I spend a great deal of time in my rose gardens. From early spring on, there is always something to do! Once the pruning, weeding, edging, and planting is done, the roses are blooming and then there is deadheading to do for the rest of the summer! Once in a while, it is time to take a break and leave the roses on their own for a day. That is when Bob and I will jump in the car and go for a road trip, and thus began my quest for White Wings. Even though we have a house full of treasures, we still love going antiquing, even if just to look around.

Six weeks ago, we ran up to Palmer, MA to a spot we love called the Palmer Antiques Co-Op. It was there, on top of a stack of magazines that I found the Wayside Gardens 1949 Catalog!! I thumbed through and they had a super collection of roses in the center of the book. You could buy a complete collection of eight hybrid teas new for 1949 for just $7.75! The full color pictures are still bright and beautiful because back then they were printed with lead-based ink. Oh, boy…I stumbled upon a treasure! I bought the catalog for $2.

Beauty From The Past

While browsing through these 25 pages of beautiful roses, I was surprised that I had never heard of most of them. There were a few I recognized, like ‘Mirandy,’ ‘Peace,’ ‘Frau Karl Druschki,’ and ‘Dainty Bess.’ Then, on the bottom of page 96, I fell in love with a gorgeous, five-petaled, pure white confection of a rose with dancing magenta stamens. Whoops! I fall in love with rose pictures all the time, but where was I going to find a rose from a 1949 catalog? Her name is ‘White Wings,’ and I looked her up on HelpMeFind/roses. She was hybridized by a fellow by the name of Alfred Krebs, parented by two of his unnamed seedlings and was introduced in 1947.

A Little Help From My Friends 

I went on Facebook and posted a plea to all my rose friends. Had anyone ever heard of this rose? Any idea where to find her? I felt I needed White Wings in my garden. An old friend, Ali Whyte, said she has it and she found it at Roses Unlimited in South Carolina. I contacted them the next day and they had four plants!! I was so excited that I purchased two. One for me and one for my neighbor, Jean, who loves white flowers. You can see her first bloom at the top of my blog.

Now, I am wondering what happened to all these beautiful roses from the past. It seems really sad that rose varieties just slip away into oblivion. Thank goodness there are places like Heirloom Roses, Roses Unlimited, and Certified Roses that propagate off-patent roses for people like me who fall in love with rose pictures from the past.

Wayside Gardens

And Wayside Gardens? They have been in business since 1920. Two Dutch entrepreneurs named Jan Jacob Grullemans and Elmer Schultz joined forces to form Wayside Gardens in Mentor, Ohio. It was their intention to procure unusual and excellent plants to offer to the public. The company flourished until the death of Grullemans in the 1960’s. Park Seed Company acquired the company in 1975 and moved it to South Carolina where they are still offering garden treasures after over a hundred years. In the 1980’s and ‘90’s, Wayside was an excellent source of old garden roses. I just checked out their website and they still have a good selection of roses, although most of them are current, modern roses. I am happy that they are still in business and I’m looking forward to the new Wayside Gardens catalog to arrive. Still, I just wish their roses were still $1.25-$1.75 each!