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Kim Rupert
What follows is a series of
articles that first appeared in The Ventura County Rose
Society Newsletter "The Ventura Rose". This fine
rose society can be found at
http://www.venturarose.org/. The articles are
all written by Ingrid Wapelhorst and appear in their
original and unedited form.
(Put your Mouse's pointer
over the photos to see the caption)
Part 1
Part 2
Kim Rupert: The Man and his Roses: Part
I
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.
Editor’s note: Part II of this article, in which Ingrid
Wapelhorst examines Kim Rupert roses ready for
evaluation or in the pipeline, will appear in the
October issue of the Ventura County Rose Society
Newsletter.
Kim Rupert: The
Man and his Roses: Part II.
By Ingrid Wapelhorst
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.’
(Note from Ashdown Roses.
We now sell it under 'Lauren')
•‘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, for
one, anticipate 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
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