And to think we nearly lost them.

Yes, these old fashioned garden roses that look and smell like this person's dream rose. These were the roses I always yearned for on Valentine's Day.  Never could understand why those red roses never opened despite all my efforts. I didn't know the Valentine Rose was another variety that was bred not to open. Dang! Why didn't someone tell me? All those hours at the sink re cutting and soaking.

It's a very long story, but is an interesting one indeed. I'll keep it short since I'm getting ready for Mother's Day and maybe you don't want all those geeky details. This info. comes from having done a lot of research and having given a few talks at Rose Societies.

Modern hybrid tea roses (related to that Valentine Rose) were created by crossing/ hybridizing a  Chinese rose and European rose (in the most simplistic of explanations). After they were introduced to Europe, the old fashioned, scented, multi- petaled roses fell out of fashion in Europe. 

David Austen was an English rose breeder who was a very significant link in the chain in the return of this type of rose to the garden and the floral designer. His first rose to have the feel of an old fashioned rose came out around 1960.
https://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/Advanced.asp?PageId=1906


Who provides a link to David? In my opinion it's Constance Spry, the woman he named his first rose after. Constance was a British floral designer to royalty. Yet she was  every woman's Martha Stewart of her day, before she died in 1960.  She was a designer, gardener, educator, and traveler and passionate about old fashioned garden roses. She collected rose cuttings or plants from Europe and the United States to be sure they were not lost and raised them in her extensive gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Spry


Enough said!
You can find them and me at
Ponsford Bakery and Inovation Center this Saturday
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ponsfords-Place-Bakery-and-Innovation-Center/171195466244090