Plant of the Week
Peace Rose
Latin: Rosa x hybrida 'Peace'
Roses are an enigma in the garden.
To all but the rose growing specialist, they are to be viewed from afar
because their demands exceed what the average gardener can or will provide. Yet,
roses remain an important ingredient that makes up the essence of what a garden
is, or someday, can be. Roses also harken to another day and often have stories
to tell about their beginnings or the path they followed to make a mark in the
garden world. The Peace hybrid tea rose is such a plant.
The Peace rose is a vigorous hybrid tea growing up to five or six feet tall
with large, leathery foliage and big multi-petaled flowers that can be up to
five inches across when fully opened. The background color of the flower is
various shades of light yellow suffused with pinks, which are more intense near
the edge and fade away toward the base of the petal. It doesn’t have much
fragrance except as it first opens.
The American Rose Society collects evaluations from its membership and ranks
the garden worthiness of roses on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being best. The score
for Peace usually is around 9, making it consistently one of the highest scoring
roses. Generally any plant with a score above 8 is considered a good garden
plant.
The Peace rose was introduced in the United States by Conard-Pyle of West
Grove, Penn., who, in a bit of promotional patriotism, made the official debut
on April 29, 1945, the day Berlin fell to Allied forces. According to legend,
the budwood for the rose was smuggled out of France just before the Nazi
invasion in a diplomatic pouch. The original hybrid was made in 1935 by Francis
Meilland, of the famous rose breeding family near Lyon, France. Meilland,
fearing the rose would be destroyed as the war raged around him, sent budwood to
friends in Germany, Italy and the United States. It did well in all countries
and was introduced under four different names, "Peace" in the United States,
"Gloria Dei" in Germany, "Gioia" in Italy and "Mme. A. Meilland" in France. When
the delegates met in San Francisco to formally establish the United Nations, the
Pacific Rose Society put a Peace rose in each delegate’s room.
Growing good roses, especially hybrid teas, requires attention to detail.
First, the planting site should receive at least six hours of full sun during
the day. Even more sun is preferable. The soil must be very well drained or
raised beds should be used. Usually roses are planted in beds with the entire
planting bed worked up. The bed should be spaded to a depth of at least 12
inches and a generous portion of compost added, perhaps with a little composted
manure for good measure. If lime is needed, it should be added during the
soil-building phase.
Bare root rose plants should be planted as soon as possible in the spring,
leaving the graft union just above the soil line. Container-grown roses can be
planted until late spring.
Roses require regular fertilization to keep them growing and flowering.
Following the directions recommended for one of the specialty rose fertilizers
or using a general purpose garden powdered fertilizer dissolved in water is the
easiest approach to feeding.
The most challenging aspect of growing hybrid tea roses is the disease,
blackspot. This fungus disease attacks when the foliage first appears and can
defoliate an unprotected plant by midsummer. Funginex is the recommended
fungicide and it must be applied about every 10 days, or more often if it rains
between applications.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
January 22, 1999
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