All That Jazz, Lurid & Wonderful
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
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| Rosa 'All that Jazz' |
My mother was snooty. This was a word she
used to use a lot and yet she would criticize people as being that when she was
uncharacteristically unkind.
In Spanish the word educación is not equivalent to its translation. In
Spanish educación is about manners, bearing and a taste for the better things
in life. My mother would often look at me and say, “Hay poca gente fina como nosotros.” This is
sort of, “There are few people who have taste and manners like we do.”
When I was about to
marry my Rosemary in Mexico City
I remember that Rosemary’s mother dispatched Rosemary’s sister, Ruth to check
me out. I have never been quite sure how serious Rosemary was when she told me
that her sister had come to make sure I ate with a fork and knife.
As a further example
of what I am writing about here I must mention the most gracious, well mannered
woman I know in Vancouver.
When her husband, former Vancouver mayor, Art Phillips died, I received and email from Carole Taylor
requesting the use of a photograph I had taken of Phillips when he was 70. Taylor wanted a high res
digital version of the picture. I sent it. A few days later the door bell rang.
I opened to find a young man holding two beautifully cellophane-wrapped rose
bushes from Southlands. Inside one of the roses there was a card from Taylor that simply said, “Thank
you.”
That is what I call class
and that is something very much wanting these days. My mother would have said
that Carole Taylor was “gente fina” and that she had “educación”.
All that, is to
introduce to you the story of how we came to have an orange red rose in our
garden.
My wife Rosemary is a
great gardener. Her taste for plants is less monocultural than mine (hostas and
roses). She also has the talent of picking plants this year that will be
popular the next. She tends to eschew plants that do not have flowers that are
either white or blue. She cannot understand why I have so many pink roses. For
years orange was verboten in our garden. She tolerated a few red roses like English
Rose Rosa ‘L.D. Braithwaite’ but that was it.
In the late 80s and
early 90s our neighbourhood experienced a rash of demolitions precipitated by
the uncertainty of Hong Kong after its mainland China takeover. Many of these
Chinese came to our neighbourhood with the idea of starting from scratch in a
new country with a new house. So houses were demolished. One of the few
benefits of this is that Rosemary and I would “liberate” plants before these
houses would be torn down. She would inform me, “Alex, they have cut the hydro
wires.” This meant that we would get our wheelbarrow, spades and a flashlight.
On Cartier Street I found a rose bush. It
was not in bloom. I unearthed it and brought it home. I called it Rosa ‘Cartier Street’.
Rosa “Cartier Street’ finally bloomed with extremely fluorescent red/orange blooms
that where strangely ethereal in how they appeared as if a mere whisk of a wind
would remove their petals (never the case). Rosemary was upset at the lurid colour. After
a few years we came to appreciate our red/orange rose as it bloomed late in
July when most of the other roses are in hiatus.
Some 10 years ago rose
grower Brad Jalbert came to our garden. He looked at the orange/red rose and
said to me, “Alex, what a surprise to find All That Jazz in your garden.” And
that is how we came to know the real name of our very favourite red/orange
rose. There is another that Rosemary loves, called Westerland, recommended by Brad Jalbert. She is orange
and she has the sweet scent of synthetic apricot jam!
As snooty as my mother
was I think she would approve.
Of Rosa
‘All that Jazz’ I found this cute description by Gary Scales in the Marin Rose
Society Web Page.
All That Jazz
Rose of the Month For
September, 2004
by Gary Scales
All That Jazz is a
happy and fun rose. Often we ascribe human characteristics to inanimate
objects. And I freely admit to using this anthropomorphic license when
describing certain roses. But you can picture All That Jazz slipping on a glass
of champagne, joining the Gatsby Girls in the Charleston. While her Hybrid Tea neighbors in
the garden are preening to look prime and proper with high centers and perfect
ruffles, All That Jazz pulls her windblown hair back into a pony tail and says:
“Where’s the party?”
But don’t let this
seemingly unpretentious behavior fool you. You’d easily get the impression All
That Jazz wouldn’t take this All American Rose Selection business all too
seriously. But guess who walked away with AARS honors in 1991?”
Healthy, vigorous,
with vibrant colors, a strong and sweet scent and an excellent repeat bloomer -
all necessary ingredients of a winner. And you don’t miss seeing her in the
garden. A dazzling combination of red, yellow and pink, essentially coral, with
hints of salmon. All That Jazz has another distinctive characteristic. Her
twelve petals are semi double at best, but at the height of bloom appear as
elegant waves of color. In fact there are few sights as striking as the
afternoon sun shining through the translucent petals of All That Jazz. Almost
surreal.
The American Rose
Society 2004 Handbook ranks All That Jazz with a 7.8 rating: “a very solid
rose, with its good features easily outweighing any problems.” All That Jazz is
a seedling of Gitte, a Hybrid Tea with brilliant colors. And yet All That Jazz
again distinguished herself as being characterized as a shrub rose, and one of
a few to garner AARS honors.
This is a rose of many
attributes and many virtues. And fun to be with in the garden.
