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Reprinted from the 2006 American
Rose Annual
with the addition of extra photos and the inclusion of Wendy White & Gladys
Fisher in June 2007
The people of
New England have
historically been known for their toughness in the face of nature’s
adversities. Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys, New Bedford whalers, Gloucester
fisherman and Maine farmers are all icons of this hardy endurance. These
sturdy folk were not all born in New England, many were immigrants who
through hard work carved out a new home for themselves here. New England’s
roses and rosarians are cast in this same Yankee mold. A few of our best
rose breeders and our favorite “native” roses are immigrants. The roses are
all tough to stand our cold winters and hot summers and the breeders are
known for using their Yankee ingenuity and perseverance in their work to
create roses for New England gardens.
In
the Beginning: Species Roses
New England
is home to seven native rose species; all are single and once-blooming.
Rosa
acicularis
is the Circumpolar Rose or Prickly Rose. This medium pink bloom on a 4-foot
bush is found in New Hampshire and Vermont, the southern limit of its frigid
range. Likewise R. blanda,
the Hudson Bay Rose, also reaches the northern parts of New England. Its
large, 3-inch, white to light pink blooms, found on nearly thornless canes,
have been successfully used in breeding roses hardy even in Canada. Both it
and
Rosa
nitida,
the Shining Rose, form the hardy species base that the Explorer rose
‘Quadra’ was bred from. R. nitida
has very bright pink blooms and extremely glossy foliage.
Rosa palustris, the Swamp Rose,
is pale pink and has an extended bloom time of almost three months. It is
also comfortable from Maine to Florida, tolerates wet acid soils and is
capable of breeding with rugosas,
but unfortunately has been little used in breeding. Along with
Rosa
virginiana,
it was sent to Europe for cultivation in 1738. The native species used most
widely for breeding is
Rosa
setigera,
our only native climbing rose. While it is more common in the mid-west and
is called The Prairie Rose, its range includes the Atlantic coast.
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Although these are
the true native species of
New England, it is
Rosa
rugosa,
the beautiful Beach Rose, which has made itself at home along all the
sandy stretches of the Atlantic coast in New England. It thrives in this
arid and salty environment and forms long thickets that stabilize the
dunes and protect wildlife. The large, fragrant blooms are succeeded by
enormous, fleshy. orange-red rose hips, sometimes called sea-tomatoes,
which are gathered for rose hip preserves and tea. It is native to
Japan, Korea and China and was introduced to New England in 1845. It is
a welcome addition to our shores. |
"Rosa Rugosa" on Cape Cod |
Jackson Dawson
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"Dawson" |
Jackson Dawson of
Massachusetts was the first New England hybridizer to make use of
R. multiflora. Dawson was
the propagator for the famous Arnold Arboretum near Boston. He wanted to
create a race of American hybrids that would be hardy in New England. He
is credited with the first American multiflora hybrid, ‘Dawson’, an 1888
cross between
Rosa
multiflora
and the hardy hybrid perpetual ‘Général Jacqueminot’. This once-blooming
rambler with its clusters of scented, double pink blooms was introduced
years before the much heralded arrival of ‘Crimson Rambler’ to the U.S.
It was much admired by J. Horace McFarland, then president of the
American Rose Society, 30 years after its introduction. It is described
by
Quest-Ritson
as “impervious to frost or neglect.” While no longer in commerce, it was
a first step toward breeding a hardy climber, and was parent to “’Apple
Blossom’, a Dawson rambler introduced by Luther Burbank. |
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Dawson had the opportunity to import many plant species, and actually
introduced
Rosa
wichurana,
through the Arboretum, to the United States in 1891.
