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Moore, Ralph S.
Discussion id : 61-485
most recent 27 JAN 12 HIDE POSTS
 
Initial post 27 JAN 12 by Kim Rupert
Ralph Moore quotes, gleaned from various discussions and visits.

"Just when you think you know the rules, the rose changes them!"
"You think you've just about made it and somebody moves the goal posts!"
"Roses can't read!"
"Make a good plant first, it's always easy to hang a pretty flower on it later."
REPLY
Discussion id : 39-326
most recent 22 SEP 09 HIDE POSTS
 
Initial post 22 SEP 09 by digger
Sue Curry, daughter of Dee Bennett, posted this on a forum after hearing that Mr. Moore had passed away. I thought it should be here too.

"I got a call this morning from a rose friend to say that this great man had passed away.

Not everyone has had the privilege of knowing the 'King of Miniature Roses' as a close family friend, but I did. Mom and Ralph met in the late 1960's. He introduced Mom to her first mini roses, taught her to hybridize and to propagate these ownroot plants. Then, he did something that no other hybridizer at the time would do. He encouraged her...a woman...to become a nursery woman in a field which was considered the domain of men.

Without the help and loving encouragement from Ralph Moore, Mom never would have considered opening Tiny Petals Nursery, she never would have begun hybridizing roses and might never have even grown a mini rose.

Ralph Moore not only gave the rose world thousands of new roses over the years that he created, but he is responsible for the training, growth and creations of numerous other hybridizers, like my Mom. Without Ralph, the rose world would be a very different place.

Image your gardens without mini roses. Few, if any, American mini creations do not have Ralph Moore connected to their past. I know that we would not have Magic Carrousel, Rise 'n Shine and all of the other wonderful Moore minis; but you also would not have any Dee Bennett minis. You might not even have Nor'East minis. So many of the mini roses we love have Ralph's minis in their gene pool.

I don't think that any person in the rose world has created more roses than Ralph. His creations don't number in the hundreds; they number in the thousands.

As for me, I will never forget the first time that I met that wonderful, humble, delightful man. It was in the early 1970's at a rose show. He was judging along side his dear friend Mary Marshall. I was thrilled to meet both of them and the lady, named Judy Fischer, who Ralph had just honored with a namesake rose.

In a joking manner, I said, "You could always name a rose for me. My initials are SOB." I was Sue O'Brien back in those days. Ralph's response was immediate and perfect. He said, "I have called a lot of roses 'That' over the years, but I never thought of registering one with 'that name'."

A couple of years later, I had the opportunity to spend a day with Ralph at his nursery in Visalia. I was amazed to see one large rose bush (I believe that it was Zorina.) covered with close to a thousand small, white, glassene bags. When I asked him about the little baggies, Ralph told me that those were all 'crosses'. At the time, he was doing more that 50,000 crosses per year. Of all of those crosses, he harvested even more seeds and yet only kept and introduced a 'very select few, new roses' each year.

Ralph Moore spent his life working with roses, and his work has blessed the world with some of the finest roses ever known.

Thank you God for giving us Ralph Moore, if only for 102 years."

I am a longtime admirer of Mr. Moore and have enjoyed his roses in our garden.

Dave
REPLY
Discussion id : 16-007
most recent 13 JAN 07 HIDE POSTS
 
Initial post 13 JAN 07 by Anonymous-97434
Monday, January 14, is Ralph Moore's one hundredth birthday! This gentleman is responsible for miniature roses being the beautiful creations they are today, instead of oddities grown for botanical interest. There are formal activities planned in his home town of Visalia, California for Sunday and Monday. If you can't attend but would like to send a card and well-wishes, the nursery address where cards and letters may be sent is

SEQUOIA NURSERY
2519 East Noble, Visalia, CA 93292
Fax: (559) 732-0192

Email and cards may be sent to SeqNursery@aol.com

Mr. Moore has touched many different types of plants, but is best known for his work with roses, both miniatures as well as larger types. Many of the popular, modern "big" roses we enjoy today owe their coloring, health and vigor to the infusion of genes created by his work with miniature roses. Striped modern roses, to name just one type, are directly due to his work to breed the color pattern from Old Garden Roses into miniatures.

Marking one hundred years on this Earth is a milestone. Marking a career spent doing what you love which has spanned over seven decades is an even greater one. Please take a moment and send him your thoughts and best wishes. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Thank you,
Kim Rupert
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