominent in the ancestry of many of his breeder roses as well). One he
frequently employed was his own "Prairie Princess," which he hybridized in
1972. Since New Dawn constituted nearly half the genetics in the two
generations which led up to Prairie Princess, that rose wound up introducing
a real dollop of Wichuraiana into Buck's creations.
In a local note, he used 2 Brownell roses: Golden Glow crossed with
Eglanteria gave Gold Busch; additionally, Elegance crossed with Prairie
Princess produced Maytime. These two crosses figured in 27 new roses which
Dr. Buck subsequently produced.
Heirloomroses.com likens Dr. Buck to "the artist van Gogh, whose paintings
were never appreciated in his lifetime. Dr. Buck was also an artist of rose
breeding. His creations are just now gaining the acceptance and popularity
they have long deserved."
I must admit that when I first became interested in roses, I was not very
interested in the hardy Canadian roses because they resembled rugosa roses
too much. I also wrote off the Buck roses, assuming that they were just more
of the same. Fortunately, there are a number of websites which provide
information about Dr. Buck and his roses. These sites display many beautiful
photos of his roses, and have made me a fan of his creations. True, they
will likely never be queen of show (south of Minnesota), but, they do have
form, and are very pretty. The colors of some of them are absolutely
gorgeous. It is impressive what he could accomplish crossing hardy species
roses with commercial hybrid teas & floribundas.
The more I have read about rose breeders, the more I have been impressed
with their humanity. elkorose.com relays several stories from the Iowa State
University Research Foundation, Inc. on how Dr. Buck named his roses:
"'Golden Unicorn' was the emblem of Buck's paratrooper division ( This was
the rose that Mike Lowe discussed with the representative from Weeks' Roses
at our recent rose convention); and I believe that 'Allemand-Ho' was named
in reference to something the paratroopers said when they approached
Germany; 'Mavourneen' means 'Little Darling,' Mr. Buck named this rose for
his wife, Ruby; 'Pippa's Song' was named for his secretary's daughter who
was born with a very severe heart condition. The doctors predicted she would
never live beyond her third birthday. .... she graduated from high school
even though she's very restricted in what she can do. ...he named the rose 'Pippa's
Song' for her; 'Pearlie Mae' is named for Pearl Bailey, and 'Aunt Honey' was
named for his mentor's wife."
But, aside from human interest and the practical considerations of
cultivation, what's so good about Buck roses ?
Well, there's fragrance in many of them: clove, myrrh, spice, damask, fruit,
and sweet. Several also have scented foliage. Pipe Dreams: clove fragrance;
Apple Jack: clove scented flowers and apple scented foliage; Aunt Honey:
damask; Distant Drums: myrrh; Hawkeye Belle: sweet; Carefree Wonder; Earth
Song; Folksinger. It's a long list.
And, perhaps, more to the point, is their appearance. For that, visit any of
the websites above, or listed below. You may not find queens of show, but
you will see a bunch of scrumptious roses that will grow for you willingly.
Dr. Buck died in 1991, at the age of 86. Several universities, including U.
of Iowa at Ames, and U. of Minnesota are establishing rose gardens to
preserve his creations. We here in R.I. are adding "Earth Song" to the
Victorian Rose Garden. Perhaps more will be added later.
Here's to Griffith J. Buck, a latter day Cincinatus, who rose up to defend
his people, and then returned back to his garden.
http://www.elkorose.com/photoalbum.html
http://oldheirloomroses.com
http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/cad/rose1.html
http://www.exnet.iastate.edu/pages/hancock/hort/educ/GBRoses.html
http://www.kedemroses.com/Dr-g-b.htm
http://www.heirloomroses.com/cgi-bin/heirloom/browse?category=Buck+Roses
http://www.heirloomroses.com/
dr__griffith_buck_roses.htm
http://www.orionfarm.com/Bucks.html
http://www.almostheavenroses.com/variety.asp?Variety=GRIFFITH+BUCK+ROSES