His ‘Lady Duncan’ (R.
wichurana X R. rugosa)
and ‘William C. Egan’, both introduced in 1900, were among the early
wichurana hybrids. It was
Dawson’s responsibility
to propagate by seed, cuttings or grafting the many new and often exotic
plants that were imported from the Far East to the arboretum. He was
known for his remarkable “green thumb” when it came to propagating woody
plants. The Jackson Dawson Medal is still awarded by the Massachusetts
Horticultural Society for “demonstrated
skill in the science or practice of hybridization or propagation of
hardy, woody plants.” |
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Jackson Dawson Medal |
Michael
Horvath
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Michael H. Horvath,
a Hungarian forester, immigrated to the
United States and
found work at the Newport Nursery in Rhode Island. He received some of
Dawson’s original rooted cuttings of
R. wichurana and “Struck by
its beautiful, lustrous, shiny foliage, I thought it was too bad that
[it] should be topped by the meager little flowers it bore.” He is
credited with the world’s first
wichurana hybrid ramblers in 1893. Some of his early
varieties were introduced by W. A. Manda of New Jersey in 1898-1899. Of
these, the very double, pale yellow ‘Gardenia’ has a strong green apple
scent, “but is not reliably winter-hardy in the North,” according to Dan
Russo, a rambler expert and historian. However, it is still widely
available and a recent grower commented that it can grow several feet a
week. After Horvath moved to Ohio he continued to experiment with other
species roses, especially R.
setigera. His large-flowered
setigera climbers included
'Thor'.
This deep red, damask-scented climber
shows some of his creative use of species. It has the
setigera,
wichurana,
xanthina and
sempervirens species in its
makeup, as well as ‘Château du Clos Vougeot’. ‘Long John Silver’ is his
well-known, 1934, climbing white
setigera hybrid. It is both hardy and fragrant.
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"Long John Silver" photo by Cass Bernstein
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Newport Nursery was also
where B.C.
Gardner bred ‘Newport Fairy’ in 1908.
Little else is known about Gardner, but his
wichurana/multiflora
hybrid rambler with large pink edged creamy blooms is still rated at 8.5 by
the ARS. A Vintage Gardens writer says “I
have grown this some fifty feet up an old Douglas Fir, from which it
cascades with a veritable
Niagara of spring bloom.”
Michael
Walsh
Michael Walsh was born
in Bangor,
North Wales, in 1848. He came to the United States at age 20, working at
several estates in the Boston area. In 1875 he became head gardener on the
waterfront estate of Joseph Story Fay, a wealthy summer resident of Woods
Hole, and found a patron in Fay's daughter Sarah. Horvath’s work toward
hardy wichurana climbers was
taken up by Walsh, who bred some 40 new ramblers between 1899 and 1920. His
ramblers won numerous awards nationally and internationally. He was a gifted
rosarian as well as breeder, and was able to bring his ramblers into bloom
out of season, to display them at flower shows.
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"Excelsa"
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His best known is the 1908 introduction ‘Excelsa’, sometimes known as
Red Dorothy Perkins. This variety quickly replaced the more mildew prone
'Crimson Rambler’. ‘Excelsa’ produces masses of “tyrian rose to bright
light crimson” flowers in late June and early July, blooming heavily for
at least four weeks. Like most of Walsh’s ramblers, it’s a vigorous and
generally healthy grower. It grew untended into a shrub in my
mother-in-law’s yard for decades, yearly making a pretty picture of red
jewels in the white flowered bush. Ramblers such as this should have all
their flowering wood pruned out right after the bIooms fade in the
summer, allowing next year’s long pliable canes to quickly grow in. This
selective pruning requires long gloves and considerable determination,
however. If left unpruned, you’ll get a bigger show for a while but the
overcrowding can bring on mildew. Some folks just cut the whole plant to
the ground every so often, an easier method that loses a year of
blooming when you do it. |
With a
few exceptions, these ramblers are once-blooming, an unfortunate impediment
to popularity in today's rose world. Their blooming season is long and
varies by cultivar, and will produce a far greater show of roses than many
of the stingy new reblooming climbers. The largest public collection of
Walsh ramblers in this country is in Elizabeth Park in Hartford,
Connecticut. Dan Russo, the "Rambler Man," has the largest private
collection, with nearly 25 different Walsh ramblers in his Rhode Island
garden. He has provided a wealth of information regarding these New
England-bred roses and some of his collection is pictured in this article.
