Father Georg Schoener, also known as the "Padre of the Roses," created two roses while he lived in Santa Barbara during 1929-30 that are still in commerce today: 'Schoener's Nutkana' and a Hybrid Perpetual, 'Arrillaga'.

When I wrote an article for Pacific Horticulture (spring 1995) that recounted his work in hybridizing roses, there was no mention made of why he gave this Spanish name to the vivid pink Hybrid Perpetual; after two years of research I could find no answer. Santa Clara University has all of the papers, photographs, and books that he left when he died there on October 2, 1941. And I searched in Oregon, where he had worked before coming to California.

'Arrillaga' is a descendant of 'Frau Karl Druschki' and Rosa centifolia, strongly scented, with large, double blooms that sit on long stems. It flowers on and off in my garden from early spring to early autumn. Both this rose and the the nutkana hybrid are still in commerce here and abroad.

Little items like this take up an inordinate amount of time when one is researching even a short article. When I visited Calvary Cemetery in Santa Barbara, where he is buried, I spent half a day walking among all the graves until I found his tombstone. It was luck that I found Francis E. Lester's remaining relatives when I wrote about Lester.

For years Schoener's rose came to mind when I drove through Santa Barbara on Highway 101 - the big green signs that indicate off-ramps include a street called Arrellaga. The "e" stopped me from investigating any further.

In early January this year I dropped by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden to see the librarian, Laurie Hannah. In an off-hand remark, I asked if she had ever heard of the rose because it was so close to the spelling of the street. She took me to the reference books and found a small pamphlet Pathways to Pavements by Rosario Curletti, published by a bank in 1953. The subtitle caught my eye immediately: "The History and Romance of Santa Barbara Spanish Street Names." Inside was she found the answer to my question.

ARRELLAGA (ah-reh-ee-ah'-gah) misspelled from the original Arrillaga. Tall, blue-eyed, blond, princely bachelor Senor Don Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga was twice Spanish governor of California. Mission Santa Ines in the Santa Ynez Valley, last of the five missions [listed] to be established in the Tri-Counties area, was founded during his second governship. He died in 1814 at the Mission of Soledad, where he lies buried in the gray Franciscan habit of that day.

Later, Hannah copied several pages from Bancroft's History of California (Vol.2) that give more details about his life. Bancroft lists the many virtues that Arrillaga had; he was very pious and this trait may have appealed to Father Schoener, who must have read about the man while he was living in Santa Barbara. We may never know exactly whom Schoener had in mind when he named the rose, but the chances that the governor received the honor are rather good.

So many of Schoener's hybrids are lost to commerce and rarely found or identified. He led a fascinating life and explored many areas of horticulture, much like Luther Burbank.

The next time I am in Santa Barbara I must find out why the highway department misspelled the name on its sign.

A relative of Schoener's in Germany has created a website that details his life and the roses he created - www.rosenpfarrer.de.