** Grandiflora Rose Strike it Rich

By barrie

Grandiflora rose Strike It Rich is an old-fashioned garden rose of the modern era, and by this, I mean it’s the kind of rose that might have been found in the 1950’s or 1960’s when we worried whether our martini’s would be ready after work or whether the Russians were indeed coming (and in that order). A 2007 All-America Rose Selection, Strike It Rich was bred by Tom Carruth, who has a undeniable talent for hybridizing stunning and unusual roses (see Hot Cocoa for more evidence of Carruth’s awesome powers). Strike It Rich has a famous parent, Sutter’s Gold, AARS 1950, and thus the connection to the glory days (for some) of the post-war optimism of that time.

I do indeed give the All-America Rose Selection committee, as well as the American Rose Society and Jackson Perkins, a hard time, but for pure aesthetics, the beauty of the roses they select are hard to argue with. Strike It Rich is a Grandiflora rose, tall and upright and do note the red stems, which are longish. This has always been the thing with long-stemmed roses as garden plants…what makes them so desirable as cut-flowers does not recommend them to the garden, a bit stiff and uptight. So, as always, grow Strike It Rich and Grandifloras in their own bed out back somewhere. The flowers are undeniably seductive.