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He
describes ‘Debutante’ (Walsh, 1901) a rose that “does repeat rather well
and is a gorgeous fragrant, soft lilac-pink with very little powdery
mildew problem. While Jackson & Perkins’ ‘Dorothy Perkins’ is probably
the best known rambler, Walsh’s ‘Lady Gay’ is very similar in appearance
and the two have been often confused. Russo feels it is “much, much
better than 'Dorothy Perkins'. Flowers are larger and deeper pink than
'Dorothy Perkins', bloom about a week later, have a slight fragrance,
thicker, darker, different shaped leaves, and hardly any powdery
mildew.” Other more easily available beauties include ‘Evangeline’ and
‘Hiawatha’. In one of his American
Rose rambler articles from the 30s, R. Marion Hatton writes
that ‘Evangeline’ is extra vigorous and that her “haunting fragrance
fills the air for yards around.” ‘Hiawatha’ is a deep red with a white
eye. It's also a late bloomer; in Rhode Island (Zone 6), often lasting
into early August. |
"Hiawatha" after heavy downpour in Elizabeth Park |
Modern rose gardens are
often almost two dimensional. Earlier American public gardens such as
Elizabeth Park and Roger Williams Park, however, relied heavily upon
ramblers to provide a spectacular and satisfying third dimension to their
designs.
If you’d like to add arches of Walsh ramblers to your garden, here’s some advice,
again thanks to Dan Russo, on Walsh varieties that are still available
commercially.
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Healthiest varieties: 'Debutante', 'Lady Gay', 'Hiawatha', 'Minnehaha'
Biggest bloom clusters: 'Excelsa', 'Hiawatha', 'America'
Most fragrant: ‘Evangeline’
Bloom Sequence: Early (late June): 'America'
Midseason (early-midJuly): most
Walsh varieties
Late (later July-early Aug): 'Evangeline', 'Hiawatha'
You can see that careful selection of these ramblers can fill in most of
the flowering gap between the typical mid June peak bloom for most roses
and September’s re-bloom. |
"Minnehaha" |
Bowditch/Graf
Some of the most
important roses ever introduced cannot be credited to a breeder’s patient
and careful crosses. Instead, they are chance seedlings or sports, with
their uniqueness recognized by an observant eye.
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"Max Graaf" |
Such is the
case with ‘Max Graf’, called by Peter Beales “one of the most important
roses ever sent to
Europe from America.” ‘Max Graf’ is a
chance cross of R. wichurana
and R. rugosa that was
discovered in 1919 by Graf, the foreman of the Pomfret Center Nursery
owned by James Bowditch of Connecticut. 'Max Graf' is a groundcover, its
long thorny canes will spread over a wide area and will root where they
touch the ground. Crinkly fragrant bright pink blossoms bloom for an
extended time in early summer on this healthy hardy creeper with
lustrous foliage. While ‘Max Graf’ is essentially infertile, through the
patience of Wilhelm Kordes, it eventually produced
Rosa
kordesii,
the mother of a new family of hardy climbers and considered a new
species. |
Gladys Fisher
| Historically there appears to be a scarcity of women rose hybridizers,
however, Woburn Massachusetts was home to Gladys Fisher in the mid 20th
century. Her great contribution to rose breeding was the introduction of
her hybrid tea Sterling Silver. This beautiful and fragrant, but flawed,
rose is important as the source of modern lavender roses. |
 'Sterling
Silver', as scanned from 1958 ARA by
Enrique
Munoz Ramirez
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The
Brownells
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Dr. Walter & Josephine Brownell with 'Mrs. Arthur
Curtis James'
Plant patent for 'Mrs. Arthur Curtis
James', courtesy of Dorrie Nichols
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Dr. Walter Brownell is
known for his sturdy “sub-zero” roses. His interest in rose breeding started
after planting a rose garden at his summer home in Little Compton, quite
close to the south shores of
Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. His wife
Josephine loved roses, but each winter, their roses would die. They saw the
need for someone to breed healthy roses that would be hardy in New England.
Though he was initially an amateur, he studied plant genetics quite
seriously. Like Walsh and Horvath, he saw
R. wichurana as the hardy
species basis for his breeding program. According to his granddaughter
Dorrie Nichols, his hybridizing goals were 1) winter hardiness, 2) blackspot
resistance, 3) repeat blooming in a “pillar” rose, and 4) adding larger size
and the color yellow to climbers.Rather
than direct species crosses, he started mainly with three of Van Fleets’ wichurana hybrids as his “stud” roses.
