Kim Rupert: The Man and his Roses
by Ingrid Wapelhorst
We are fortunate indeed to have a rosarian like Kim Rupert in Southern California. Many VCRS members and guests know Kim as the authority we’ve turned to each year at our January Auction, as well as on our bus trip to Sequoia Nursery, for his incomparable knowledge about every rose in commerce—and some that aren’t. So, who is this walking encyclopedia of rose lore?
Southern Charm
In his own words, Kim Lauren Rupert was born “some time in the middle of the last century in Birmingham, Alabama. A hyper active child, interested in anything that moved, and many things which didn’t.” This explains not only his boundless energy and enthusiasm about roses, but also his Southern charm in answering “Yes, ma’am,” and “No, ma’am” in response to my questions! Like most of us, Kim’s initial affection for gardening grew out of his experiences in his mother’s garden. Leaving Alabama, he eventually established his home in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960’s. And the urge to create his own garden began to develop. In the early 1980’s he volunteered at the Huntington Rose Garden, helping to propagate rare and unusual roses, and soon was collecting roses of his own for the same purpose. When his mother became incapacitated in the late 1980’s, Kim moved more than 350 roses from his mother’s garden to a hillside in Newhall, California. From then until this past year, Kim has been creating beautiful and unique roses for others to enjoy. How does he do it, and why, you ask? Good questions. Let’s take a closer look into the rose-breeding world of Kim Rupert.
An “Amateur Rose Hybridizer?”
First, a clarification. I came across the term “amateur rose hybridizer” in reference to Kim on the internet recently. Although the term “amateur” hardly seems appropriate to those who know Kim Rupert, in very simplified terms, the “amateur rose hybridizer” is one who is on his own without the luxury of corporate resources—both time and money--to support research, experimentation, years of trial and error, and without an established avenue for bringing any new rose creations to public attention. Despite these drawbacks, the advantage the “amateur rose hybridizer” has at his disposal is independence to do what he wants, to pursue his own dreams, his own passions. And Kim is nothing if not passionate about roses!
So what dreams has Kim been chasing in the past twenty plus years of hybridizing and breeding roses? He expects nothing but the best: disease free, attractive plants with beautiful, fragrant, continuous unusually colored blooms. Roses with few if any prickles. Roses that will be equally at home in high heat and shade. He wants to develop roses that will survive severe neglect and live long after the rose grower’s initial enthusiasm has waned. He wants to develop roses that demand minimum maintenance and might even be found on gravestones in neglected cemeteries long after we all are gone. An admitted perfectionist, he sets the bar very high for his creations. The thought of growing beautiful, healthy, and unusual plants which will actually thrive in your garden unattended is a concept somewhat new to the large nurseries and the commercial rose buying public as well. (Kim credits Tom Carruth as one of the current hybridizers who emphasizes interesting, disease resistant and easy to grow roses.) It’s not surprising that Kim and others like him have had an up-hill battle in getting roses with a different agenda introduced into the rose world.
The Pursuit of ‘Different’ Roses
Using and propagating “different” roses has been a large part of the appeal to Kim as he pursued combinations as unusual as brown and gray or brown and yellow striped roses. When exotic colors don’t appear in the offspring, he will still pursue the rose if it meets his other standards. “My ‘niche’ is ‘different and better’. My roses may never appeal to the mass market, but those who share my attraction to ‘different and better’ will, hopefully, love them” says Kim. Lavender and purple roses as well as those with stripes have also been his favorites over the years. In fact, striped roses have become so much of a favorite for Kim that his mentor and friend, Ralph Moore, named a beautiful scarlet stripes on a light yellow background moss rose after him recently. Kim has experimented with roses no one else had used before in propagation, most notably Basye’s Legacy, from which two of his favorite roses ‘Lynnie’ and ‘Dottie Louise’ were developed. Basye’s Legacy is a favorite because it produces both interesting and “cooperative” seedlings—those that develop regularly with healthy offspring.
Kim researches the ancestry of roses with qualities he likes, looking at the characteristics in their genes from which he can draw. Below are some of the roses Kim has introduced over the years. Brief description of their attributes, some personal influences behind his choices, and how they got their names may shed some light on what he has accomplished as a small-scale rose breeder. To say that Kim’s been prolific is an understatement. As long as the list below is, it doesn’t cover all of the roses he has created over the years. It does include most of those known to be currently in commerce, in private gardens, and some which may still be growing in nurseries or private gardens.
