'Pink Grootendorst'. Hybrid Rugosa
From The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book: "Like 'Grootendorst Supreme', this was a sport from 'F.J. Grootendorst' and, in spite of it chocolate-box prettiness and complete lack of scent, it is a favourite with many. It resembles in every way its parent, and is seldom out of flower during the summer and autumn. The bunches of flowers are of brilliant, light cerise-pink, in marked contrast to the leaves, and create a good effect in the garden. It is excellent for cutting and adds character to many a bowl of mixed roses. It is curious that both the sports are less vigorous than the original; a darker variant is often less vigorous than a pale rose, but here both are decidely inferior to 'F.J. Grootendorst' in vigour and foliage. There is also a white sport, 'White Grootendorst'"
"Wonders will never cease, and the most
improbable things sometimes happen, yet they are decreed by theoricians as
impossible according to certain laws which, after all, are but generalities
based on observations and surmise. What man cannot understand or explain he
calls nature's law. Yet unsoundable nature which made and controls these laws
may sometimes get out of the rut or placently permit exceptions now and then.
It is a well-known fact that the wine from a certain region of France
(Anjou) has a strawberry flavor. Without inferring that the vicinity of
strawberry plants have any effect on the grapes, yet it has been a century-old
custom to grow strawberries for revenue between the rows of vines. Where
strawberries are absent or do not pollinate concurrently with the grapevines,
the wine lacks that "bouquet." Coincidence, or what?
When I was
visiting Monsieur Cochet in July, 1928, he asked me whether I could believe
that carnations planted next to roses would influence the roses to bear
carnation blooms. He. then related how a rose bearing carnation blooms was
brought to him. I saw the plants with actual carnation blooms. Neither Cochet
nor I are attempting to elucidate the question, we are only quoting the
facts."
---J.
H. Nicolas, 1933 in The Rose Manual: An Encyclopedia for the American
Amateur