His first hardy yellow climber was
introduced in 1933: ‘Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James’. He and Josephine were so
excited with this first fruit of their labors that they followed a European
custom and held a christening party for it. The picture for the plant patent
(see photo) for this and subsequent introductions was painted by Brownell.
The large hybrid tea-like blooms are borne on long stems, ideal for
cutting. It was not a re-blooming breakthrough yet though. ‘Elegance',
their aptly named soft yellow climber introduced in 1937, did have some
occasional rebloom, but was not yet everblooming. |
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In 1938, when Walter
retired from his law practice, he and Josephine devoted themselves to their
roses full time. By the 1950s, Walter Brownell had bred many dozens of
roses, from new, sturdier hybrid teas, to hardy large-flowered climbers and
"creepers," to his final accomplishment: the wonderful "Everblooming Pillar"
series. Number 3 in that series was one of my favorites; it was named ‘White
Cap’, after a special type of Indian corn used for
Rhode Island “Johnny
Cakes.” It is a many-petaled, creamy white rose shading toward gold in the
center. The bloom often has a quartered appearance. ‘Golden Arctic’ is
everblooming pillar #84, a rich yellow hardy re-blooming climber. Grow it on
a pillar, or as a large self-supported shrub such as we have at Roger
Williams Victorian Rose Garden in Providence. ‘Rhode Island Red’ is fine
vigorous climber, with deep red roses. I find it tolerates the partial shade
provided by our neighbors’ trees and still blooms well. |
'Golden Arctic'
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The
Brownell “subzero” hybrid tea that I find most unique is 'Curly Pink’. This
1948 introduction has plenty of
wichurana background crossed with the damask scented ‘Crimson
Glory’. The strongly reflexed petals in the large heavily doubled bloom give
it a richly different face. It has never noticed the winter in our garden.
When it comes to color, the 1951 hybrid tea ‘Orange Ruffels’ is unmatched.
It’s a soft creamy orange sherbet color and is a constant bloomer. |
'Orange Ruffels'
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'Curly Pink'
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'Nearly Wild' |
The
only Brownell rose that is almost universally available is the
floribunda ‘Nearly Wild’. Introduced in 1941, it is one tough little
rose. It looks wild, having only five petals, but it is continuous
blooming. It tolerates seaside planting: one of our local rose society
members had an entire row thrown out of their bed by the waves of a
nor’easter. These were able to be replanted without damage from the
salty experience! |
Harmon
Saville
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Here we finally leave
R.
wichurana behind and go on to a modern day breeder of
miniature roses from coastal
Massachusetts. Harmon ”Harm” Saville
started out like most of us, growing roses as a backyard hobby. It was the
Christmas gift of some Ralph Moore minis by his son Mike that steered him
toward miniature roses. He had already been growing roses under lights in
the cellar and found minis more suited to that treatment. He told Kathy
DeRoo in a 1993 interview for Rose
Ecstasy that in 1971 he decided to "start a little business, to
have something to putter around in, in my old age," and he became the
”Nor'East” distributor for Ralph Moore's roses. While he began by marketing
other breeders’ miniature roses, he soon began breeding his own. |
'Harm Saville' , photo courtesy of Wendy White
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'Ralph Moore', a Saville introduction
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In his
25 years in the business, he bred over 100 roses, including 17 Award of
Excellence (AOE) miniature roses. His first AOE winner, ‘Party Girl’ in
1981, is a fabulous breeder, producing many dozens of quality introductions.
