California is famous for citrus, vineyards, palms, and gardens. But the state also played a remarkable role in the history of the rose.
Some roses were bred here. Others appeared as unexpected mutations in California gardens. Still others were created by breeders whose work changed the way roses were classified and grown around the world.
That history stretches from nineteenth-century Riverside nurseries to Armstrong Nurseries in Ontario and the great experimental gardens of Descanso in La Cañada Flintridge.
Here are five roses that help tell the story.
1. Climbing Cécile Brünner: Riverside, 1894
If you have ever seen a huge old climbing rose spilling over a porch, wall, or pergola in Southern California, there is a good chance you have encountered one of the region’s most enduring contributions to rose history.
The original Cécile Brünner was not a California rose. But in Riverside, nurseryman and landscape designer Franz Philip Hosp noticed something unusual growing from one of his plants: a vigorous climbing shoot that behaved differently from the ordinary shrub.
Hosp propagated that natural mutation, known botanically as a sport, and introduced Climbing Cécile Brünner in 1894.
The result was extraordinary. The familiar small pink “Sweetheart Rose” suddenly had the ability to climb to enormous heights, producing masses of delicate pink flowers on long, often nearly prickle-free canes.
Pacific Horticulture identifies Hosp’s Climbing Cécile Brünner as one of the surviving nineteenth-century California roses and notes that old specimens can grow to gigantic proportions. North Carolina State Extension likewise records Hosp’s 1894 discovery of the climbing sport.
The rose became particularly suited to the architecture and climate of California: porches, verandas, garden walls, pergolas, and old houses where a vigorous climber could be allowed to become part of the building itself.
It is also one of the historic roses that directly inspires our own California garden fragrances. The California Rose candle from Old California Botanicals takes inspiration from the nostalgic character of old California gardens, including Cécile Brünner.
2. Climbing Papa Gontier: Riverside, 1898
Four years later, Hosp did it again.
This time the rose was Papa Gontier, an older tea rose known for rich rosy-crimson flowers. Hosp discovered and propagated a climbing sport in Riverside and introduced Climbing Papa Gontier in 1898.
Contemporary descriptions praised it as an exceptionally free-blooming climber well suited to California conditions. Its flowers were described as rosy crimson with a deeper carmine center.
But horticultural history can be surprisingly unforgiving. Unlike Climbing Cécile Brünner, Hosp’s Climbing Papa Gontier did not become an enduring garden staple. Pacific Horticulture notes that it faced competition from other climbing sports of the same rose and eventually disappeared.
That makes it useful for understanding an important point about plant history: California did not merely import famous plants. Gardens here became places where plants changed, were selected, propagated, named, and sometimes sent back out into the wider horticultural world.
3. Charlotte Armstrong: Ontario, 1940
By the twentieth century, California rose development had moved from chance discoveries in gardens to deliberate breeding programs backed by major nurseries.
One of the most important was Armstrong Nurseries in Ontario, California.
Armstrong hired plant geneticist and breeder Dr. Walter E. Lammerts, who helped establish a formal rose-breeding program. Armstrong’s own company history credits Lammerts with developing famous roses including Charlotte Armstrong and Chrysler Imperial. Armstrong Growers preserves that history today.
Introduced in 1940, Charlotte Armstrong was a deep pink hybrid tea rose created from Soeur Thérèse and Crimson Glory. It was named for John Armstrong’s wife, Charlotte.
The rose became much more than a successful introduction. Archival material from the Armstrong Nursery collection records that more than two million plants were sold and that Charlotte Armstrong became the official flower of the City of Ontario.
More importantly for rose history, Charlotte Armstrong became a parent.
Its genetics helped produce a remarkable family of later roses, including two of the most famous cultivars on this list: Chrysler Imperial and Queen Elizabeth.
That makes Charlotte Armstrong something like a matriarch in twentieth-century American rose breeding.
4. Chrysler Imperial: La Cañada Flintridge, 1952
If Charlotte Armstrong represents the power of a breeding program, Chrysler Imperial represents the drama that program could produce.
Walter Lammerts bred the rose from Charlotte Armstrong and the dark red hybrid tea Mirandy. It was introduced in 1952 and became famous for deep, velvety red flowers and a powerful fragrance.
Lammerts’ work was closely associated with Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, where newspaper publisher Manchester Boddy had assembled an extraordinary horticultural collection and brought Lammerts in to conduct breeding work.
Pacific Horticulture’s history of Descanso Gardens identifies Chrysler Imperial among the famous roses Lammerts bred there and describes a rose garden containing thousands of plants.
The rose became one of the classic dark-red hybrid teas of the postwar era.
