HelpMeFind Roses, Clematis and Peonies
Roses, Clematis and Peonies
and everything gardening related.
DescriptionPhotosLineageAwardsReferencesMember RatingsMember CommentsMember JournalsCuttingsGardensBuy From 
'Grey Pearl' rose References
Book  (Aug 2002)  Page(s) 45.  
 
Grey Pearl
Rated 4.9
Book  (2001)  Page(s) 48.  
 
Grey Pearl Hybrid Tea, mauve, 1945. Rating: 4.9
Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 227.  
 
Hybrid Tea, mauve, 1945, ('The Mouse'); ('Mrs. Charles Lamplough' x Seedling) x ('Sir David Davis' x 'Southport'); McGredy; J&P. Bud ovoid; flowers lavender-gray, shaded olive and tan, double (43 petals), high-centered, large (4-4 1/2 in.); fragrant; foliage glossy; vigorous growth.
Book  (1978)  Page(s) 123.  
 
'Grey Pearl' was an odd rose from McGredy, introduced  by J &  P in 1945, with a name which really needs no further description. It was rudely nicknamed The Mouse, from the greyness and the brown colour of its buds; its inability to grow also merited that title.
Book  (1971)  Page(s) 155.  
 
Grey Pearl 1949. Lavender-grey, shaded olive and tan, hybrid tea. To most people, a revolting colour, but a forerunner of many of today's lavender blues.
Website/Catalog  (1952)  Page(s) 74.  
 
From the 1952 Roses of Yesterday and Today catalog:

Grey Pearl. The catalog-writer is embarrassed. From first mention in edition 1949-1950 we have been promising Grey Pearl to a steadily increasing number of customers and have delivered a few, -- but the list grows faster than our supplies and we must again retire behind a barrage of ifs, buts, howevers, and never-the-lesses--at least until the harvest count is available in December. Grey Peal has the distinction(?) of bearing the lowest ARS rating in America -- a "smashing" 38%, but The Pearl's friend, Walter Bauer of Bremen, Indiana has a comback, --"I believe the reason so many do not like it, is too much rain on the ready-to-open bud. Just now, after a rainless period my flowers are perfect,-- a hot, dry climate for Grey Pearl." And Harris Darcy of Austin, Texas (where it is "hot and dry"), calls it his "Mona Lisa." And again from San Marino, California, --"Even my over-active imagination could not conjure up anything so lovely."

As for the catalog-writer, national rating notwithstanding, he's still waiting to pin one of these pale lavender-grey roses on a black draped shoulder. Needed now, only the lovely (and willing!) lady! $2.50
Later--at the Tulsa ARS convention, --I found her, Mrs. William H. Bies of St Louis.
Article (magazine)  (Dec 1951)  Page(s) 22.  
 
Grey Pearl, a controversial item in itself and of no distinguished popularity, has mothered a new and distinctly fashionable group of hybrids... Greying a color or shading, brings new color qualities not available with pure pigments. That is what 'Grey Pearl' contributes, as illustrated in the smoky pink-lavender of 'Lavender Pinocchio'.
Book  (1947)  Page(s) 128.  
 
Herbert C. Swim. An Evaluation of the Newer Roses in the United States
Grey Pearl is a curiosity but would have little appeal for anyone except the Rose collector. The colour is more depressing than pleasing.
Book  (1945)  Page(s) 223, 225.  
 
Grey Pearl Hybrid Tea. (S. McGredy & Son; introduced in the US by Jackson & Perkins Co., 1945). Unnamed seedling x unnamed seedling... A general grey tone with mauve and brownish undertones...
p. 225: Grey Pearl Hybrid Tea. Samuel McGredy & Son, Portadown, Ireland; [introduced by] Jackson and Perkins Company, Newark, New York.
© 2024 HelpMeFind.com