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.

The Lost Fruit Books

Col. Wilder pear, p. 145

A certain nurseryman has told me often about some lost books about fruits with color illustrations of fruits. They were owned by his grandfather who died shortly before he was born. I finally looked them up to see if I could show him the books online. Here they are:

• The pears of New York By U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, E. H. Francis, H. B. Tukey.
• The plums of New York by U.P. Hedrick ; assisted by R. Wellington ... [et al.].
• The peaches of New York by U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, C. B. Turbergen.
•  The cherries of New York by U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, C. B. Tubergen, R. Wellington.
•  The grapes of New York by U.P. Hedrick, assisted by N.O. Booth ... [and others]
• The small fruits of New York (not online?)
• The Apples  of New York volume 1 and volume 2

Stories for Children with Illustrated Plants

Under the Rose Bush, by William Donahey

In the August 2018 Rose Letter, Don Gers wrote about this children's book, Under the Rose Bush. The author, William Donahey, wrote several books about the world of the Teenie Weenies.

On Hathitrust is a selection of William Donahey books.

There is even a 'Donahey' rose?

The Mystery of the Landers House and Family at the California Nursery in Niles 2

This house at the California Nursery is referred to as the "Maybeck Cottage", the "Yellow House", the "Landers House", "Mrs. George Roeding, Sr. House, and the "President's Residence".

What we do know is that members of the Roeding family lived in this house at various times after they bought the nursery in 1917/1918. George C. Roeding and family were photographed outside of the house. George's widow, Elizabeth (Thorne) Roeding, lived there alternately with her brother and actor William Thorne, who turns up in photos at the nursery. Gretchen Roeding and her family lived here later. Gretchen's dad was George Roeding III (Sandy).

The Whole World Lies Before us Here

Semi-tropic California and Southern California Horticulturist,
Volumes 3-5, p.168

That quote is from 1881 and refers to the Eden, that was California.

In our state, we can grow so many plants. With some bit of water they will be happy. And that is the problem. Always has been. Always will be.

Looking for the immense fig tree in Warm Springs

From George Christian Roeding 1868-1928, A Tribute

This tidbit about fig trees from George Christian Roeding's biography caught my eye. "...there are individual specimen trees that have historic value by reasons of their immense size and heavy cropping. One of these, said to be over one hundred years old, is situated at Warm Springs, in Alameda county, with the trunk girth of seventeen feet, a glorious example of the longevity of the fig tree and a noble testimony to the vision and achievement of the Mission era of California in the founding of what has become the greatest fig producing section of the western world."


Seventeen feet! That's about three adults encircling the trunk with their arms.

Where is this tree today? Does it still exist? It would be about 200 years old now.

I asked our local tree expert, Nelson, and he suggested the fig tree at Rancho Higuera in Warm Springs.

And now I find out that Rancho Higuera literally means "Fig Ranch"! 

The "Belts and Suspenders" strategy of my least favorite weed

At the California Nursery Historical Park, our rose beds are awash with the "Devil Bulb". This crafty weed confounds us at every corner. Nothing seems to stop it. I call its strategy "Belts and Suspenders", because it profusely propagates by bulb and by seed. And it seems to grow year-round and to flower year-round and to make bulblets year-round.

This "Devil Bulb" has been in our garden for a very long time as you can see from the 1997 Mercury News article below. I asked 93+ year-old nurseryman, Bruce, if it was in the garden in his time and the answer was yes.

Is there any hope?