The First Born
Kim’s first “child” was ‘Purple Buttons’, which made its debut in 1993 at Sequoia Nursery. This seedling of ‘Cardinal Hume’ is a miniature shrub with 1-1/2” to 2” deep red-purple, fully double flowers. It has nearly continuous bloom and a strong fragrance (Kim calls it a “Red Hots fragrance”). ‘Purple Buttons’ was offered at both the 2002 and 2004 VCRS Auctions with the following comment: “At the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden this rose in bloom is covered with so many purple blooms of clove scent that the foliage can barely be seen.” [Sequoia Nursery and The Uncommon Rose].
•Festival Pink (RUPfespin) - a sport of ‘Festival Fanfare’®, medium pink, which replaced Sparrieshoop in Kim’s garden because it was healthier, had no mildew, and was a continuous bloomer. Aside from the Huntington Plant Sales, only the former Michael’s Premier Roses carried this rose until they closed their doors last year. (San Jose Heritage Rose Garden)
•’Kim’s Cream’ (RUPkimcrm) - a Floribunda with white and cream (“pale coffee” per Kim) 40-petalled flowers on a short (16” x 20”) bush, with a spicy fragrance, a Lavender Pinocchio x Lavender Pinocchio cross. If anyone is fortunate enough to know the whereabouts of this one, please report it, as this one has been requested by many rosarians!
•‘Golden Julia’ (RUPgoljul). A sport of the beautiful
russet/tan/beig ‘Julia’s Rose,’ ‘Golden Julia’ has
cooler tones in a medium yellow, and like its parent has a mild fragrance and 22
petals. Kim describes it as a “cool mustard color similar to that of ‘Honey
Dijon.’ [Cliff Orent’s garden, Palm Springs, California]
•‘Pink Cardinal Hume’ (aka ‘Coral Hume’) - A seedling of ‘Cardinal
Hume,’ a shrub rose with clusters of small, medium pink blooms which was
offered at the January 2004 VCRS Auction. Kim describes ‘Pink Cardinal Hume’
as a small, rounded, mounding shrub with bluish foliage and another one of his
creations with a “Red Hots fragrance.”[Sequoia Nursery. San Jose Heritage
Rose Garden]
.
•‘Little Butterfly’ HelpMeFind quotes Ashdown Roses as saying
“the blooms of this rose look like little butterflies…” As we described it
in our January 2003 VCRS Auction catalogue: “The number of blossoms in a
cluster can easily reach 40 or so in various stages of pink and white with
golden stamens…on a bush that rarely reaches 3’.” ‘Little Butterfly’
was bred from ‘Escapade’ and is also a healthy, shade tolerant, continuous
bloomer; a compact, “tuckable” rose happy in the ground or in a pot. [Ashdown
Roses].
• ‘Annie Laurie McDowell’, is a seedling of ‘Renae’ (a paler
pink climbing Floribunda bred by Ralph Moore in 1954). ‘Annie Laurie
McDowell’ is a large-flowered climbing (LCl) rose with beautiful medium
pink clusters of pompon shaped flowers on nodding stems, with a strong
fragrance, repeat bloom, SHADE TOLERANCE and is completely prickle free. ‘Annie
Laurie McDowell’ was named in honor of Candy Craig, an early Los Angeles
area television personality who, along with her husband Dean, were dear friends
of Kim. The Craigs restored the last remaining original homestead in the San
Fernando Valley, The Homestead Acre, and were responsible for starting Kim
volunteering at The Huntington. Mel Hulse of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden
saved this plant from obscurity by making future propagating material available.
I personally grow this rose and love it! She produces abundant clusters which
keep repeating—even in 90 to 100 degree heat—and the petals fall away
cleanly with a nudge. (Thank you Kim, Mel, and Ashdown Roses)! [Sequoia, The
Uncommon Rose.]
• ‘Beulah Belle’ is a 7 or 8 foot shrub with medium pink double
blooms and a strong fragrance with occasional repeat later in the season. Kim
describes it as having “pink, Centifolia-looking” flowers with “crinkly
foliage”. The source of the name is based on an amusing story about some
friends of Candy Craig who had fun celebrating each others birthdays.
