Newsletter  (Aug 2017)  Page(s) 21-22.  Includes photo(s).
 
[From "The Wrong Rose", by Darrell g.h. Schramm, pp. 20-23]
So in the August 2013 issue of Rose Letter on page 10, I included six photos entitled “The Many Faces of ‘Souvenir of Wootton’. Five of those were of my plant; the other was of the dark red rose taken in Australia by Margaret Furness. At the beginning of the 21st century, two Australian nurseries still carried the dark red rose, though none did so in the USA. I was confused. Surely someone grew the wrong rose. After all, despite its variations, mine had never shown itself as a dark, rich red. I had hoped a reader or two would come forth to challenge me or at least comment on the differences of the roses depicted.
Then, in April of this year, Gregg Lowery directed my attention to my so-called ‘Souvenir of Wootton’, flourishing in its huge container. He suggested it was really ‘Reine des Violettes’. Immediately I realized that if he were correct, it would explain much of the coloration. And I grew ‘Reine des Violettes’ also, in the ground and now mostly in shade, where it too flourished. We compared the two—flowers, leaves, stipules, stamens, canes, scent. Why hadn’t I noticed the obvious before? Yes, my ‘Souvenir of Wootton' was the same as ‘Reine des Violettes’, but growing in a large pot quite apart from the other, it appeared at different times somewhat different from the rose in the ground. So I stand corrected. My rose had been mislabeled—probably as long ago as 1906 when it was first described as pinkish in France...
A search on HelpMeFind online took me to Todd Kerr of Baltimore who had posted three photos of a red flower identified as John Cook’s famous rose. When I sent him a request for a photo, he replied he would send me one superior to those shown online. With the picture that arrived, Todd Kerr’s note informed me that the plant had been propagated from cuttings sent to the Maryland Rose Society by John Cook’s descendants in Chicago. Unfortunately, he wrote, the society’s rose had died this past winter. Cook’s Chicago relatives may own the only living specimen in the USA of ‘Souvenir of Wootton’, America’s first Hybrid Tea.

Newsletter  (Feb 2014)  Page(s) 15-16.  Includes photo(s).
 
[From "Seven Disappearing Roses", by Darrell g.h. Schramm, pp. 11-17]
‘Souvenir of Wootton’, America’s first hybrid tea, was bred by John Cook of Baltimore in 1888. He named it to commemorate the estate where a recent American Florists Convention had been held...... The flower is large, double, cupped, with a strong perfume. The color varies with the seasons, as does the cupped form. Sometimes it appears magenta, sometimes deep pink, sometimes light crimson, sometimes with the central petals magenta and the skirt of outer petals pink; at times it exhibits quartered blossoms, at other times muddled centers, or even a deep chalice-like form. Older sources, however, from the earliest in 1888 to 1921 describe the color as ‘Grand red,’ ‘rich velvety red,” and just “rich red.” The rose growing in Australia matches that description. The rose now growing in Baltimore’s Cylburn Arboretum, brought from Sangerhausen, Germany in 2009, is a deep, dark crimson red. In short, the rose in Australia and in Baltimore is similar to the color of its parent ‘Louis van Houtte’, and similar to the very first— admittedly somewhat vague—descriptions of the rose. Yet one source of 1906 avers it is “blush pink with carmine edges,” and Pemberton in 1922 considers it “deep rose pink shaded purple,” an 15 observation that sometimes fits my rose. Another more recent account has it crimson with carmine-pink edges, which at times also fits mine.

[see Reference of August 2017]

Article (newsletter)  (Aug 2013)  Page(s) 2, 10.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Souvenir of Wootton’ ...... A cross of the tea ‘Bon Silene’ and the hybrid perpetual ‘Louis van Houtte’, this rose is America’s first hybrid tea. It was named to memorialize the American Florists Convention previously held at the summer estate of George W. Childs in Wootton. On a somewhat short bush, its full, cupped flowers emit a wonderful fragrance. However, more than one nursery that sells the rose today offers a rose that does not match the first published descriptions, vague as they might be. Sources from 1888, 1899, 1906, and 1914 describe the color as “grand red,” “crimson,” “pure rich velvety red, and “rich red.” Another 1906 source describes it as “bright cherry crimson,” and a 1921 as “rosy crimson.” Two other writings of the same period assert the color as “pink with carmine edging” and “deep rose pink shaded purple rose.” A much more recent catalogue has it as “Crimson, carmine pink edges.” What we have here is one of three situations: this rose has been confused with another over the years; the rose has changed over time; or the rose is quite variable depending on climate, soil, and local weather, a chimera. Yet in Australia the rose remains consistently dark red

[see Reference of August 2017]​​​​​

Book  (Dec 2000)  Page(s) 92.  
 
Souvenir of Wootton Hybrid Tea. Cook [John] & Son (Baltimore, Maryland) 1888

Book  (Apr 1999)  Page(s) 398.  
 
'Souvenir of Wootton' -- Cook's first successful hybrid

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 49.  
 
regarded as the first American-bred hybrid tea...

Website/Catalog  (1948)  Page(s) 24.  
 
Souvenir of Wootton. H. Tea. (1888) Rated Hybrid Tea but with Hybrid Perpetual characteristic predominating; tall, lusty, recurrent bloom; somewhat similar to Mme. Victor Verdier in the way it grows strong canes topped with as many as nine enormous blooms; but the color is a deeper, richer carmine and the perfume is heavier.

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 762.  
 
Wootton, Souv. of (HT) Cook 1889; Bon Silène X L. van Houtte; crimson, edges carmine, very large, double, globular to cup form, fragrance 6/10, floriferous, repeats, autumn-bloomer, growth 6/10, bushy. Sangerhausen

Website/Catalog  (1913)  Page(s) 38.  Includes photo(s).
 
Hybrid Tea Roses.
Souv. de Wootton
One of the old popular Roses that has been grown in many gardens over a long period of years. The color is magenta-red, with violet shadings, and commands the attention for a long time when one first beholds it. The flowers are abundantly produced during the entire growing season, and are of fine fragrance. The buds are large and shapely, slowly unfolding into full and regular proportions. The growth of the plant is strong, erect and sturdy, and bears its wealth of blooms well up above the foliage on long, stiff stems. None of the newer varieties has supplanted this Rose in the estimation of many admirers, and, on account of its many virtues, is likely to increase in popularity with the coming years. Souvenir de Wootton Rose offers many possibilities for color effects when combined with the brighter red, pink or pure white Roses that will be found in every garden. It is a Rose of peculiar beauty when contrasted with white or flesh tints.

Book  (1913)  Page(s) 36-37.  Includes photo(s).
 
Souv. de Wootton One of the old popular Roses that has been grown in many gardens over a long period of years. The color is magenta-red, with violet shadings, and comments the attention for a long time when one first beholds it. The flowers are abundantly produced during the entire growing season, and are of fine fragrance. The buds are large and shapely, slowly unfolding into full and regular proportions. The growth of the plant is strong, erect and sturdy, and bears its wealth of blooms well up above the foliage on long, stiff stems....Souvenir de Wootten Rose offers many possibilities for color effects when combined with the brighter red, pink or pure white Roses...