I'm scratching my head wondering WHY I don't have this rose. I've been meaning to order it for at least two years. La Reine was a good performer here, barring a bit of BS, and I loved her until RRV got her four or five years ago. I think this Spring will be the year to get BPR. She's a lovely, refined looking lady.

You've gone and done it AGAIN, Jeri :)

John

Jeri, yes, I had read the story somewhere in past, either on HMF or here in another thread. But thanks for refreshing my memory. I love the stories behind the found roses. It just adds to their romance.

John

This just got added to my ever growing list of future roses!

Jeri, I am wondering how this rose is doing for you by now...Has it become the showstopper you expected it to become? Any recent pictures or experiences you could share?
I'm going over the map of the Sacramento Cemetery Rose Garden and making notes of roses to specifically visit next time I get there, and wonder how this one's doing for you.

Hi Judy. It's coming along nicely, now, and shows promise of eventually being as big as the mother plant. Well, the first one we planted was in a bad spot. It's still there, but won't get that big. The second one is building nicely, and is a generous bloomer.

THAT SAID:

I doubt if you'd find it now in the Cemetery. The Cemetery Garden is no more, and I doubt I will go there again. Some of the plants remain, but cut down to near nothing. Willful destruction. Personally, there is no way that I will ever forgive Tom Liggett for the part he played in the vandalism.

I can't quite imagine that lovely garden just gone...surely, since roses are so resilient, they will sprout and grow again this spring and summer! I am hoping to at least find a few that I can take cuttings from. But I might be indulging in wishful thinking. Thanks for the update anyway on this rose!

Some, doubtless, will survive, at least for a time. Me, I can't face the destruction. But FWIW, here is the BPR we planted 2 years ago. She's showing me that she's got her roots out of the gopher protection, and is starting to grow, as well as bloom.

Ooh, look at those full, rich pink blooms! Thanks for the photos, just what I was hoping for! Do you notice a strong fragrance?

One thing I'm worried about when I visit the Sacramento rose garden, is that the labels have all been taken away. If the roses are pretty much destroyed, it's going to be hard to clearly identify them. But, I mean to try.

Judi -- If I can find it, I have a photo of the rose in the cemetery that shows the plot clearly. Should you get ready to go there, I'll look for it.

Jeri - I have also decided to never go there again, as it is no longer a "rose garden" at all, and if they keep pruning all of the roses down to nothing periodically, of course they will die. Many of the roses in that garden were collected from old homesteads or cemeteries where they were not getting any care, so one would think they should be able to survive without care. They might, if they were left alone. However, no care is not the same as no care AND constant the constant cutting back you have described here and elsewhere.

Jackie

Yeah. It broke my heart. I can't imagine the feelings of those who were regular volunteers. We have several roses FROM the Cemetery, but we also gave several roses TO the cemetery.

Curses on those who deliberately destroyed beauty and history.

One of the saddest things -- beyond the waste of time, labor, and love, is that that part of the cemetery, with the roses as an attraction, was a gentle introduction to some important California history. They threw that away. And THAT enrages me.

Thanks, Jeri. I'll keep that in mind.

I don't blame either of you for not wanting to go back after all that has transpired. However, for me it's very different. We moved to Sacramento in 2006, right in the middle of having and raising our 9 children. They were busy, hard years. We buried our first son, pastored a young church, sponsored 2 private Christian schools for immigrant children and ran a home business...not much time to indulge in rose gardens. I always had a vegetable garden for my family and enjoyed a few roses and flowers for my own pleasure. I didn't even really know about the Sacramento Cemetery Rose Garden for the first number of years. I vaguely remember my husband reading notices about classes or plant sales there, but I never took him up on his offer to take care of the children so I could go. When we did eventually discover the beauty and peaceful atmosphere of the garden, we enjoyed it as a park, taking our picnic suppers and strolling the avenues, smelling the roses, reading the headstones. It is only since we moved away that I began to research and understand the historical significance of this garden. Because we bought a neglected, miserable looking property here that we're attempting to bring to life and beauty, and because I have always loved old roses with their graceful charm, I find myself wishing that I had spent more time visiting and learning all I could while I lived close by the Garden there. But I can't go back in time. So I feel this longing to go back and spend time walking through, finding what is still left and taking what I can to preserve here on our property. I know I'm an unrealistic dreamer at times, but I dream of planning and planting a rambling, jungley sort of botanical garden where people could find some quiet and a place to think...unlikely that I will ever get that far! Dreams are free. :)

Judi, I received a notice today that nothing more should be done "to" the plantings in the cemetery until more decisions were made (with no indication of when thay might be, or what decisions they might be contemplating.

I don't know whether that's good or bad.

But I do understand your dream of a garden, and agree with it. (FWIW.)

There is something about having power that does truly make some people get obsessed with having and using it, regardless. Especially IMO people with Govt. power who are NOT elected. Who knows what the people who have taken over the cemetery and garden in Sacramento will do next?

Jackie

I don't know, but I do think that the people of CA have been robbed.

So, from what you've just heard, Jeri, it sounds like taking cuttings from what is left, might not even be an option? That makes me sad.

Well, I don't know Judi. That was a long-established plant of a cultivar that had demonstrated toughness. It might could still be there. And if it was, and I wanted a cutting, I'd certainly take a few.

According to the 2021 diagram I found, it's still there. In fact, only a small percentage are shown as "removed from garden". So I'm hoping that is reliable. Still, am I going to be in trouble if I come into the garden and discretely take a few cuttings? Or maybe it's so neglected that there's nobody around to care.

I'm sure the destroyers would not be there. Any sympathizer would be on your side, Judi.

That's good to hear, Sheila. I can't wait till our next trip to Sacramento so I can check it out! I'll take a sharp pruner, some labels and bags, water bottles and paper towels and have me some fun. ;) Barbara's Pasture Rose, Jessie Hildreth, Old Town Novato...my list wants to grow. Maybe you all have some suggestions of "must haves" from the garden, since y'all have much more rose experience than I do. I hope we get there in the next few months, but I never know far ahead of time when business might call us over.

Judi -- When you get ready to make that trip, contact me. I know where there is a wonderful 'Green Rose' planted in the 1880's and 1-2 probable H.P.s that are not identified.

I believe those roses -- not within the boundaries of the rose garden -- are still there, and they'd be well-worth your attention.

Thank you Jeri. I will plan to contact you once I know when I can get there.

"there is no way that I will ever forgive Tom Liggett for the part he played in the vandalism."

Ditto.

I have a hard time understanding how or why Liggett (whose name will forever be synonymous with "a**hole") could advocate for what happened, unless of course it was simply that he was paid to give the City the answer it wanted.

"unless of course it was simply that he was paid to give the City the answer it wanted."

!!!BINGO!!!

can't comment - nothing so say, as every time I think about that lovely lost garden I start crying...