by Jocelyn Livingston - San Diego, CA

My favorite rose is 'Queen Elizabeth' - the first 'Grandiflora' rose - because my 'other' hobby is participating in re-creations of the Elizabethan era - and one of my favorite characters to portray is Good Queen Bess. Although this rose is a named for her 'heir' who assumed the throne of Great Britain in 1952, the first Elizabeth would have been pleased to wear this rose.

'Queen Elizabeth' was hybridized by Dr. Walter Lammerts and introduced in 1954 by Germain's Nursery. It was a tall Hybrid Tea style of rose but continuously bloomed in clusters - thus starting a new class of roses - the Grandifloras.

An easy-flowering rose, this tall lady is an excellent choice to place in the back of a border or to fill a narrow niche in the garden. The bush is very vigorous and will shoot up to 8 feet tall in my garden. The foliage is dark, leathery and glossy - helping the rose to fight off fungus diseases and insect attacks.

The blooms open from pointed delicate pink buds to 4-inch exhibition blooms with a light to moderate fragrance. The blooms come in large clusters and one stem will make a pleasing bouquet for your coffee table. Her parents are 'Charlotte Armstrong', a deep pink beauty from 1940 and 'Floradora', a dark orangish-red floribunda from 1944. These roses gave her the capacity to grow vigorously and bloom in clusters (Floradora's traits) and the lovely medium pink color that fills her blooms with a special, soft coloring (Charlote Armstrong's influence).

'Queen Elizabeth' is a winner in every sense of the word - she reigns at rose shows, won the Portland Gold Medal in 1954, the National Rose Society gold Medal in 1955, was an AARS selection for 1955, The Hague Gold Medal and Golden Rose of the hague in 1957, and was elected to the World Federation of Roses Hall of Fame in 1978.

What more can I say about this gracious beauty - easy to care for, vigorous, hardy, free-flowering, great in the landscape and also a frequent winner on the show table with its generous sprays - if you like large bushes covered in pink blooms, this is the one to try!