Its importance also lies in its family tree. Charlotte Armstrong appears again as one parent, showing how a successful California cultivar could become the raw material for the next generation of rose breeding.
This tradition of dramatic red roses still shapes the way we think about rose fragrance at Old California Botanicals. Our Big Red Rose Eau de Parfum takes its inspiration from the deep, spicy fragrance of a California rose garden, particularly the classic American red rose Mr. Lincoln.
5. Queen Elizabeth: California, 1954
The final rose did something even more remarkable: it helped create an entirely new class of roses.
Walter Lammerts crossed Charlotte Armstrong with the floribunda Floradora. The resulting rose combined the large, elegant flowers and long stems associated with hybrid teas with the ability to bloom in clusters and grow into a tall, vigorous plant.
The cultivar was introduced in 1954 as Queen Elizabeth.
The American Rose Society explains that Queen Elizabeth was so distinctive that the Grandiflora classification was created to accommodate it. It became the first rose placed in that class.
The original plant patent provides an extraordinary primary-source record of Lammerts’ work. In U.S. Plant Patent No. 1,259, Lammerts describes crossing Charlotte Armstrong with Floradora and propagating the resulting rose in La Cañada, California.
The rose was named for Queen Elizabeth II and went on to become one of the world’s best-known garden roses.
California had not merely produced another cultivar.
It had helped create a new category of rose.
California Was a Rose-Breeding Powerhouse
These five roses are only part of the story.
Southern California’s climate allowed nurseries to grow enormous numbers of plants, evaluate seedlings over long seasons, and ship roses to gardeners across the country. Companies such as Armstrong became nationally important horticultural businesses, while breeders including Walter Lammerts, Herbert Swim, and later generations of California hybridizers continued producing new varieties.
The Armstrong company history describes hundreds of plant introductions emerging from its breeding programs, while the American Rose Society preserves the larger history of the American rose industry.
California’s role also went beyond deliberate breeding. Franz Hosp’s climbing sports demonstrate another way horticulture changes: gardeners notice something unusual, recognize its value, propagate it, and give it a chance to survive.
That combination of observation, experimentation, climate, nursery commerce, and sheer enthusiasm made California one of the important centers of American rose culture.
Why Do Old California Gardens Have So Many Roses?
Roses made sense in California for reasons beyond breeding.
In much of the state, particularly in Mediterranean-climate regions, roses can produce long seasons of bloom. They became natural companions to citrus groves, palms, lawns, verandas, courtyard gardens, and the eclectic architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Old neighborhoods in Redlands, Riverside, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, and other California communities still contain roses that have survived changing fashions in landscape design.
Sometimes the plant itself is a piece of history.
An enormous Cécile Brünner climbing over an old wall is not simply decorative. It belongs to a horticultural tradition that once connected local nurserymen, experimental breeders, large commercial nurseries, and ordinary home gardeners.
Frequently Asked Questions About California Rose History
Was Cécile Brünner bred in California?
The original Cécile Brünner was not created in California. However, the famous Climbing Cécile Brünner is a natural climbing sport discovered and introduced by Franz Philip Hosp in Riverside, California, in 1894.
Who bred the Charlotte Armstrong rose?
Dr. Walter E. Lammerts developed Charlotte Armstrong for Armstrong Nurseries in Ontario, California. It was introduced in 1940 and became one of the most influential American hybrid tea roses of its era.
Where was Chrysler Imperial rose developed?
Chrysler Imperial was bred by Walter Lammerts in California and publicly introduced in 1952. Lammerts conducted important rose-breeding work associated with Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge.
Why is Queen Elizabeth rose important?
Queen Elizabeth combined traits of hybrid tea and floribunda roses so successfully that the Grandiflora class was created to accommodate it. The American Rose Society identifies Queen Elizabeth as the first member of that class.
Did California create important rose varieties?
Yes. California nurseries and breeders introduced many important roses during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Riverside, Ontario, La Cañada Flintridge, and other California communities were significant centers of rose selection and breeding.
Bring the California Rose Garden Home
The old California garden continues to inspire what we make at Old California Botanicals.
Our California Rose Beeswax Lip Balm celebrates one of the most enduring flowers in California garden culture.
Our California Rose Garden Candle takes direct inspiration from the nostalgic fragrance of heirloom California roses, including historic Cécile Brünner.
And our Big Red Rose Eau de Parfum captures the deeper, velvety, spicy character of a classic red rose opening in the Southern California sun.
These products are not reproductions of the past. They are our way of carrying forward the fragrance, beauty, and sense of place that made the old California garden memorable.
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