Unfortunately, we don’t have space for the complete story here, but suffice to
say Kim has a sense of humor when naming some of his roses! [Ashdown Roses]
• ‘Dotty Louise’ or ‘Dottie Louise’ is a 5-foot,
fragrant, repeat blooming shrub rose with single-petalled flowers of dark
red/purple with beautifully contrasting white at the petal bases and deep golden
yellow stamens. This rose is a cross between Orangeade’® and ‘Basye’s
Legacy’. Dottie Louise was the childhood name of Mrs. Dorothy Cralle, who Kim
affectionately describes as “the gracious, generous lady who created and
operated Pixie Treasures, the miniature rose nursery in Yorba Linda, California,
with her daughter, Laurie Chaffin, for nearly thirty years." Dorothy was a
special favorite of Kim, and he was thrilled when she gave her permission to
name the rose for her. [Ashdown Roses]
• ‘Limberlost Blush’ – An 8’ shrub with double light pink or
white and pink pompon style blooms with a strong fragrance (another fragrant
beauty!). This hard-to-find rose is a sister seedling of ‘Super Jane’
and ‘Annie Laurie McDowell’. Named after the Limberlost Nursery, a
well-known and loved nursery in the San Fernando Valley which closed its doors
several years ago, there are still plants of this “Limberlost Blush’ growing
in Kim’s friends’ gardens, but it will likely never be introduced.
• ‘Super Jane’ aka ‘Limberlost Pink’ ‘Super Jane’ is a
Hybrid Musk rose growing to an impressive 10 or 12 feet with strongly fragrant
double medium pink blooms which repeat from spring to fall. This rose is named
after Jane Delahanty, wife of VCRS President Jim Delahanty, and was described in
the January 2003 VCRS Auction catalogue as a “seedling sister to ‘Annie
Laurie McDowell’, thornless, except under stress, speedy upright grower
with clusters of pale lilac blooms at the end of graceful, arching canes.” [Private
Garden: James Delahanty, Sherman Oaks, California]
• ‘Lynnie’— Judging from its sterling attributes, I’d guess ‘Lynnie”
is one of Kim’s favorites. ‘Lynnie” is a 3’ X 3’
“architectural shrub,” with fragrant, semi-double, hot pink blooms with
white at the base and yellow stamens. This is a cross between Ralph Moore’s
‘Torch of Liberty’ and ‘Basye’s Legacy’. Kim selected this rose
because of its great health, near lack of thorns, continuous bloom and beautiful
foliage. ‘Lynnie’ also exhibits interesting and unusual foliage that
changes from a bluish hue to a deeper purple-green in cooler winter
temperatures, progressing finally to autumn colors before they drop, leaving
marble sized, tangerine colored hips. Others have reported resistance to black
spot on the Gulf Coast and mildew on the Pacific Ocean, and she is reported to
have survived one of the coldest Northeast winters in recent history with
nothing more than a rose cone for protection. ‘Lynnie’ has endured
ice storms and temperatures far below freezing in skimpy four inch pots with no
protection. Kim admired this rose so much he named it after his favorite aunt.
The color of the petals reminded him of the lipstick she wore when he as a
child. ‘Lynnie’ is being tested at Rose Hills and is under trial with
Peter Beales in Great Britain. [Ashdown.]
• ‘Nessie’ – A cross between a once-blooming Hybrid Gigantea
climber ‘Montecito’ ( a white flowering Hybrid Gigantea by Franceschi-Fenzi,
1930) as a seed parent and an unknown pollen parent whose name was on a tag lost
to desert rodents). ‘Nessie’ covers herself with apricot pink, 2”,
semi-double blooms with an intense spicy fragrance. The name is derived from her
resemblance to the Loch Ness Monster, based on her rapid 9 foot arching growth.
It’s also somewhat of a pun on another huge species hybrid climber,
‘Mermaid’. [Private Garden: Robert’s Desert Rose Garden, Rancho Mirage,
California]
• ‘Rayon Butterflies’ – A 3’ pink-blend rose with pink-yellow
blooms, bred from ‘Mateo’s Silk Butterflies’. The January 2002 VCRS
Auction catalogue described this offering as a “very hard-to-come-by-rose,”
and quoting from The Amity Heritage Rose website adds: “The overall color is
pink, but it is blessed with the color changes of Mutabilis with yellow-apricot
changing to light then dark pink. Light scent.” The name is a humorous
reference to the way the rose turns darker pink as it ages, much like rayon,
whereas Mateo’s Silk Butterflies turns mauve. Since it wasn’t what Kim was
looking for from the cross, he removed it from his garden to make room for other
seedlings. Others have requested the rose, including Janet Sclar of Amity
Heritage Roses who asked permission to introduce the rose. [Amity Heritage
Roses. Public Garden: San Jose Heritage Rose Garden]
• ‘Sunburn’ - A 3’ spreading shrub floribunda, single, open
yellow flowers which “sunburn” deeper pink tones. This is a “lost”
seedling which The San Jose Heritage and Mel Hulse saved. It wasn’t what Kim
was looking for from the particular cross, so the records of its parentage are
no longer available. The rose has taken on a life of its own since Kim passed it
on. [Amity Heritage Roses. Public Garden: San Jose Heritage Rose Garden]
• ‘Too Cute’ – A Polyantha with beautiful 1”, very double blush
pink blooms which are produced in massive clusters of up to 40 individual
flowers. The blooms are very fragrant and repeat well from spring to fall.
