You all know that my primary interest is in Heritage roses, but I try to remember that there are many fine tales to be told about modern roses also, so today’s story is about one very well known modern rose
Just before the Germans occupied France in 1942, Francis Meilland had bred a rose, which he named after his mother, Mme A. Meilland. Her given name was Claudia, but in those days the ladies of the house were always known by their husband’s name. It has a very convoluted breeding being (George Dickson x Souvenir de Claudius Pernet) x (Joanna Hill x Chas. P. Kilham) x Margaret McGredy. He was proud of his breeding so sent cuttings to his agents in Germany, Britain and Italy. Then war came and he lost track of it due to other worries. Someone took a cutting of this rose to the USA, which is very surprising as the Americans were, and still are, paranoid about any plant material from other countries.
Meilland’s Italian agents called the rose Gioia (Joy). The Germans named it Gloria Dei (The Glory of God). The Danes called it Beke; and the Norwegians called it Fredrosen. The Americans released the rose in 1945 and called it Peace.
Australia procured the rose from France after the war, so we originally called it by its original name, Mme A Meilland but the nurserymen found it sold better as Peace, so changed the name to suit.
As a sideline, Australia had bred its own Peace rose in 1902, to commemorate the end of the Boer War. The breeder (finder) was Piper of whom little is known. This yellow tea rose is a sport of one of the Nabonnand roses and to distinguish it from the other Peace, it is known as Peace 1902.
The climbing sport is extremely hardy and vigourous in the right climate and has the same flowering characteristics as the bush form.
Chicago Peace is another of several sports of Peace, and was found (bred) by Johnson of the USA in 1962. Johnson had his nursery in Chicago, so called the rose after the location. How uninteresting!!
Chicago Peace also has an Australian connection in that the climbing sport was discovered and introduced by Allen Brundrett in 1978. Allen was a good friend of this garden and had his nursery at Narre Warren, until urban spread forced him to sell out in 2005.
