A Walk Through The Garden, 2008

"Buona Fortuna"

Found Rose, 2006, F. Shimbo

In the spring of 2006 I sat pondering the beauties of the East Rose Ditch, and thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool if there were a rose exactly half way between R. alba and "Fort Pella Pink?" I planned out how I would accomplish such a cross, gathered up some pollen from the R. alba in the garden, and went down to the ditch to make the necessary cross.

And there, sitting right between the "Fort Pella Pink" and "Fa's Morning Stars," was exactly the rose I had in mind! I had no idea she was there!

Isn't she magnificent? Both in bud form and in open flower, she has a breath-taking beauty. But don't let her do that to you, or you'll miss the fabulous fragrance! And if you look closely, you'll notice another oddity: some of her buds have six sepals. Some have three. I even found one with nine!

Well, unfortunately real life happened, and when I went to find the plant again, I couldn't tell which it was (there are at least six or seven different plants in the ditch!). There were two possibilities, though, based on the remaining sepals on some hips. In 2007 I dug up both of these and brought them to the garden, eager to see which was the real "Buona Fortuna."

Well, they had the last laugh. Neither of them bloomed.

They did grow surprisingly well, however, after they were done sulking. This year both of them grew on with a passion. "Possible Buona Fortuna B" bloomed just this week, and turns out to be a very nice alba type rose; it may be "Fa's Morning Stars" but it's paler (this year) and I can find no spots. So now, I'm keeping a close eye on "Possible Buona Fortuna A," which alas looks (right now anyway) like it might be just plain "Fort Pella Pink." But you never know...

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