Most rose lovers know the names of a few famous rose breeders—David Austin, Jackson & Perkins, Meilland, and maybe even Kordes and Harkness. However, you may not have heard of Buck roses. Over four decades ago, Dr. Griffith J. Buck reshaped American rose breeding, creating scores of hardy, pest-resitant, low-maintenance varieties, including some beloved favorites.
Photo by Nadya So | Alamy Stock Photo
'Distant Drums,' one of the best known Buck roses, bears flush after flush of flowers, even when the weather is hot.
THE TROUBLE WITH HYBRID TEA ROSES
In the 1950s and 1960s, hybrid tea roses were grown for their big fussy blossoms—not for disease resistance or hardiness. Highly susceptible to fungus, the plants could have been considered “black spot on a stick.” Gardeners dusted or sprayed their rosebushes weekly with sulfur, fermate, lime sulfur, DDT, and rotenone. Genuine poisons such as Paris green were commonly used in rose gardens to kill insects.
And hardiness? Not a chance. In fall, northern rosarians did the “Minnesota tip” so their roses could survive the winter: They dug up half of the rosebush’s roots, tipped the whole plant over until it laid flat on the ground, then covered it with soil.
Dedicated gardeners considered the queen of flowers to be worthy of such hardships. Fortunately, Griffith Buck rolled in and quietly transformed American rose breeding.
WHO IS GRIFFITH BUCK?
Photo courtesy of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
Dr. Griffith Buck working with his roses
After WWII, Griffith J. Buck earned a bachelor’s and a master’s in horticulture, then a Ph.D in microbiology. In 1949, he began his teaching career in the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State College (later Iowa State University). “For someone who knew nothing of horticulture when I came to ISU, I really got into it after three or four years of on-the-job training,” Buck once said.
Soon he worked his way up to professor, became an American Rose Society judge, and served as Extension Horticulturist, educating the public about a wide range of horticultural topics.
Buck also led the ISU experimental breeding programs, where he bred new geraniums (such as ‘Cardinal’ and ‘Pink Jade’) and heliotrope. But the work he was best known for was in the rose breeding program.
Ironically, Buck was allergic to pollen. At a district convention of the National Rose Society, he started his afternoon talk by saying, “I’ve come down with a rose allergy, and the first symptom is the loss of one’s voice.”
His doctor advised him to find a line of work that didn’t involve rose pollen. Buck told his doctor that he preferred a different solution, so he took allergy shots twice a week for 30 years.
WANTED: ROSES WITH REAL-WORLD TOUGHNESS
Buck had a long-standing affection for antique roses such as ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison,’ ‘Maiden’s Blush,’ and ‘Austrian Copper,’ calling them “the roses we forgot about.” Antique roses survived neglect, drought, and temperature extremes and lived for decades. Their biggest drawback was that they bloomed only once a year.
Hybrid teas, on the other hand, stayed small and manageable and blossomed all through the growing season. However, at the slightest provocation, they’d develop blackspot and get infested by aphids and probably thrips, while in winter they’d utterly perish if not buried in a heap of leaf litter and soil.
In breeding roses, Buck wanted the best of both worlds—but back in the 1950s, a repeat-blooming hardy rose was unheard of. “Will we develop an ever-blooming hardy rose?” he once asked. Then he answered himself: “I doubt it, but we’re trying.”
Souvenir de la Malmaison, like many antique roses of the antique roses Buck loved, was disease resistant but only bloomed once a year.
Photo by Botanic World | Alamy Stock Photo
Buck crossed roses with Siberian Rosa laxa for cold hardiness.
NO CHEMICALS, NO CODDLING
Buck wanted to create roses that bloomed all through the growing season. They had to have good flower and plant form (he was, after all, an American Rose Society judge), thrive in extreme heat and cold, resist diseases with aplomb, and produce flowers with an interesting color. (Buck had grumbled that he felt like Henry Ford who once said you could get a Ford in “any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.” In this case, you could have a rose in any color as long as it was pink.)
