Not a few have gone unacknowledged by rose breeders in their native lands: Claudia Cardinale, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Hope, Gina Lollobrigida, Pail McCartney, Ginger Rogers.
‘Ingrid Bergman’ (1915-82) large, full dark red flowers; none to mild fragrance, very disease resistant; (1984 Pernille Olsen, Denmark)
‘Bing Crosby’ (1903-77) red, darker veining, mild, # fragrance, large; dark green, dense, leathery foliage; 4-feet tall, very disease resistant; (1981 Weeks, USA)
‘Cary Grant’ (1904-86) long-stemmed large red-orange fragrant blooms with golden eyes, fragrant on disease resistant shrubs noted for their large sharp thorns. The ‘Cary Grant’ rose was commissioned by his fifth wife Barbara Harris Grant for her husband a as Valentine gift in February 1986 and planted along the driveway of their home; the red-orange as a favourite colour with him (1987 Meilland, France)
‘Bob Hope’ (1903-2003) very large, scarlet blooms with strong tea rose fragrance, armed with thorns; leathery foliage is heat and rain tolerant (1960 Reimer Kordes, Germany)
‘Audie Murphy’ (1924-71) blooms medium red with moderate # fragrance, bushy plants (1957 Dr. Walter E. Lammerts, USA)
‘Dolly Parton’ (1946-) extremely fragrant large deep orange-red blooms on vigorous, bushy shrubs that can be used in beds and borders (1984 Joseph F. Winchell, UK)
‘Ronald Reagan’ (1911-2004) red, lighter reverse blooms with a mild sweet fragrance, perpetual blooming on tall, compact, upright, well-branched and vigorous bushes (2005 Dr. Walter E. Lammerts, USA)
Pink Hybrid Teas
‘Lynn Anderson’ (1947-2015) pink blend, pink edges, mild tea fragrance; the singer from North Dakota known for her 1970 hit ‘I Never Promised you a Rose Garden’ (1995 Joseph F. Winchell, Harbor City CA. USA)
‘Susan Hampshire’ (1938-) blooms light pink with mild fragrance (1975 Paolino/Meilland, France)
‘Audrey Hepburn’ (1929-93) medium to large light pink flowers with fruity fragrance (1983 Jerry F. Twomey, USA)
‘Paul McCartney’ (1942-) large medium pink blooms with strong fragrance large on bushes to 6-feet tall, but susceptible top black spot disease (1991 Alain Meilland, France) aka The McCartney Rose
‘Ginger Rogers’ (1911-95) salmon-pink, moderate fragrance (1969 McGready, Ireland)
‘Elizabeth Taylor’ (1932-2013) deep pink blooms with mild to strong fragrance (1985 Weddle, USA)
Pink Floribundas
‘Gracie Allen’ (1906-64) pink blend, no fragrance, (1998 Tom Carruth, USA)
‘Julie Andrews’ (1935-) orange-pink with moderate fragrance (1992 Gareth Fryer, UK)
‘Natasha Richardson’ (1963-2009) blooms light pink, strong citrus fragrance; old-fashioned bloom form (2011 Harkness, UK)
Yellow Hybrid Teas
‘Henry Fonda’ (1905-82) deep yellow with none to mild fragrance on tall, upright bushes
(1995 Jack E. Christensen, USA)
‘Gina Lollobrigida’ (1927-) large deep yellow blooms with moderate fragrance with semi-glossy leaves on large upright (1989, Alain Meilland, France)
‘Freddie Mercury’ (1946-91) blooms medium yellow; moderate fragrance on almost thornless bushes (1993 Eric Stainthorpe/Battersby, UK)
Yellow Floribundas
‘Julia Child’ (1912-2004) very abundant medium yellow, fragrant blooms, armed with thorns; AARS selection (2006 Tom Carruth/Weeks, USA) in Australia ‘Soul Mate’
‘Doris Day’ (1924-) very large, very full, yellow gold blooms with strong scent and dark green foliage (2015 Christian Bédard/Weeks, USA)
‘Judy Garland’ (1922-69) blooms orange-yellow blend with strong rose scent on 5-foot bushes (1978 Harkness, UK)
Apricot Hybrid Teas
‘Lucille Ball’ (1911-89) tall bushy upright (1991 Jack E. Christensen, USA)
‘Catherin Deneuve’ (1943-) large apricot blend blooms with mild to strong fragrance (1981 Meilland, France)
‘Marilyn Monroe’ (1926-62) flowers 5 to 7 inches across with mild citrus fragrance on 4 to 6 foot bushes (2002 Tom Carruth/Weeks USA). Edmunds’ Roses describes it as “voluptuous, large, perfectly formed blooms of creamy apricot show a light wash of green as they start to open. This beauty will make exhibitors drool. . . strong vigorous and sneers at disease. Yes, some like it hot!
‘Olivia Newton-John’ (1948-) blooms peach-apricot, delicate fragrance (2008 Colin A. Pearce, UK)
White/Cream Hybrid Teas
‘Princesse de Monaco’ (Grace Kelly 1929-82) large, full blooms cream, pink edges with a mild, fruity fragrance on short, bushy upright shrubs; (1956 Marie-Louise Meilland, France) aka Princess Grace
‘Jeanne Moreau’ (1928-) blooms white or white blend, with strong fragrance (2005 Meilland, France)
Lavender Hybrid Teas
‘Barbara Streisand’ (1942-) scented (2001 Carruth USA, sold by Weeks)
Shrub Roses
‘Claudia Cardinale’ (1938-) deep orange-yellow very large, very full blooms with strong fragrance on bushes 5 to 8 feet tall (1997 Guillot-Massad, France)
‘James Mason’ (1909-84) medium red Gallica shrub, strong fragrance; blooms once per season; suckers on its own roots; attractive fall colour foliage (1982 Peter Beales, UK)
‘Alan Titchmarsh’ deep pink moderate old rose fragrance(2007 David Austin UK)
Miniature Roses
‘Elvis’ (1935-77) medium red with mild fragrance (2004 Wells, USA)
‘Brenda Lee’ (1944-) orange-red, yellow reverse, moderate fragrance (2008 Wells, USA)
‘Barbara Mandrell’ (1948-) 1990 apricot blend with mild fragrance (Bensen E. “Gene” King, USA)
Novelty Roses
‘George Burns’ (1896-1996) cluster flowered yellow, red stripes, pink stripes, cream stripes, fragrant blooms; armed with thorns; susceptible to black spot (1996 Tom Carruth, USA)
‘Neil Diamond’ (1941-) striped pink and white with intense scent(2015 Weeks, USA)
Over the years, rumours have persisted that ‘Sexy Rexy,’ a pink floribunda, mildly fragrant, released in1984 by Sam McGredy of New Zealand was named after the late actor Rex Harrison (1908-90) of
My Fair Lady fame. Not so, according to the New Zealand Rose Society, but, ‘after an old friend of its breeder.’ Perhaps just as well. Six times married, in private life Harrison was not exactly the English gentleman he so frequently portrayed on stage and screen.
Margaret Trudeau once proclaimed, “I want to be more than a rose in my husband’s lapel.” Alas, as someone once observed, the rosarian’s path is seldom thornless.
