Believed extinct or lost

• Tusc-o-jam

24 favorite votes.  

Bred by Paul Barden (United States, 2000).

Hybrid Gallica.  

Rose-pink and lilac, white reverse, violet blending.  Strong, anise, licorice, myrrh, opinions vary fragrance.  25 to 40 petals.  Average diameter 3.5".  Medium to large, full (26-40 petals), cluster-flowered, cupped, globular, nodding or "weak neck" bloom form.  Prolific, once-blooming spring or summer.  Medium, rounded buds.  

Tall, arching, climbing, upright, well-branched.  Medium, semi-glossy, medium green, leathery foliage.  

Height: 5' to 8' (150 to 245cm).  Width: 5' to 8' (150 to 245cm).

USDA zone 5a and warmer.  Can be used for landscape or shrub.  Very hardy.  vigorous.  drought resistant.  Disease susceptibility: disease resistant, blackspot resistant, mildew resistant, very rust resistant.  Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood..  Needs little care; relatively disease-free and quite hardy.  

Nicknamed "Tusc-O-Jam" this is a breeding plant only. It is the pollen parent of 'Siren's Keep'. Presumed Tetraploid but untested.

None of its parents exhibits the Licorice/Myrrh fragrance, and yet this seedling has inherited it. I have found over the years that any time you introduce "pure" Gallica strains into a breeding program with modern shrubs, this fragrance will appear spontaneously in some of the offspring. Some have suggested that this scent came specifically from the Ayreshire Splendens line, but I am inclined to think that such fragrances can come out of any breeding line when combining the right parents.

I have listed this rose as having blooms with "weak necks", which actually means that its natural habit is to display blooms in a pendant manner. This is not a flaw, but rather an ideal way to display the bloom so as to show the wonderful combination of a pale reverse and the lavender-pink inner petals.

Tetraploid