Searching for the Gold...en State Rose

From 1939 catalog?
This highly colorized photo does not look
like the rose that we have. Not surprising! 

As the 80th anniversary of the Golden Gate International Exposition approached, I attempted to find the 'Golden State' rose, the official rose of the GGIE.

How do you find a rose that was first sold 80 years ago?Chances are pretty good that the rose is no longer in the trade. As new roses come in, people forget the old roses.

When searching for an old or vintage rose, the helpmefind website is very useful. You can find out who sells it and which gardens have it in their collections. Each lead led to a dead end, one after the other. Many rose experts and fans helped by tracking down their sources. Very often the rose had just died. Finally Thea read about my search on the Houzz forum? and she connected me with Becky who connected me with John Bagnasco, in San Diego. 

John: "I've had a difficult time trying to verify this rose. The one that I have was identified by Gregg Lowery to be Golden State. It's a beautiful rose, but to me it looks like it might have a few more petals than the Golden State pics I see on HMF. The color is definitely right. I'll send a pic when the next bloom opens. I am bringing a truckload of roses to the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden in Feb. The Golden State is in a 5G can and I can bring with me when I come up. Would that work for you?"

Then in February 2020, I learned that David Giroux (San Jose Heritage Rose Garden) had the rose delivery from John and it included the 'Golden State.' David drove it up to Fremont.



Description from Helpmefind:
Golden-yellow, carmine-red veining.  Mild, clove, fruity fragrance.  Large, double (17-25 petals), borne mostly solitary, cluster-flowered, in small clusters, cupped, ruffled bloom form.  Blooms in flushes throughout the season. 

Description from the newspaper in February 17, 1940 calls it 

Helpmefind has access to the Plant Patent 303.

Somewhere I have the full story of all the places that I looked, a long two year saga of not finding the 'Golden State' rose and then finally obtaining from San Diego. Find it!