In 1971, when my interest in roses was in its infancy, I was on the board of directors of a client corporation that had undertaken a venture in the rose business. Our marketing director proposed to introduce a new product - miniature tree roses - and in the presentation told us of the "Father of the Miniature" - a genius in breeding roses who worked out of Visalia since the 1930s. His name of course was Ralph Moore.

The two miniature tree roses I received as samples that day were my first miniatures and close to my first roses. I don't remember the name of the varieties, nor did I even know that varieties had names. But I do remember the name of the breeder, a name I would encounter over and over again as my love of roses grew - Ralph Moore.

Over the years, I acquired many of Ralph's roses, pored over his supplemental lists of interesting varieties, and read a great deal of his prolific writing on roses. I also saw him at many rose events. But I never actually met him in person until one morning. Saturday, April 30, 1988 at the Pacific Southwest District Convention in Santa Barbara.

The convention was at the old Miramar hotel. Ralph was sitting in a wing chair in the lobby, having been deposited there by his wife who had gone off to run an errand. He was by my reckoning, 81 years of age, and seemed confused, uncertain of where he was and content to wait until his wife returned. Dare I approach the great man? I thought to myself - well why not? So I sat down in the chair next to him, introduced myself, and told him of my regard for his roses. There followed an extraordinary conversation. He asked which ones I liked and as I told him of some in my collection, he told me of their parentage and what he had hoped to accomplish in breeding them. He told of plans past and ideas he had for the future. This elderly man, who appeared to have no idea where he was, had a perfect memory of where he had come from and where he was going in his rose breeding.

The next morning at the district breakfast, Ralph came in and sat by me. He brought me a gift plant - a beautiful miniature rose named 'Renny' and asked me what I thought of it. It was pure pink with unusual, pointed petals like that of dahlia. I liked it and he was pleased.

There were many more times that I saw Ralph in person, and of course I continued to acquire his roses and learn more from his writings. But the most memorable - as well as the last time we met in person - was on Sunday, September 19, 1998, at the first annual ARS all-miniature conference in Fresno, a conference dedicated to Ralph Moore.

A grand tour of Sequoia Nursery had been arranged for the concluding day of the conference. But the tour bus was full and several of us caravanned by car. I was with a group that included Mel Hulse, whose red sports car led the way, and Tom Liggett, both founders of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. They knew Ralph well and when we got there, well ahead of the tour bus, Ralph came out to greet us personally.

There followed an extraordinary tour. Striding out on his own, with us in eager pursuit, we went through his greenhouses one by one. Oh the treasures that were there! We saw moss roses and roses with leaves like oak leaves. Pushing our way through overgrown benches and potted roses whose roots had long ago pushed their way deep into the ground, we saw blooms of every shape and size. And for nearly two hours - on a very warm day, I watched this tireless, ageless, 92-year old man, whose memories of his crosses and plans for the future were undimmed.

We knew he could not live forever, but that day it seemed to me like he very well could. And, today I am convinced it was his memory for roses that kept him living for so long.

I don't know if it's always been so, but nowadays it seems that when a person of note dies, he becomes as a saint, at least in all of the obituaries and eulogies. The problem with that is that it cheapens greatness, so that when someone really great dies, we are left struggling to find words. But we don't really need that many words for Ralph Moore. The Father of the Miniature rose was a giant - a rosarian for the ages. His work - both his roses and his writing - have influenced us all and will influence roses and rosarians for another hundred years. Ralph lives on - in our roses - in our hearts - and in our in our memories.

Bob Martin