He had the singular honor of having his 1993 introduction, ‘Child’s Play’,
win both the AOE and the AARS designation, the first rose to do so. In 1983
he gave us the unique bicolor ‘Rainbows End’, considered by long-time
exhibitor and rosarian Luis Desamaro to be “the most beautiful miniature
rose ever created.” This healthy, free-flowering rose was one of Harm’s
favorites. His son John, who took over Nor’East operations as Harm retired,
shares that feeling, saying that ” ‘Rainbows End’ is a classic in every way
but fragrance.” |
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In the
early 90s, Harm began producing miniatures with a strong fragrance, and made
that a focus in his breeding program. Nor’East liked to call itself “the
little company with big fragrance.” First was ‘Scentsational’, then
‘Seattle Scentsation’. ‘Overnight Scentsation’ was actually brought into
space in the shuttle for a fragrance experiment, an interesting marriage of
technology and beauty. Harm did not live to see this happen, but doubtless
would have been pleased. He made Nor’East one of the first two rose
nurseries to use the technology of the World Wide Web and the very first to
actually sell online. |
photo courtesy of
Nor'East Miniature
Roses
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Harmon
Saville was a tireless promoter of miniature roses, and is largely
responsible for their popularity today. He had a number of articles
published in the American Rose Annual
that served this purpose. Included were detailed instructions on growing
miniatures indoors, exhibiting minis and container growing.
When
culling roses from his seedling beds, Harm Saville was forced by marketing
considerations to discard roses he felt were beautiful. These included
single roses and also those that were too large to be sold as minis. While
about one-third of his seedlings were singles, he spent little time
evaluating them because, as he said in DeRoo’s interview, “the market is
limited even when you do find a good one; only the most sophisticated rose
growers like them." While many of the larger seedlings had beautiful
blooms, a company selling miniature roses could not divert attention away
from their primary product. John Saville tells me that a yellow floribunda
bred by Harm will be introduced next year by Nor’East through their new
owners, Greenheart. Others, like a beautiful lavender floribunda are “in the
pipeline.”
New
England Today
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Now that Nor’East has
its new home in
California, New England no longer has a
company that breeds and distributes its own roses. However, we still do
have Wendy White, who was promoted to chief hybridizer for Nor'East
after Harm Saville's death. So far, Wendy has two Award of
Excellence miniature roses: 'Salute' and 'Iced Raspberry'. Roses
from Wendy's breeding work continue to be introduced by Nor'East Roses
today, though she chose not to follow them to California to continue as
their hybridizer.
Her two 2007
introductions, 'Mother Lode' and 'Happy Thoughts', were bred
before the sale of the company. |
photo needed of Salute or Iced Raspberry |
The Yankee District
also continues to produce fine new roses through the efforts of a few amateur
hybridizers. The three that follow are all active members of our district,
and all three have won the district’s highest honors: the Silver Honor
Medal, Outstanding Judge and Outstanding Consulting Rosarian.
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New Hampshire
is home to Malcolm “Mike” Lowe and his wife Irene, who grow thousands of old
garden roses (OGRs) on their property in Nashua. Mike has bred a number of
roses in quite diverse classes. One of his favorites is ‘Friends Forever’, a
many-petaled fragrant rich pink rose on a healthy shrub. When I saw it
growing in his front yard, I thought it was another beautiful OGR. Mike
says that ‘Friends Forever’ is almost always in bloom. Lee Sherman, a New
Mexico grower of more than 500 roses, says “this rose recycles faster than
any other...it's in full rebloom after 28 days...and I haven't fed it yet.”
‘Lowe’s Eglantine’, his hybrid rubiginosa (or eglanteria) was blooming in a
shady spot in his garden and still produced large glowing pink blooms that
drew the eye. It can produce long, 20-foot canes and works well as a
groundcover. He recommends his ‘New Hampshire Statehouse’ for a vigorous,
hardy, orange-pink climber. |
'Friends Forever'
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'Autumn Sunset' |
Mike’s best known
introduction is ‘Autumn Sunset’ (Lowe, 1986), a yellow sport of the shrub
‘Westerland’. Mike says he found this sport after propagating cuttings of
‘Westerland’ from the great rose gardens of Karl P. Jones of
Barrington, RI. Its
yellow to apricot blend blooms are an attractive color, and combine in the
garden more easily than the orange of ‘Westerland’. Both cultivars are
listed as shrubs, but can be grown as climbers. ‘Autumn Sunset’ is rated
8.1 by the ARS and fills a niche as a hardy yellow climber. |
Mike sells his
introductions through Ashdown Roses in
South Carolina and his own company, Lowe’s
Roses.
