'Spencer'. hybrid perpetual
pencer was the rose I was
looking for this late fall. Holding on to memories earlier in the season, if I
could just have one more rose to relish and photograph before the killing
freeze arrives. We have had temperatures in the upper twenties on several
nights this fall, and most reasonable roses are shutting down till next spring.
But high atop the roses planted in my pool garden, waving like a banner at the
tip of the highest cane, was this defiant marvel of a bloom on the hybrid
perpetual 'Spencer'. I noticed the fat buds on this rose a couple weeks
ago and had little hope they would open after the low temperatures. But
they did. In fact there were a half dozen buds that have opened. It is
interesting to note that the literature on 'Spencer', as sparse as it is,
complains of balling in wet weather. This fall has been wet, but apparently the
tendancy to ball is offset by the cold temperatures. Or maybe not. The bud on
this rose is quite an impressive and large ball with obvious reflexed
petals.
It is quite interesting to note the lineage and history of
'Spencer' since it is a sport or "mutation" of another hybrid perpetual.
According to Modern Roses 8, in fact, 'Spencer' is a sport of a sport of a
sport.
| ROSE | ORIGIN | DATE / INTRODUCER | # OF DESCENDENTS | MODERN ROSES 8 DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer | sport of Merveille de Lyon | 1892, Paul | ? | Globular, very full, soft pink |
| Merveille de Lyon | sport of Baroness Rothschild | 1882, Pernet | 3118 | Large (4 in.), double, cupped, pure white tinted satiny rose. Vigorous: occasional recurrent bloom. lp. |
| Baroness Rothschild | sport of Souv. de la Reine d'Angleterre | 1868, Pernet | 3135 | Very large, double (40 petals), cupped, very soft rose, tinted white. Vigorous, erect; profuse bloom, sometimes recurrent. lp. |
| Souv. de la Reine d'Angleterre | sport of La Reine | 1855, Cochet | 3136 | Large, full, bright pink. Very vig; recurrent bloom. |
| La Reine | seedling of William Jesse | 1842, Laffay | 9284 | Large, double, (78 petals), cupped, fragrant, glossy rose-pink. Vigorous |
| William Jesse | unknown | 1840, Laffay | 9285 | Large, full, red suffused violet |
kbk 2002 November 25
"Beautiful satin pink, outer petals relexed with white. A magnificant and effective Rose." "Shimmering pink." "Cupped; vigorous." "Flat, fully double...Good foliage ...4x3 ft." "Very large, quite full, and of a compact form; of robust growth...opens freely; and, due to its fulnes, it keeps for a long time. As a garden flower it is without rival for its color." Apparently a stouter and fuller 'Baroness Rothschild', with a similar growth and habit. Likely to be very valuable, if this estimate should be maintained; but, as seen up to present, its additional fulness makes it a bad opener in wet weather."
--from the book The Old Rose Advisor by Brent Dickerson.
Lament For The Rose
So long the year had waited for the Rose,
Thro' days of frost and gloom--
Of struggling sunshine, of untimely snows,
Of yet imperfect bloom--
So long, so long! But when at last she came,
Long patience was forgot:
The world would never more be quite the same
As when the Rose was not!
And now the swallows gather, rose leaves fall--
Whither, so soon, away?
One could upbraid her that she came at all,
If for so short a stay!
And yet, not so! forgive the impatient words:
As sweetness soon forgives;
So, in the dearth of dead flowers, songless birds,
Remember'd sweetness lives.
-- G. Douglas in The Rose Annual of the National Rose Society, Great Britain, 1921