Parentage on this one, again, was destroyed by the desert rodents; however, Kim
was working with polyanthas, Hybrid Musks and other Old Garden Roses at the
time. ‘Too Cute’ was a prolific bloomer in Kim’s garden for years,
was always one of his favorites, and when Candy Craig saw it, she exclaimed,
“Darling! That’s just TOO CUTE! [Ashdown Roses].
• ‘Indian Love Call’ – A tall, graceful, once-blooming,
semi-climbing, or gracefully arching shrub rose to 7’ by 3’ with semi
double, 3”, fragrant, medium pink blooms, (Kim considers it “mauvy red with
lighter reverse”) and completely without thorns. This is another ‘Basye’s
Legacy’ cross, this time with ‘Anne Harkness’. Like ‘Lynnie’,
this rose “sun tans” in intense winter sun and colder temperatures; the
upper surfaces of the foliage and canes turn violet while the reverse leaf
surfaces remain dark green, turning scarlet and gold before they fall; it is
very fertile, with large, round, tangerine hips on the plant until spring. Kim
describes this as a rose for all seasons. This rose was first made available to
the public at the January 2002 VCRS Auction. [Private Garden: James Delahanty,
Sherman Oaks, California].
• ‘Laurie’ - A seedling from Mrs. Aaron Ward, a 1907 Pernet dwarf
Hybrid Tea. ‘Laurie’ is larger and bushier than ‘Mrs. Aaron Ward’
in a 3’ X 3’ bush with 5” blooms (in mild weather, smaller in heat) which
are full rosette with pointed petals in form reminiscent of some English roses.
‘Laurie’ was named after Kim’s mother.
[Not currently in commerce].
• ‘Patchwork Sport’ – ‘Patchwork’ was a red, yellow and
orange blend, unregistered Hybrid Tea, similar to ‘Granada’ and
‘Joseph’s Coat’. Kim’s plant produced blooms with striping and splashing
of these colors instead of the more solid colors of the original. This was a
find for someone who had collected all the striped sports of Hybrid Teas
available in the United States. This sport was offered for a few years by
Vintage Gardens and Sequoia Nursery, but is no longer available commercially. It
appears to be extinct.
• ‘Great News Sport’ – From Kim’s ‘Great News’ imported
floribunda bred by E. B. Le Grice, the sport produced a large cluster of the
expected pansy purple from ’Great News,” the other half exhibiting light,
lilac pink with darker veining. Kim isolated the central bloom which showed half
one color and half the other and the resulting sport was once offered by Vintage
Gardens and Sequoia Nursery but is no longer available either commercially or
privately.
When asked how many seedling turned out to be failures, Kim answers “Bazillions.!” But when you read about the attributes of roses like ‘Lynnie,’ ‘Annie Laurie McDowell,’ or ‘Too Cute,’ you can see why he continues the quest for ‘different and better’ roses.
The following list of roses includes those still in development, under
consideration by various nurseries for introduction, and those still known by
“study” names.
• ‘Lauren’-- This seedling of ‘Baby Faurax’ has the same deep
violet blooms as ‘Baby Faurax’, but they appear on a more graceful,
China-like plant. Julia Cooper of San Diego is one of a group in Southern
California known as the “HOMs” (Hooked on Mauves). Kim sought and received
approval from Julia’s daughter, Lauren, to name this rose after her.
(“Lauren” is also Kim’s middle name.) This rose is currently offered by
Ashdown Roses under the name ‘Purple Poly Seedling.’
•‘Winifred Coulter X Greensleeves’ – A 2-foot shrub with very
large, full medium pink ruffled blooms carried atop a dainty plant. Not
introduced as of this writing, but those who are growing it look forward to its
release.
