Rose
of the Month #9
By Gaird Hamilton
PRISTINE
As most of you know who have
been reading my “Rose of the Month” column through the first
eight selections, usually something occurs to help me make the difficult
decision. A pleasant chore really, but made difficult by the large number
of roses which have their own special attributes and are lovely in their
own way. I try not to use any of the rare varieties which we grow, some
of which are awesome in this coastal climate, because I would like the
list to be of roses at least moderately available. At any rate, I was
wandering around looking at the hips which were a result of hybridizing
attempts by me. Unfortunately most of them had rotted off due to the
fact that our damp climate tends to cause that on most hybrid tea varieties
here. Out of fourteen crosses marked with ribbons, I think that there
are only about two left. About the time that I was mourning the demise
of one which I had thought was still valid, I heard Pat who was deadheading
some roses say, “You should see all of the big lovely hips on
“Pristine”. Why didn’t you use her for hybridizing?
Why indeed? Pristine bears
wonderfully large blooms which are white with a hint of pink which are
lovely to behold and are borne in large quantities, usually one to a
stem, on a large vigorous healthy bush. The only down side which keeps
Pristine from being a great rose for exhibitors is that the blooms stay
at most perfect stage for a short time, in fact, if you take one to
a rose show it will probably win best wide open by the time the judges
get there. In spite of this handicap, it is still a must have for the
rose garden since the bush is very generous with it’s flowering
and has a very quick repeat.
The official description
from Modern Roses 11 follows: HT, w, 1978, bud long, flowers near white,
shaded light pink, imbricated, dbl., 28 petals, 5-6 in., slight fragrance;
foliage very large, dark; upright growth; Edland Fragrance Medal, ARS,
1979 GM, Portland, 1979;(White Masterpiece X First Prize) Warriner,
William A.; J&P.
The size and beauty of the
blooms of Pristine are hard to do justice to with the written word alone.
Fortunately we have a very good picture of one which I hope will print
nicely for this article. Since it bears hips well in damp weather, it
also follows that the blooms do surprisingly well under adverse conditions
especially considering how large they are. If you would like a version
of Pristine which is completely snow white, there is a sport available
called “Fountain Square”which seems to have kept virtually
all of the same qualities with just the hint of pink removed.
Next year I think that I
will use Pristine as a hybridizing mama plant, but whether I do or not,
I know that we will get a lot of pleasure from having two of them in
our garden.
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