Plant Patent 3,818 attached to "Blue Heaven" on the Description Page lists the Seed Parent as "Sterling Silver" and the Pollen Parent as "Simone". "Song of Paris", as Pollen Parent, is not listed on the patent as it is on the Lineage tree page for this rose. Is there a reason for this apparent discrepancy?
The 1973 Plant Patent quoted just (Sterling Silver x Simone) and says the seed was sown in 1963. In 1980 Modern Roses 8 were quoting (Sterling Silver x Simone) x Song of Paris. This last rose was introduced in 1964, so it may have been possible.
There are other items with the Whisler/Bailey roses. We have six Whisler roses listed, and of those I believe 'Wedding Song', 'Blue Heaven' and 'Spirit of 76' should be listed as Dorothy S. Bailey roses. The Plant Patents for the last two were in the name of Bailey.
We have another six Roses bred by Dorothy S. Bailey. One oddity - Modern Roses 9 (1986) listed none of the six roses bred between 1976-1980 by Mrs. Bailey
I am unsure of how we list roses bred by the same person, under different surnames?
Blue Heaven has been around awhile. It has been surpassed in popularity by many other "blue" roses. This one smells heavenly! The spring and fall blooms are the most perfect buds and half-open blooms. When allowed to mature, the angled, shield-shaped petals assume a blousey arrangement, opening to show the yellow stamens, remaining colorful and effective in the overall sense. The spiraled buds and young blooms have tinges of magenta on the petal edges, adding depth to the color scheme. But you will fall in love with the fragrance. As a half-open cut flower, they surpass in form many other more recent mauve varieties. The shrub is clean and disease resistant. It is choosey as to where it breaks bud after trimming, so go with the flow. After trimming, especially in winter, if the buds lower down break, just re-trim to the bush's whim. It enjoys a long life.