• ‘Torch of Liberty X Star Magic’ – This seedling resulted from a
cross of a traditional miniature and a thornless Bracteata hybrid. The plant is
a shrubby climber with mauve red, double open blooms with purple petal bases
scattered all over the plant from summer well into winter here in Southern
California. Ashdown Roses has it in test fields.
• ‘Lilac Charm X Basye’s Legacy’ - The reason for this cross was
a successful attempt to intensify the mauve tints of ‘Basye’s Legacy’. Kim
reports that this shrubby, floribunda-type plant has single, mauve blooms with
some fragrance, and it appears to be QUITE fertile. It’s currently being
tested and may be released soon by The Uncommon Rose.
• ‘Softee, Softee’ – The legendary Ralph Moore created a seedling
named ‘Softee’ from a cross of his two greatest breeding roses. Kim has been
intrigued with ‘Softee’ for many years. The one seedling he has retained is
a self seedling from ‘Softee’. ‘Softee, Softee’ produces clusters
of very double, “ragged” blooms in shades of blush to deep pink. The
fragrant flowers grow to 2” in size and appear in clusters all over the plant.
The bush is thornless with disease-free dark green foliage even with late
afternoon overhead watering. Kim has not determined whether it is best
considered a shrub, a groundcover or some other bush form but believes it would
be “beautiful on a short weeping standard.”
• ‘Frances Fisher’ - A cross of two of Kim’s favorite single
Hybrid Teas, ‘Frances Ashton’ (1937) and ‘Mrs. Oakley Fisher’ (1921),
this shrub has large, glossy foliage on a spreading bush. Pointed, blush
primrose buds slowly open to semi-double, very fragrant, pale lemon ivory
blooms, about 3” in diameter. The name is derived from the combination of the
names of the parents; however, it is also the name of one of Kim’s clients,
actress Frances Fisher. Ms. Fisher is understandably excited to learn of the
rose with her name and is looking forward to its introduction at Ashdown Roses.
• ‘Inner Wheel X 0-47-19’ - One of Ralph Moore’s famous breeding
roses is called, ‘0-47-19’ (a 1947 ‘Floradora’ X ‘R. Wichurana cross).
Kim crossed 0-47-19 with Fryer’s ‘Inner Wheel.’ The result is a very
healthy and fertile Wichurana rambler with pink and white hand-painted,
semi-single 2” blooms. Although considered a once bloomer, it may repeat in
mild summer locations. The Uncommon Rose has this rose in test for cold
tolerance and other traits.
• ‘April Moon X MORcrest’ - The seed parent is a semi-double, pale
yellow to white Griffith Buck shrub. The pollen parent is Ralph Moore’s first
“crested” rose breeder. The result is almost what Kim was hoping for: a
plant with large, fragrant, double medium pink to red blooms with exaggerated
sepals. He hopes to use it further with other sources of crested sepals.
• ‘Sevilliana X (Basye’s Legacy X Graham Thomas)’ – This
floribunda-type plant produces orange-pink “flecked or stippled” on a
three-foot plant, from spring to fall. However, the foliage isn’t quite what
Kim wishes it was, although it will likely be used for further breeding.
• ‘Orangeade X R. Fedtschenkoana’ - R. Fedtschenkoana is a
deciduous species rose from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan with “oddly gray
foliage”—another “different” rose which attracted Kim’s attention.
Although the species has proven difficult to cross with modern roses, Kim chose
‘Orangeade’, a rose he describes as a rose “you could pollinate with
dirt.” This healthy cross grows larger than the species--up to seven feet tall
and is even more aggressively invasive than the parent. He describes the scent
of the species’ new growth tips as “Nobel Fir Christmas tree in a room with
a hard wood fire.” Instead of the single, white flowers of the wild rose, this
seedling has double, blush pink ones, and also retains the “linseed oil”
scent of the parent. The rose is deciduous like its parent, but its foliage
turns from the gray-green to a brilliant gold before being dropped.
• ‘Dotty Louise X R. Fedtschenkoana’ - Kim says he was thinking
along the same lines with this cross as he was with the preceding one. He
theorized correctly that if ‘Orangeade’ were successful, its
offspring—Kim’s dark red single-- might also be. Over a half dozen seedlings
have been retained from this cross, all of which demonstrate more saturated
colors in all of the plant parts. They have all retained the scented foliage and
exhibit bloom types from single to fully double, which range in color from blush
pink to a dark, reddish purple. Every seedling is deciduous with assorted
degrees of autumn color foliage. All but one sucker profusely like the species.