For hardiness, Buck crossed roses with Rosa laxa ‘Semipalatinsk’ from central Siberia. It was “a mangy, scrubby-looking thing,” but its cold hardiness was off the charts. “My normal procedure was to grow the seedlings in the greenhouse one year until they got big enough, and plant them out the second spring,” Buck explained in a speech years later. “The only attention they would get would be water and cultivation. I didn’t spray for disease. If they couldn’t hold on to their foliage, they wouldn’t properly mature—and therefore they wouldn’t overwinter well.”
Photo by Melinda R. Cordell
One of Buck's early successes, 'Carefree Beauty' achieved his goal of only needing water and cultivation to thrive.
Rose breeders need to have the patience of Job because the process takes years. “If you can get a rose on the market within 12 to 15 years of the first germination, you’re really batting a thousand,” Buck said. “You have to wait for the kids to grow up.”
He was fine with the wait, though. “There’s always so much going on that time moves quickly,” he said. “And anticipation is a lot of the fun.”
LOST AND FOUND ROSES
Through the years, Buck worked with renowned rose producers from all around the world—including David Austin, Wilhelm Kordes, Frank Skinner, and others—exchanging roses and ideas.
Buck cultivated 86 rose varieties, yet when when died in 1991, he was known outside the rose world for only two of his creations—‘Carefree Beauty’ and ‘Distant Drums.’
At the time, Iowa State University was more focused on commercial crops like corn and soybeans. They chose not to continue his work, and Buck’s breeding stock was destroyed. A number of his roses survived only because he had freely shared them with breeders, friends, and family. As a result, several Buck varieties were rediscoverd and released after his death, including ‘Quietness.’ But many of the rose varieties he created are lost.
Reiman Gardens, which has created the Dr. Griffith Buck Rose Collection, is still seeking several varieties including ‘Andante’ (1962), ‘Cantabile’ (1962), ‘Kissin’ Cousin’ (1979), ‘Pizzicato’ (1962), ‘Polka Time’ (1984), ‘Prairie Heritage’ (1978), ‘Red Sparkler’ (1967), ‘Paraglider’ (1984), and ‘Pippa’s Song’ (1984).
SEVEN BUCK ROSES TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR GARDEN
Photo by Melinda R. Cordell
The hot pink blossoms of 'Carefree Beauty' are some the first to appear in spring.
‘Carefree Beauty’
- Introduced 1977
- Color: Deep pink
- Fragrance: Mild to strong apple
- Size: 3 – 5 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 4b to 9b
- Cultivar Group: Shrub
- Earth-Kind selection
‘Carefree Beauty’ is one of the earliest roses to bloom in spring. It sports a cloud of large, shocking pink blossoms through most of the season with a strong, sweet fragrance.
In the fall, after you stop deadheading the rose, you will be rewarded with large, orange hips.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HARVESTING ROSE HIPS
I met ‘Carefree Beauty’ when I was a newly-minted horticulturist given charge of the city rose garden. These roses were bloom-alicious. I never had to cover or spray them, just cut them back occasionally. After I left the Parks Department, rose rosette disease wiped out all 300 roses I’d planted. The only roses that were tough enough to survive the scourge were one ‘William Baffin’ and two ‘Carefree Beauties.’
Where To Purchase: High Country Roses
Photo by Melinda R. Cordell
A sunlit blossom of 'Pearlie Mae' glows in Kansas City's Loose Park Rose Garden.
‘Pearlie Mae’
- Introduced 1981
- Color: Buttery yellow and pink
- Fragrance: Mild
- Size: 5 feet by 4 feet
- Hardiness zones 4b to 9b
- Cultivar Group: Grandiflora
- Repeat bloomer
Buck named this rose for entertainer Pearl Bailey. “I’ve always enjoyed her programs,” he said, “so I decided to name it after her.” He shipped two dozen young plants to her, and they flourished. “I got a letter from her saying how much she enjoyed it,” he added.
‘Pearlie Mae’ is overflowing with personality—just like Bailey in real life. ‘Pearlie Mae’ blooms resemble those of hybrid tea roses, and her colors vary—sometimes buttery-yellow with a hint of salmon; sometimes apricot turning to pink with a darker pink reverse.
Where To Purchase: Heirloom Roses
Photo by Nadya So | Alamy Stock Photo
The coloring of 'Distant Drums' includes an artistic blend of mauve, pink, peach, tan, and red.
