That identity looked promising, until the rose found near young Hildreths 1866 grave was planted next to a known plant of DEVONIENSIS.

The differences were obvious.

So, if this vigorous, disease-resistant, fragrant Tea Rose is not DEVONIENSIS, what is it? As is true of many Found Roses, we just dont know.

There ARE some similarities between "JESSE HILDRETH" and DEVONIENSIS, and some resemblance, too, to LAMARQUE. It is tempting to imagine a relationship between the three -- but that would be premature.

The mother plant in an old cemetery has been struggling, but a new local Heritage Roses Group is taking responsibility for it. Still, it is fortunate that a few new plants have been propagated. "JESSE HILDRETH" is protected, and is being studied, in the Sacramento City Cemetery and the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, and . . . in MY garden. :-)

Jeri Jennings

Ingrid

If we can get more plants grown up enough to propagate from, Malcolm Manners says he can get it going on the East Coast. We can also share it to people like Burling Leong, and maybe Rogue Valley Roses.

I hope to have a few blooms in a vase, on Sunday at the Celebration. Come see me! I have some surprises!

Jeri Jennings

Diane

jannike

Jeri

Jeri

Avalon

The local group is now guarding and caring for the roses there now, and they have saved Jesse and others.

Recent wind brought down some old branches, providing ample cutting material. I am hopeful that, in a few months, there will be several more new plants.

Randy

Jay

To be honest, I think it is in some part related to 'Lamarque.' Here's a good look at buds and a bit at foliage. It's very distinctive.

In the late 1800s, he was complaining about "too much alike" roses!

Jay

Jay -- In fact, it is the faintest lemon-tone, at its heart.

It made both Jill Perry and I wonder what the elusive, extinct, 'Smith's Yellow' really looked like. (There are botanical illustrations, on HMF.)

In VERY cool weather, I have seen the very faintest blush along the petal edges of an opening bloom..

But you never know.

I like it as a match for 'Mlle. Germaine Raud' SEE:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.45863

That rose is a good match for "Jesse Hildreth,' and has 'Lamarque' as a parent . . . But it comes from an amateur breeder in France, so finding it in CA seems a stretch.

But it is fun to speculate!

"Not just any rose would do, though, as witnessed by one gardening guide from the turn of the century, 'Everblooming Roses' by Georgia Torrey Drennan which devoted a whole chapter to a discussion of the best roses for this purpose....[continuing on]...'Cornelia Cook,' a white Tea of exceptional purity and waxy camellia-like blossoms, had been the rose tossed at the feet of Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," during her American concert tour in 1850. The glamour that reflected on the rose was attested, the author noted, by the many graves of that era that still sported a venerable specimen of 'Cornelia Cook.'"

So I looked up 'Cornelia Cook' on HelpMeFind. There are no pics, but it's mentioned as being a seedling of 'Devoniensis'. There are a few references, and I found another by googling, which I linked below. Has this rose come up as a possibile identity for "Jesse Hildreth"?

:-)

~Christopher

But to be frank, finding an identity for the rose doesn't much concern me. That's for others to contemplate. It is a wonderful rose, no matter what name it may once have had.

Preservation is my primary concern. That, and distribution, as a hedge against extinction. If I can see that done, I am content . . . And it's OK by me if it remains "Jesse Hildreth" for all time.

My heart beat a little faster, last week, to see the mother plant blooming fiercely on its new basal canes -- and a bit faster, too, to see new canes springing up on my own immature plant -- with propagation in the future.

Whatever "Jesse Hildreth" is (or is not) it is a rose that will bloom its heart out from the git-go. No one could claim that an immature plant did not produce bloom, although it is at the same time growing vigorously. One big flush of bloom is followed by a rush of new growth, topped-off by the next flush.

:-)

~Christopher