ac [; etter from VE 15 
DUMINY HOTEL 
PARIS, FRANCE 
MR. JOHN MILTON, Editor June 19, 1963 
STAR ROSES 
WEST GROVE, PA., U.S.A. 
Dear Gohn: 
Your letter has just reached me reminding me that the catalog for next Spring is nearly ready for the printer, and that you 
cannot wait for my return for my letter to our customers. 
As I sit here thinking it over, I can’t help but wish that every rose lover who receives our catalog could take the rose tour 
of the chief rose centers of Europe that I am taking this summer. My next thought is that I would like to be able to mail a 
post card of the Bagatelle Rose Judging here in Paris, which has just taken place, to every one of our customers with a brief 
message about the fine roses that are under trial here. 
However, it is possible, by means of this letter, to share with you and with them what I am seeing. My first stop was at the 
great Chelsea Flower Show held each year in late May by the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Without doubt, it is 
the ‘‘greatest flower show on earth.’”’ The principal displays are held in a vast tent covering 314 acres. Additional gardens, and 
demonstrations of equipment used by gardeners, cover more acres in a large park. This is quite close to the heart of London. 
It is thronged by crowds for the four days of the Show. One must see it to believe it. A number of rose nurseries exhibit 
bouquets of roses that are grown in greenhouses because it is too early for outdoor bloom. A specialty is made of displaying the 
new roses for next year as well as recent introductions. Many other new plants are on display. 
My next stop was at Madrid, Spain. The rose trials there are part of a large, well-maintained rose garden on the edge of the 
city. Entries come from rose hybridizers all over the world including America. 
I then went to Barcelona, Spain, to spend the day with Pedro Dot, now 78 years old, who has turned much of his business 
over to his two sons, but maintains an active hand in the hybridizing. From him, we have had many, fine roses especially in 
brightly colored varieties. They have stayed with us for many years including, in particular, Condesa de Sastago and Duquesa 
de Penaranda. More recently, the Miniature Roses Pixie Gold and Pixie Rose have come to us from Pedro Dot. Here also, 
I visited the nursery of Carlos Camprubi from whom we obtained two roses for introduction this year. The Hybrid Tea, Sincera, 
and the Floribunda, Snow Fairy, are both excellent white roses. He has other promising new varieties coming along. Still a 
young man, Mr. Camprubi has many years ahead to develop more new roses. 
Then, on to the South of France for a week with the Meillands. Alain, the 23 year-old son, is now taking charge of the family 
business with the assistance of his mother, Louisette, and his grandfather, Antoine. They are a family dedicated to the cause 
and improvement of the rose. They are determined to build upon the family reputation for fine roses started by Alain’s great 
grandfather and placed firmly at the top by his father, Francis, with the creation of Peace and many other fine roses. A week 
was not long enough to study the roses under development by this large family enterprise. 
I paid a short visit to the rose hybridizers and growers of Northern Italy, where I saw promising developments, and then 
hurried on to Paris to be present at the judging of new roses at the Bagatelle rose garden there. This, I believe, was the first 
international rose trial to be established; and others are largely based on the methods followed here. Any rose grower in the 
world can enter his new varieties in this two-year trial. He must send five plants of each entry. These are planted in a special 
section of the fine rose garden maintained here in the heart of Paris, and are given the best of care during the trial period. The 
garden staff and judges keep continuous records which are made available to the International Jury. The Jury meets when 
the roses are in the height of bloom in early June each year. There are usually 25 or more judges on the Jury representing all 
important rose growing countries of Europe. Often representatives come from America and sometimes from Australia and 
other distant countries. The judges include both professional and amateur gardeners. I have at times served on this Jury 
but was disqualified this year because some of our roses are included in the trials. This event is regularly attended by the leading 
rose hybridizers from Western Europe. 
Ahead of me and still to be seen are further rose trials to be conducted at Geneva, Switzerland, and at The Hague, Hoiland. 
Also, the huge IGA ’63 Garden Show in Hamburg, Germany, which is running all summer. I shall also see the nurseries and 
new roses of leading hybridizers in Germany as well as of Poulsen in Denmark, and deVink and deRuiter in Holland. Most 
of the Miniature Roses we handle have come from Jan deVink, who has specialized in this field of rose development and is 
recognized as the outstanding hybridizer in this field. 
Finally, I shall finish with a detailed inspection of the extensive rose trials conducted by the National Rose Society of England 
at their trial grounds about 25 miles north of London. 
Each of these rose trials is interesting and adds a little to one’s knowledge of the roses for the future. To visit any of them is 
instructive. To visit a number of them is a serious undertaking, and is only for the hardened rose enthusiast. To sum up, 
I can say that there are splendid new roses ahead for the coming years. Some that I saw at the Meilland establishment will 
not be available for U. S. gardens before 1970 and maybe, even later. Progress is being made each year. It’s true that all new 
roses are not better than existing varieties, except, perhaps, in the eyes of the originator whose ‘‘children’? may seem perfect 
to him. 
But, as I look back over my nearly 35 years in the rose business, I find that there has been a great advance in the develop- 
ment of new varieties, new colors and new vigor. These developments are continuing and will continue. I cannot guess what 
they will be, and even imagination fails. 
However, I know this: that the Rose is a leveler of language barriers—and that being a ‘‘rose man’”’ 
opens all doors and makes firm friends no matter what country I travel in. The Rose is an international 
symbol of Good Will everywhere. 
Sincerely, 
President 