David Berg of
Connecticut has
hybridized some outstanding roses. Like Harm Saville, with whom he used to
fish, Dave is a breeder of miniature roses. One of his first, ‘Wintonbury
Parish’, was chosen and named by a local First Congregational Church to
honor their 250th anniversary. Dave donated it as a fundraiser
for a memorial garden at the church. This 14-petaled miniature has cream
white petals with red edging and a high center. Its breeding is ‘Lady X’
crossed with ’Poker Chip’. Tommy Cairns transported some from Los Angeles to
St. Albans, England for the First All Miniature National Rose Show in 1993,
and won Princess of show.
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The city of
Norwich in
Connecticut wanted a rose to honor their city, as they call themselves “the
rose city of Connecticut.” They chose a richly scented, well-shaped, deep
pink mini out of the seedlings that Dave presented for their consideration.
After a naming contest in the town, it was called ‘Norwich Sweetheart’. When
the first 250 were sold in a small storefront in Norwich, they were sold out
in just a few hours. ‘Norwich Sweetheart’ is a cross between ‘Jilly Jewel’
and ‘Radiant’. I’ve found it to be vigorous and hardy here in zone 6, and
think its fragrance is unmatched in minis. Nor’East Roses introduced it for
Dave and is looking at introducing more of his seedlings. |
"Norwich Sweetheart", photo courtesy of Nor'East
Miniature Roses |
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"Elizabeth Park Centennial", photo by John Mattia
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John Mattia is the
latest of our
New England hybridizers. He is a nationally
recognized rose exhibitor, and known for his beautiful rose photography and
remarkable Adobe Photoshop rose art. He introduced ‘Autograph’, a pink
blend sport of ‘Signature’ in 2000. He was all set to introduce a beautiful
pink edged exhibition hybrid tea in 2004, bred from ‘Signature’ by
‘Pretoria’. It was to be timed to honor the Elizabeth Park Rose gardens 100th
anniversary. A mishap by the propagator prevented this… the wrong rose was
budded! Fortunately, John saw by the foliage that it was not his rose, so it
was not distributed at the anniversary. Now, after sending budwood to a
different propagator, ‘Elizabeth Park Centennial’ will be introduced in
spring 2007. Knowing John, it will quickly find its way to the title of
Queen of Show. |
He
has bred a number of fine pink hybrid teas but is uncertain if he will try
to introduce them. “Amateur hybridizers really don’t stand much of a chance
of getting introduced unless their rose is really unique.
A major introducer of roses
told me, ‘John, I have acres of [our own] pink roses.’” John
has also bred a non-fading yellow floribunda from ‘Helmut Schmidt’ crossed
with ‘Golden Quill’, but felt it didn’t produce adequate sprays. A fellow
rosarian looked at it and said, “John, it’s a Mini-Flora”. And so it is.
Concluding Trivia
The song “Yankee Doodle”
was originally written by a British surgeon after the French and Indian War
and was meant to insult the colonists for their rag-tag army and lack of
European finesse, (in fact doodle means a simpleton). In the Revolutionary
War, the Continental Army, not wanting to emulate the courts and armies of
Europe,
proudly took it up as their marching song, added hundreds of verses and
ended with:
Yankee Doodle is the tune
That we all delight in,
It suits for feasts, it suits for fun,
And just as well for fightin' |
Clarence Rhodes at Lobster Fest
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Yankee District at Lobster Fest in Cape Cod, photo by
John Mattia
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For “feasts and fun.” we in Yankee District have had
a lobster and clam boil on a beach in Cape Cod the last few falls,
thanks to the Lower Cape Rose Society. For “fightin,” there’s the fight
against the unpredictable winters with their alternating severe freezes
and mid-winter thaws followed by the oppressive humidity of the summers
and the never ending battle with black-spot. We rosarians who are
“hardy New Englanders” can be perversely proud of growing and showing
roses that can survive our weather. I’m not really sure if we’re
scornful of, or secretly jealous of, those who grow fine roses in milder
climes. Like rose lovers everywhere though, we can find our way to
beautiful roses |
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