A Rose is a Story

Rose shrubs are practically "older than dirt." I say that very fondly knowing my grandparents and relatives often used that expression, plus they grew roses. Roses have been around for at least 35 million years. See what I mean? We know they are that old because rose fossils have been discovered, documented and photographed in the Herbarium at Florissant National Monument, just down the road from Denver. Worth checking out for sure.

Internet photo

I wonder if the 35 million old rose growers assigned names to their roses like we do today? Can't answer that one so...fast forward to World War II. Yes, a war story, but this one has a very happy ending.

The stories behind the naming of roses is a blog unto itself, thank goodness there is an excellent book about this very topic by Stephen Scanniello and Douglas Brenner named "A Rose by Any Name."

The authors do a great job tackling the "thorny task" of writing about the provenance and names of several roses - old and new, many surrounded by scandal, romance and lore you'd never think to make up. My focus is the naming of the ever popular hybrid tea 'Peace' rose - a favorite of so many gardeners, the number as high or higher than one hundred million around the world. 

'Peace' rose is a newly minted forever stamp - honored in April by the United States Postal Service and the American Rose Society as one of the most popular roses of all time. One other piece of trivia - the rose is the official national flower of America, designated as such in 1986 by Congress. I've read where it beat out the marigold and lilac - go roses!

Do you have one in your garden, if not maybe it's time to plant a 'Peace' rose and add to your collection. After all, the name is the story.

The 'Peace' rose ...

It was a dark and stormy night, no, that's not the beginning, but maybe. In 1935 while the Germans were planning and soon carrying out the occupation of Europe, rose seedling number 3-35-40 was growing in a trial rose garden by Francis Meilland. Francis was the son of Antoine Meilland who in 1850 founded Meilland International SA, a family owned rose growing business in south eastern France.

Francis was expert in rose breeding and bringing them to market through distributors all over the world, including America. In 1939 Francis invited some of his international growers to view No. 3-35-40 - a very large, full petaled canary yellow, pink edged fragrant, beautiful rose. They liked what they saw so orders were placed by his customers in Germany, Italy and the United States. The two former countries received their rose orders, but not his American distributor in Pennsylvania. Something got in the way of the shipment, a little period in world history called the Nazi occupation. 

Frances Meilland

Now we're getting to the "stormy night" part of the story. Once France was occupied, nurseries were ordered to grow food crops for their troops and people. Francis complied by plowing under a couple hundred thousand rose bushes to make room to grow pumpkins, cabbages, rutabagas and more crops. He kept a little patch of land for his special roses. 

In 1940 important diplomats were getting out of dodge (France) quickly. This included the American consul in Lyon who was asked by Francis Meilland to smuggle a packet of 3-35-40 bud eyes out of the country and through his dispatch hand deliver them to Robert Pyle of the Conard-Pyle Company in West Grove, PA. Yes, it was literally the last plane out of France. No doubt Ingrid and Bogie comes to mind.
 

'Peace' Rose from Edmund's Roses

Later, during the war Francis named his special yellow blend rose 'Madame Antoine Meilland' after his deceased mother. It was also being sold in Germany as 'Gloria Dei' ("glory of God" in Latin). In Italy it was called 'Gioia' ("joy"). It wasn't until 1944 and the liberation of France that he learned in a letter that 'Madame Antoine Meilland' made it to Robert Pyle who was growing and cultivating the rose in America. 

The letter from Robert Pyle read "my eyes are fixed in fascinated admiration on a glorious rose, its pale gold, cream and ivory petals blending to a lightly ruffled edge of delicate carmine. I am convinced it will be the rose of the century."

On the same day Berlin fell to the Allies - April 29, 1945, rose No. 3-35-40 was officially named 'Peace' at the Pacific Rose Society exhibition. According to Stephen Scanniello and Douglas Brenner from their book, Robert Pyle paid a higher royalty fee (33%) for 'Peace' instead of the customary 15%, but asked for exclusive rights to market the rose. No matter the loss of sole proprietorship, the Meilland family was happy and making huge profits in royalties. Robert Pyle was rewarded with considerable profits as well, he sent Francis and his family a grand thank you gift - a new model 1946 Chevrolet sedan!

'Peace' Forever Stamp - April 2018

If you like 'Peace' rose and other roses, your opportunity to enter a judged rose show is fast approaching. The Denver Rose Society is hosting their annual rose show on June 30, 2018 at Denver Botanic Gardens in Mitchell Hall. First time exhibitors are encouraged to give exhibiting a try. 

There's no charge to enter the rose show, you just need to grow the roses yourself, the exception is the photography entries. The theme this year is "Around the World in 80 Roses," which means several of the categories to enter follow this fun theme. Read the entire rose show schedule at this LINK. Click on 2018 Rose Show Schedule. If you have specific questions about exhibiting please contact the Denver Rose Society HERE. A volunteer will be on hand to assist first time exhibitors.

If you wish to just check out the exhibited roses and winners, please stop by Mitchell Hall at 1:00 pm on June 30. No charge to sniff and view the roses, just pay entrance to DBG if you're not a member of the Denver Rose Society or Denver Botanic Gardens.