I began volunteering at The Huntington Library in 1983. Shortly after beginning my adventure there, I became aware of an excellent "found" rose in the Study Plot, where the unknown, unidentified, Old Rose, Species and "other" roses were grown. This rose was quite impressive. Most canes were nearly thornless. She grew head high with small clusters of large, very full, intensely fragrant pink blooms at the ends of nearly every cane. The foliage was always quite clean and the new growth tips and peduncles were scented of cedar. Every time I visited the plant, she was simply gorgeous.

The plant was identified by a study name, "Grandmother's Hat" and was attributed to Barbara Worl, a wonderful lady who has worked for Bell's Bookstore in Palo Alto, California for the past half century. The story I was told was she'd "discovered" the rose growing on its own and decided that since the color was like that of silk flowers usually worn by "little old ladies" on their straw hats, she'd call it "Grandmother's Hat". It seemed appropriate.

For many years, we made sure to propagate the plant to include in every rose sale the volunteer group participated in for the institution. Grandmother's Hat was always popular, particularly when the prospective grower was told the story behind the rose.

I brought home one of the own root plants for my own garden and have been thoroughly pleased with its performance for the past twenty-three years. That own root plant spent the majority of her life sandwiched between other Old Garden Roses, throwing herself into the other bushes and blooming through them. Over the years, I think I pruned her two or three times, and she has been satisfied with either being hard pruned or left to her own devices.

A few years later, I was given a budded plant of the rose. My garden is on the side of a hill. I had created an uphill path to the upper beds, but didn't want it to go up hill in a straight line, so I off set them to create interest. I'd lined the uphill paths with redwood logs so they'd resemble Asian bridges. It did look as though there were three bridges leading uphill through the roses. At the top, I attempted to recreate the famous photograph of Constance Spry at Mottisfont Abbey. I planted the budded rose at the top of the upper bed, at the end of the last "bridge". Under the rose, I set a white plastic bench as it not only fit my budget, but would be less of a loss if stolen.

That plant quickly grew to about seven feet tall, and spread nearly ten feet. She provided the only shade in that area of the garden, so you could literally sit under her on the bench and be surrounded by brilliant sunshine. Her fragrance carried well when the weather was right, and she literally had MANY flowers on the plant any time you cared to look. I only pruned Grandmother's Hat to prevent her from encroaching on her neighbors, as Grandmother's Hat could easily shade everything else around her. The plant stood at the top of that hill for well over a decade, providing a wall of lovely, mauvy pink, filling the area with her sweet fragrance. I'm sure there had to be some disease from time to time, but it was never sufficient to make me aware of it. The plant received little chemical fertilizer, an occasional mulching of horse manure, and was only watered over head. She was a completely satisfying landscape shrub, and a truly amazing rose.

I've also grown her as a canned, commercial rose on the Pacific Ocean in Southern California and found her to be highly disease resistant in both climates. Grandmother's Hat has proven herself to be very shade tolerant, both in the mid desert as well as on the coast, though there are more flowers in greater levels of direct sun. I've seen her used as a pillar rose on an obelisk as well as trellised and grown on an arch. My favorite is still as a free standing shrub, where she will bloom literally year round in Southern California. I don't know how arctic hardy to expect her to be, so I can't provide any advice about that, but Grandmother's Hat laughs at hundred degree heat in full sun with moderate to high winds, as well as night temperatures which have dipped to the mid twenties. This is truly one amazing rose.

In March of 2005, I had the pleasure and honor of acknowledging Grandmother's Hat's excellence as a garden and landscape rose as well as thanking Barbara Worl for her keen eye and persistence in bringing the rose to popular attention. Having Barbara there to hear my thanks and receive the public applause made the event all the more fun.

I hope by posting this information here, someone may recognize her and be able to offer assistance in recovering her rightful name. It would be wonderful to give credit where credit is due.