Every once in a while a new seedling comes along that stands out among its siblings and says "There's something different about me." Back in 2002 I made a cross between Ralph Moore's bright orange miniature 'Joycie' and the old Hybrid Musk 'Trier', hoping to combine some of the best qualities of both. 'Trier is one of the early and most influential parents of the modern Hybrid Musk class, pioneered to a large extent by Joseph Pemberton in the early 1900's. Among his most widely appreciated first generation Hybrid Musks are 'Pax', 'Moonlinght', and 'Clytemnestra', all from the 1910's. However, 'Trier' itself was bred by Peter Lambert in 1904, listed as a "seedling of Aglaïa", a Hybrid Multiflora though to be descended from R. multiflora and the lovely 'Reve d'Or', a Tea-Noisette.

I have grown 'Trier' for several years, and although it does not behave as a climber in my garden, as most of the Multiflora hybrids do, it does bloom with great abandon and is a healthy, care-free shrub of grace and beauty. Not to mention its rich, sweet perfume! And so, in combing 'Trier' with 'Joycie', it was my hope that I would get the large clusters and free-blooming habit of 'Trier', while introducing some of the bright coloring of 'Joycie' and perhaps a more compact growth habit suitable for modern gardens. Did it work? You bet it did! I got about 120 seedlings from that cross, and over 20 of them were selected to go on to the next year's trials.

At first I was concerned that I had a big batch of seedlings that were going to be once-bloomers, since none of them had flowered by June first. Usually the repeat-blooming seedlings have pretty much all flowered for the first time by then, but none of these had. They were all sturdy growers that were branching well from the bases, the foliage was clean and attractive and had no mildew, so I watched them carefully. Then around mid-June they started forming buds. Within 2 weeks most of them were in bloom. The variety of colors was a huge surprise: when you cross a medium orange with a white, you expect a lot of pale colors, but not this time. There was everything from cream to coral, canary yellow to bright red, yellow and apricot blends.....some pinks.....you name it, it was in there.

And so I selected about 25 of the best seedlings and moved them all into one gallon pots, where most of them grew like weeds that first Summer. They were all planted out into the garden the next Spring to evaluate how well they did in the open air. (Sometimes a seedling that shows great promise in the greenhouse turns out to be a miserable dudoutdoors!) Some of them did indeed fare poorly, either growing badly or getting too much disease. At this point I was down to about 5 selections that showed promise. The following year, it was clear to me that 69-03-23 was a superior seedling, and I began propagating it. It rooted easily, which is a plus for the nurseries that adopt it into their inventory, and it develops quickly into a saleable plant.

And so, here we are at 2007, and the rose has a name and is ready for introduction. No longer known as simply 69-03-23, its code name, it is called Jeri Jennings, named for a generous and enthusiastic Rosarian I know in California. Jeri is an active member of the Heritage Rose Foundation, and the Gold Coast Heritage Roses Group, and is a contributor to many web sites, mine included. (See the site index) Because Jeri is such an enthusiatic rose person and because she makes very important contributions to the Rose world, I wanted to show some appreciation for her work by naming this new rose for her. I hope those of you who grow it in your own gardens come to like it as much as I do.

The new 'Jeri Jennings' is classed as a Hybrid Musk variety, as was its pollen parent 'Trier'. It shares many of the habits that the Hybrid Musk class is known for: graceful growth, excellent vigor, masses of blooms (in this case, about 2" in diameter), good health and a wonderful fragrance. Interestingly, its powerful sweet scent grows more intense as the bloom ages, not less! In test gardens, 'Jeri Jennings' can grow anywhere between 5 feet tall as a free standing shrub, or in warmer climates like California, it can be used as a climber, possibly as large as 12 feet. I think people will find this both a very beautiful shrub and highly valuable as a landscape specimen. As you can see from my snapshot of a plant in full bloom, it produces an abundance of flower. It repeats very well in flushes through the Summer.

Original photographs and site content © 2007 Paul Barden, All Rights Reserved.