Creation of a Rose

An American Rose Society Affiliated Organization

Organized April 21, 1947

Creation of a Rose

When we purchase a rose from a catalog or from a nursery, we are purchasing the result of a long and painstaking process that spans years of imagination, development, care, testing, marketing, and finally distribution. The following is a brief outline showing the path that a rose takes to reach your garden:

Determine the Parents: The developer chooses parents that he or she feels will make a healthy, disease resistant rose and will produce offspring that offer a new set of visual or aromatic qualities to the market. This means the developer needs to know the strengths and weaknesses of many different roses to have a chance at coming to the desired result.
Hybridization: The developer then cross-pollinates the parents and gathers the seeds of the union. This process includes propagation of all the good seeds and monitoring the results.
Selection and Testing: This process is that of testing the offspring’s hardiness, disease resistance, quality of foliage, bloom, and scent.
Sending Budwood to Nursery Growers: The developer then sends his choice of roses in the form of budwood to large nursery growers. The nursery growers then go through a further selection process to determine which they will choose to grow. The grower then grafts the budwood onto rootstock and continues to multiply the number of the rose through grafting. This process takes several years.
Selection and Testing: The nursery grower is continually monitoring the rose for hardiness and quality. The grower chooses the best 2-3 roses per year to introduce to the public.
Marketing: Distribution through catalogs and local nurseries. Of the original seedlings, less than one in a thousand make it to market.

The Raleigh Rose Society is fortunate in that we have an active rose developer as a member. Astor Perry has more than 30 roses that have made it through the strenuous selection process above and can be purchased through catalogs and nurseries. Some of his creations include:

	Anna Caroline Maxwell	HT, dark red, 2000
	Atherton	HT, Medium Yellow, 1981 35 petals, Mild fragrance [Seedling X Sunblest] Available only in India
	Bambey	HT, Medium red; 1979 Exhibition form; 60 petals; fragrant, medium growth [(Fragrant Cloud x Peace) x Alec’s Red]
	Blue Violet	HT, Mauve; 35-40 petals (1981). tall
	Bobo	HT, Medium red 1979 Urn shape Dbl 30 petals, Very Fragrant
	Chowan	HT, Orange blend 1995 Dbl 26-30 petals, fragrant, tall upright growth. [Folklore x Hot Pewter]
	Cloudland	HT, Mauve 1994 Dbl. 26-40 petals. medium upright growth [Blue Moon x Paradise]
	Colossus (PERsus)	HT, Golden Yellow, 1998 Dbl 26-40 petals, moderate fragrance, medium upright growth [Folklore x Golden Gate]
	Darling Annabelle	HT, white with faint pink centers 1992 Exhibition form, Dbl 26-40 petals, moderate fragrance, tall upright growth [South Seas x Peace]
	Dothan	HT, medium pink, 1983 Exhibition form 35 petals; slight fragrance, upright growth [Koppies x King of Hearts]
	Dreamward (BURapward)	HT, yb, light yellow with pink blush 1996 Dbl 15-25 petals, slight fragrance [Peace x Granada]
	Dublin	HT, medium red 1982 Exhibition form 35-40 petals, very fragrant, upright growth [(seedling x Mister Lincoln) x Ann Letts]
	Elmhurst	HT, pb, peachy pastel pink with yellow 1985 Dbl 35 petals; exhibition quality medium upright growth [Granada x Helmut Schmidt]
	Goldstrike	HT golden yellow, 1997
	Hondo	HT, deep yellow with red blush 1989 Dbl33 petals upright growth [Irish Gold x Las Vegas]
	Intrepid (PERpid)	HT, dark red, 1998 Exhibition form, dbl 24-40 petals, moderate fragrance, medium upright growth [Karl Herbst x Burgandy]
	Irish Cream (PERcream)	HT, light russet, 1999 Dbl 26-40 petals, moderate fragrance, medium growth [Butterscotch x Mandelon]
	Jema	HT, apricot blend, 1981 Dbl 45 petals; tall [Helen Traubel x Lolita]
	Just Dreamy (PERjusdream)	HT, flowers yellow-gold, reverse apricot gold, 1999 Dbl 17-25 petals, medium growth [Folklore x Golden Gate]
	Kingaroy	HT, Dark red (1979). Dbl 30 petals, slight fragrance, medium growth [Unnamed seedling x Red Lion]
	Koppies	HT, lp, Cream blended with light pink, 1979 vigorous tall growth (1981). [Tropicana x WendyCussons]
	Lasker	HT, Pink blend, 1979 Exhibition form dbl 40 petals, tall growth [South Seas x Oregold]
	Lewiston	HT, Medium yellow,1981 Exhibition form 40 petals, very fragrant, tall growth [Red Lion x Kings Ransom]
	Lobo (Centennial blend for North Carolina State University’s 100^th anniversary)	HT, rb, red-purple with reverse white, 1987 26-40 petals, short upright growth [Kordes Perfecta x Gavotte]
	Macho Man (PERmach)	HT, mauve, 1999 Dbl 17-25 petals moderate fragrance, short bushy growth
	Millennium (PERmill)	HT, medium red, 1997 Dbl 26-40 petals, some fragrance Upright medium growth [Fire Magic x Precious Platinum]
	Pastel Princess	HT, two toned pink blend, 1995 15-25 petals, fragrant, upright tall growth [Seedling x Seedling]
	Ruffles	HT, medium pink, 1994 26-40 petals, moderate fragrant, tall growth [Seedling x Alec’s Red]
	Shari	HT, Pink blend, 1992 26-40 petals slight fragrance, tall upright growth [Sweetie Pie sport]
	Starshine	HT, pink and yellow blend 1995 Tall growth [Peace x Condesa de Sastago]
	Stokes	HT, peach with reverse salmon, 1982 Exhibition 35 petals, medium tall growth [Susan Massu x Yellow Seedling]
	Suffolk	HT, Pink blend, 1983 Exhibition form , 45 petals; slight fragrance, medium upright growth [Garden Party x Unnamed Yellow seedling]
	Tifton	HT, yellow blend, 1983 Exhibition form, moderate fragrance, bushy growth [Fire Magic x Oregold]
	Tulsa	HT, light pink 1996
	Twenty First Century (PERtwentyfirst)	HT, dark yellow, 1999 Dbl 26-40 petals, upright medium growth [Butterscotch x Mandelon]
	First Flight	HT, dark red, 2001

RRS Home Page