4 New Roses Named for All-American Honors
Four new roses have won 1991 honors from All-American Rose Selections, indicating they have outstanding qualities for your garden.
The winners are Sheer Elegance, a pink hybrid tea; Perfect Moment, a yellow-orange hybrid tea; Shining Hour, a yellow grandiflora; and Carefree Wonder, a pink landscape rose.
AARS, a nonprofit organization of rose producers and introducers, tests new varieties. Before selection as AARS winners, the roses undergo a two-year testing period that includes heat, drought, cold wind, insects, diseases and picky judges in all areas of the United States.
The winning roses will be available to consumers in the spring of 1991, and earlier in certain Sun Belt areas.
Sheer Elegance is one of the few AARS winners hybridized by an amateur, Jerry Twomey of Leucadia, Calif. It was introduced by DeVor Nurseries of Watsonville, Calif., and is reportedly highly disease-resistant. It is of medium height, with blooms described as non-fading, soft pink with almond-colored edges, and with a mild-to-strong musky fragrance. The rose is reportedly prolific and a quick bearer, with long, stiff, florist-quality stems.
Perfect Moment features an unusual yellow-based flower with red tip. The bud opens in a slow spiral to show high-centered, heavy blooms with excellent keeping qualities. The plant has dark green, leathery foliage and good disease resistance. Introduced by Jackson & Perkins of Medford, Ore., Perfect Moment was hybridized by Reimer Kordes of Sparrieshoop, West Germany.
Shining Hour, “highly floriferous,” has high-centered, yellow blooms of approximately 35 petals. The bush shows good vigor, with medium green, glossy foliage and an upright, dense habit. This flower, also introduced by J&P;, was hybridized by William A. Warriner, who has hybridized more AARS winners than anyone else. Warriner retired in 1988 as J&P;’s vice president of research.
Carefree Wonder, an everblooming landscape rose with low maintenance needs, is reported very hardy in winter and summer. The colorful blooms feature rich, pink petals with creamy pink reverse, 4.5 inches across. The 3- to 4-foot bush is described as vigorous, with an orderly, rounded habit. It was introduced by the Conard-Pyle Co. of West Grove, Pa., and hybridized by Selection Meilland, Antibes, France, the family that brought out the famed Peace Rose.
AARS offers a new four-color brochure, “The Wonderful World of Roses.” To order, send a check or money order for $1, plus a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to: AARS, Dept. 91W, 221 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60601.
The Winningest
What type of rose wins the most awards in the AARS testing program?
AARS says it’s a hybrid tea in a shade of pink, followed by the popular red.
A 50-year review of AARS winners indicates that hybrid tea roses won the designation almost 2 to 1 over other rose classifications. There were 71 hybrid tea rose winners, 40 floribundas and 18 grandifloras. A few miniatures, climbers and shrub roses also have earned the awards through the years.
Other top colors were white, yellow and orange. Less frequent winners were unusually colored roses such as 1948 winner Diamond Jubilee (buff), 1969 Angel Face (lavender) and 1984 Intrigue (plum).
Pleasure, a coral pink floribunda, was the lone 1990 award choice.
“While classic hybrid tea roses traditionally have been the most popular type of rose, we’re constantly evaluating new introductions,” said AARS president Omer Schnedier, of DeVor. “These introductions include more modern types of roses, such as shrub and miniatures, and a variety of colors.”
Distributed by AP Newsfeatures.
