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This months Rose of the month is Peace.
Official Information from the breeders.
Parentage: Seed:[George Dickson — Souvenir de Claudius Pernet] — [Joanna Hill — Charles P. Kilham]
Pollen:Margaret McGredy
Origin Bred in France (1942) by Meilland International.
Class: Hybrid Tea / Large-Flowered.
Yellow blend, pink edges. Mild to strong fragrance. 40 to 43 petals. Average diameter 6". Very large, full (26-40 petals), cupped, high-centered bloom form. Occasional repeat later in the season.
Height of 4' to 6½' (120 to 200 cm). Width of up to 36". (up to 90 cm).
Francois Meilland named the rose for his mother Madame A Meilland and it was poised for introduction in 1939. This name is the original and thus botanically correct. (Royal National Rose Society, Historic Rose Journal No.32 Autumn 2006 page11)
When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. The rose became known as 'Peace' in the following way. Early 1945 Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke (later Viscount Alanbrooke), the principal author of the master strategy that won Second World War, to thank him for his key part in the liberation of France and to ask if Brooke would give his name to the rose. Brooke declined saying that, though he was honoured to be asked, his name would soon be forgotten and a much better and more enduring name would be "Peace".
The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co.. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note that read "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".
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