Since recent DNA research has indicated that the ‘R.fedtschenkoana’ was one
of the ancestors of the famous re-blooming ‘Autumn Damask’ (also known as
the Rose of Castile), Kim plans to join the genes of the ‘Dottie Louise X R.
Fedtschenkoana’ with the amazing species assortment to be found in
‘Bayse’s Legacy’ to create a more nearly perfect form of ‘Autumn
Damask’.
• 'Joycie X Basye's Blueberry' - This is a seedling from Ralph Moore's
orange miniature 'Joycie' and Dr. Basye's species hybrid, 'Basye's Blueberry'.
Kim had hoped for a thornless rose from this cross since both parents shared
this trait. What resulted is a 3' by 3' semi-deciduous bush rose, with sharp,
needle prickles, and excellent repeat bloom from spring into winter in mild
climates. The flowers are double, deeply cupped, in a mauve-medium red. They are
between 3.5" to 4" in diameter and “cut nicely.” Paul Barden
recently reported in his article, "Progress in My Breeding Program,"
on his Old Garden Roses and Beyond website that "Kim Rupert has a seedling
he is testing that is a cross of 'Joycie' and 'Basye's Blueberry' which has one
of the best “old rose” fragrances I have smelled in a modern hybrid."
As you can see, Kim has an impressive number of roses to his credit, but you
would never know it to talk to him. Despite his degree in Marketing, he is very
low key about “selling” his own creations. It is only later after you leave
him and look up a few of the roses that he has mentioned that you realize how
many were his own.
Kim’s goal is to find unusual, disease-free, drought and heat tolerant,
thornless, fragrant roses that can be easily maintained. He is fortunate to live
and work in two different climate zones, Santa Clarita and Pacific Palisades,
which provide evidence of a rose’s capabilities in widely varying
environments. He is blessed with the eye of a hawk, a photographic memory,
boundless energy, a teacher’s willingness to share all that he knows with any
interested party, and the patience to help others who do not have all of his
talents.
Sometimes it can be difficult to discern which influences have had more impact
on his life: The glorious roses to which he’s so committed or the astounding
list of close friends and rose aficionados with whom he has interacted. There is
a synergy between the two forces which is inescapable. Some of his favorite
people include Ralph Moore (Kim’s mentor), Paul Zimmerman of Ashdown Roses,
Bob and Kathy Edberg of the former Limberlost Roses Nursery, Mel Hulse of the
San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, Paul Barden of The Uncommon Rose, and his good
friends Candy and Dean Craig.
His garden has played host to many rose breeders from the U.S. to Great Britain
and has also been part of a BBC publication and film production, The Quest for
the Rose. He has written, and continues to write, articles for various
publications as well as the E-zine located at the www.helpmefind.com
roses website. He has captured his creations—and those of unusually colored
and famous roses--on thousands of slides, which he has shared in talks at
various rose societies (including the Ventura County Rose Society). He was one
of the featured speakers at the Heritage Rose Foundation Conference in El
Cerrito this past May. His roses have been introduced by Sequoia Nursery,
Ashdown Roses, The Uncommon Rose, and Amity Heritage Roses. The San Jose
Heritage Rose Garden contains a large number of Kim’s roses. (The Ventura
County Rose Society website, www.venturarose.org,
contains links to each of these sites.)
After almost three decades in retail management, Kim decided to “have fun at
making a living” and has been working in the landscaping and nursery business
at the beach for the past few years. He rejoices in working with people who love
roses, gardening, and the possibilities of things to be, despite a miserable
commute each day. Much of Kim’s Santa Clarita garden was sacrificed in order
to extend another highway, level another hill, and to provide upscale
condominiums for a surging urban population. He reports that he will no longer
be engaged in hybridizing or propagating roses. This declaration, however, is at
odds with his past history and his declared intentions regarding over a half
dozen of the roses listed in this article. I’m sure I’m not alone in looking
forward to more beautiful and unusual roses from Kim.
My sincere thanks to Kim for sharing hours of his time and volumes of
information about the roses he has bred and his reasons for doing so; to Jim
Delahanty for his gentle prodding, support and incomparable editing; to Mel
Hulse and Ashdown Roses for a list of their current inventory of Kim’s roses
and pictures of them; and to HelpMeFind.com and their information on Kim’s
roses that inspired this article and was an indispensable resource for me. IW