‘Distant Drums’
- Introduced 1984
- Color: Mauve, tan, pink, peach, red – a fascinating blend
- Fragrance: Anise and myrrh
- Size: 3 – 4 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 5b to 9b
- Cultivar Group: Shrub
- Repeat bloomer
Buck said this rose “has artistic coloring and powerful fragrance. Since I can smell it 6 inches away, I don’t sneeze.” An extremely vigorous rose that bears flush after flush of flowers, even when the weather is hot. And what flowers! They are a symphony of color.
Own-root roses are much hardier than grafted roses. They should be allowed to dry out between waterings for best results.
Where To Purchase: Edmund’s Roses
Photo by Lauren English courtesy of Kansas City Rose Society
'Queen Bee' flowering in The Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden in Kansas City.
‘Queen Bee’
- Introduced 1985
- Color: Dark red with velvet sheen
- Fragrance: Damask
- Size: 3 feet to 6 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 5b to 9b
- Cultivar Group: Shrub
- Repeat bloomer
This dark red rose, when unfurling, looks every bit like a hybrid tea with a high center and gently ruffled petals. Then the rose opens into a carefree antique rose shape with blooms 5 inches wide and a delightful fragrance.
Buck wrote, “A friend of mine was the garden editor for Better Homes & Gardens for many years. She also wrote a gardening column in the Des Moines Sunday Register. She told me that she would not let anyone name a rose for her because she didn’t want to hear ‘Fleeta has a weak neck; Fleeta has blackspots; Fleeta wilts; Fleeta fades.’ Since she was called the queen bee of garden writers, I took my cue and called this rose ‘Queen Bee’.”
Photo by R Ann Kautzky | Alamy Stock Photo
'Prairie Sunrise' roses feature fluffy, double blooms on compact shrubs.
‘Prairie Sunrise’
- Introduced 1997
- Color: Apricot or apricot blend
- Fragrance: Strong
- Size: 3 feet by 3 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 4b and warmer
- Cultivar Group: Shrub/Floribunda
- Repeat bloomer
This unsung hero bears huge, fully double blooms in creamy apricot, much like a David Austin rose. Its fragrance is intoxicating, not overpowering. Flush after flush provides more flowers. ‘Prairie Sunrise’ grows only to 3 or 4 feet, making a rounded, compact shrub.
‘Prairie Sunrise’ will survive deer, bomb cyclones, the snowpocalypse, and even gardening mistakes—and it continues to thrive.
Where To Purchase: High Country Roses
Photo by Jennifer Yakey-Ault | Shutterstock
'Winter Sunset' will bloom every 4-5 weeks.
‘Winter Sunset’
- Introduced 1998
- Color: Orange-apricot
- Fragrance: Mild to light
- Size: 4 feet by 3 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 5b and warmer
- Cultivar Group: Shrub
- Repeat bloomer
‘Winter Sunset’ was introduced seven years after Buck’s death in 1998. This Buck rose is a vigorous grower and a fast repeater with bloom cycles every four to five weeks. The foliage is lush green, and blackspot bounces right off.
When the summer is especially hot, the roses will fall apart quickly. But the flowers are elegant when they’re opening and are quite suitable for exhibitions.
Where To Purchase: High Country Roses
Photo by Melinda R. Cordell
Shell pink 'Quietness' roses flowering in Loose Park Rose Garden, Kansas City.
‘Quietness’
- Introduced 2003
- Color: Light shell pink
- Fragrance: Strong
- Size: 4 feet to 5 feet
- Hardiness Zones: 5a to 9b
- Cultivar Group: Shrub
- Repeat bloomer
After Buck’s death, ‘Quietness’ was found growing on the edge of his field with only a reference number to identify it. It’s become a popular favorite.
Its shell-pink blossoms soften toward white on its outer petals. The flowers are huge, and their fragrance ranges from light to relatively strong. In a vase, the cut flowers last for up to 5 days. This rose was named ‘Quietness’ for the stillness of the morning after 9/11—a beautiful tribute.
Where To Purchase: Antique Rose Emporium
By Melinda R. Cordell
Melinda R. Cordell is a retired municipal horticulturist who is obsessed with apple trees and antique roses. She also writes gardening books under the pen name Rosefiend Cordell.
