(6 Feb 1969)  Page(s) 12.  Includes photo(s).
 
To most home gardeners, the procedure of naming a rose is a mystery; but in fact, the general public has a much larger hand in naming roses than most of us would assume. The prime example—though we rarely hear about it—is the nationwide test panel of home gardeners conducted by the Jackson & Perkins Co. here [in Newark, NY].
...Another category which J-P has noted each year, consistes of suggestions for roses named after famous persons. Representative of this in 1969 is the new "Royal Canadian Rose", a red hybrid tea named for orchestra leader Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians. J-P refers to this introduction as having "the sweetest fragrance this side of heaven"—a takeoff on Guy Lombardo's "Sweetest Music..." In fact, however, the "Royal Canadian Rose", while heavily fragrant in the true old rose tradition, is still outclassed by the 1968 Rose of the Year, "Fragrant Cloud"—a rose which hybridists will be a long time topping for fragrance. [...]
It's a rule of thumb that a great name may not sell a rose...but a bad name can sure "un-sell" it, before the rose gets a chance to prove its worth. With "Proud Land", "Royal Canadian", "Vin Rose" and "The Gene Boerner Rose", J-P pretty well incorporates all the "musts" in rose naming...from now on, the roses can speak for themselves.