Rosa Peace or The Peace Rose is out in flower with ten or more buds yet to open. My visitors, yesterday I’m sure, did not understand my excitement at finding the roses about to flower. Rosa Peace has large full blooms, in soft yellow, ivory flushed with crimson pink edging. The foliage is glossy, robust, and healthy creating a rose of immense beauty.
The remarkable story of the ‘Peace’ Rose has been told many times before. It is a significant and poignant story worth retelling because it epitomises a yearning for a better world, the elusive nature of Peace, the greatness of spirit, endurance, and vision, plus all the things that roses symbolise.
Rosa Peace is a truly beautiful rose with an extraordinary history. It is a triumphant achievement for the French rose breeder Francis Meilland. In Lyon, France in 1935, Francis and his Father selected, tagged and planted 50 seedlings that showed promise. They had no name for her in the beginning, but called her simply #3-35-40.
Over the next four years, a keen eye was kept on the development of the plants, and they were introduced to professional rose growers and others who showed enthusiasm for the new rose. As the roses grew, they were considered the most beautiful Hybrid Tea Roses anyone had ever seen. With clever foresight, because the threat of war was looming, Francis sent several parcels of budwood from France, one in a diplomatic bag to America, to rose agents in the hope that the newly developed rose could be saved. During the war, the Meilland family was unaware that any budwood had survived.
Francis Meilland wrote in his diary:
“How strange to think that all these millions of rose bushes sprang from one tiny seed no bigger than the head of a pin, a seed which we might so easily have overlooked, or neglected in a moment of inattention.”
Francis Meilland
Although the war raged in Europe, some agents who had planted the rose in their trial beds in all different climate zones in the USA, made the decision to propagate them, and a launch date set for 29th April 1945 in Pasadena California. The full story of ‘Peace’ can be read in Antonia Ridge’s beautiful book ‘For Love of a Rose’. This book tells the exceptional story of a rose that has been sold over 100 million times to 1992.
Due to the secrecy of sending the Peace rose cuttings abroad, the recipients could not communicate with each other during the war; the rose was given several different names. In France, it was called ‘Madame A. Meilland’ after Francis Meillands’ Mother, and in Italy, it was called ‘Goia’, meaning Joy. In Germany, the Peace Rose was named ‘Glory Dei’, which means ‘Glory to God,’ and in the United States, Sweden, and Norway, the Hybrid tea was called Peace.
In sheer coincidence, on the day that two doves were released into the sky to symbolise the naming of the Peace Rose in America, it was also the same day that heralded the end of WW11. During the naming of the Peace Rose, a simple statement was read
“ We are persuaded that this greatest new rose of our time should be named for the world’s greatest desire: peace.
Apart from the significance of the end of the war, why is Rosa Peace such a super-star rose loved by gardeners across the globe? The Peace rose is a Hybrid Tea rose with very large fragrant ivory yellow blooms that are delicately brushed with pink, it is robust, disease free, healthy, reliable, prolific and has long lasting blooms that are eye-catching, exquisite and elegant.
According to Peter Beales in his book ‘ Roses’ – The Peace Rose was given to each of the delegates at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in 1945 in San Francisco with a note saying
“We hope the ‘Peace’ rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace.”
Rosa Peace has been used to create a lineage of other superb roses like, Garden Party, Casanova, Blue Illusion, Double Delight, Perfume Delight, and Princesse de Monaco, to name just a few. It is said that the Peace rose is the mother to 150 varieties and the father in a further 180 varieties and if we listed the new release roses there would be many more. Some say that most of our modern roses are descended in some way from Rosa Peace.
Gardeners in the 1940s needed inspiration after World War 11, and the Peace Rose fitted the bill perfectly. It was easy to grow and gave gardeners great results, encouraging and exciting them to have confidence in their green thumbs enough to plant more roses and other plants, thus reviving the nursery business again.
Sam McGredy, the famous rose breeder once said,
“For the record, Peace is the greatest rose of my time. It’s as nearly perfect as a rose can be.” So, if you are one of the few people who don’t already (or still) grow Peace, you should run right out and get a plant now.“
Sam McGredy
Another world’s favourite rose is Just Joey. Just Joey was bred by Roger Pawsey and named after his wife Joey. It was inducted into the Rose Hall of Fame in 1994. Just Joey is a charming Hybrid Tea that was introduced in the UK by Cants of Colchester in 1972. The Just Joey rose is delightful especially the colours- a creamy copper yellow/apricot with unique wavy petals.
A signature look of Just Joey is the very dark leathery foliage, which adds an extra element to the shrub and perfectly contrasts the coppery colouring. The Just Joey roses in the garden are new roses so are low to the ground but nonetheless flower beautifully. As time passes, the blooms will enlarge and become as big as 20 cm across later in spring and autumn. The wavy petals will also become more pronounced.
“She leaned in to smell the apricot-tinted rose whose petals had just unfolded into a ruffled cup“
Ellen Herrick
Australia is a good area for growing the Just Joey Rose, because it is disease resistant and handles heat well. The blooms have a spicy perfume inherited from Fragrant Cloud x Dr. A.J. Verhage roses that are both known for their strong scent.
“One rose is enough for the dawn.”
Edmond Jabes
And now, the magenta blooms of the In Appreciation Rose, which has also come out in bloom over the last few days. Like the Peace Rose, the roses stay long on the shrub, and don’t ball in the wet, nor do the petals fall.
Despite a wild storm last evening, the In Appreciation Rose is still in tact and the blooms not damaged at all. It is a magnificent Hybrid Tea Rose that produces vibrant, hot pink flowers over a long season in a well-branched shrub. The roses are luminous and gorgeous.
The ovoid buds of In Appreciation open to reveal roses that stand out in the garden with a light scent. They are perfect for floral arrangements and bloom continually in a classic rose shape. The In Appreciation Rose was bred by Hans Jürgen Evers in Germany in 1987. It was introduced into Australia by Nieuwesteeg Rose Nursery in 2004 as ‘In Appreciation’. The shrub grows into a narrow, bushy shrub with semi-glossy dark green foliage to about 120 cm.
Xan Oku
“May the flowers remind us why the rain was so necessary“
It is a joy to glimpse a new rose opening after the effort put into creating a fresh garden. There were significant milestones to navigate to fill the garden and some anticipation on the new climate. But, we are on the way with a variety of abundant blooms now, and they look incredible.
“Gardening is a madness, a folly that does not go away with age. Quite the contrary.”
Mary Sarton
Content and images Di Baker 2024
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