Re 'Toro' and 'Uncle Joe'. Note different breeder and different parentages
EL TORO
HT Melvin E. Wyant, 1972
‘Karl Herbst’ x ‘Big Red’.

UNCLE JOE
HT Joseph J. Kern, 1971.
[(‘Mirandy’ x ‘Charles Mallerin’) x unnamed seedling] x unknown



1973 American Rose Annual
p179 Toro. HT. (IIIA). Medium red. (Melvin E. Wyant, 1972) ‘Karl Herbst’ x ‘Big Red’. Very large, long pointed buds. Very large, high-centered, medium red, very double blooms borne singly on long stems. Very good lasting quality. Petals drop off cleanly. Strong fragrance. Normal amount of green, soft, large foliage. Disease resistant. Green and reddish-brown bark and twigs. Few thorns. Very vigorous, upright growth. Abundant, intermittent blooming. Tips freeze. Hardy.

1973 American Rose Annual
p179. Uncle Joe HT (IIIA) dark red. (Joseph J. Kern, 1971). [(‘Mirandy’ x ‘Charles Mallerin’) x unnamed seedling] x unknown. Very large, long pointed buds. Very large, high-centered, dark red, very double blooms borne singly on long stems. Good lasting quality. Petals hang on. Abundant amount of dark green, leathery, large foliage. Disease resistant. Very vigorous, upright, compact growth. Abundant, continuous blooming.

1974 American Rose Annual
p207. Toro. HT. medium red. Average national rating 7.5.
Campbell, MN, very beautiful, exhibition bloom producer, but this stingy intermittent blooming plant is a must for exhib itors;
Barnthouse, LA, very hardy, exhibition type rose, ‘Toro’ and ‘Red Lion’ are the best reds in this area, ‘Big Ben’ would be a best third;
Cabbage, 1A, a fine new rose, make room for it in your exhibition garden;
Satterlee, MO, Wow! Here is a must if you can find one, was outstanding at the Columbus National Convention;
Reardon, OR, large dark red globular blooms, will not often open in the Northwest, equal to and as bad as ‘Uncle Joe’;
Dollinger, TX, a vigorous bush whose bloom has many petals, a must rose for all exhiobitors, the blooms open slowly making it a good target for the elements and you may have to protect it, it was much better for many the second year.

1974 American Rose Annual
p208. Uncle Joe, HT. dark red. Average national rating 7.9. Lilly, WV, excellent exhibition rose, hard to open and sparse bloomer, winters well, a must for any exhibitor, ‘Toro’ looks exactly like it;
Zimmerman, OH, probably the identical twin of ‘Toro’, I fail to see any difference, Weaver agrees it is an excellent exhibition rose, if you can’t get one order the other;
Stetar, NC, best dark red on the market today;
Jeremias, SC, one of the few roses that need to open faster, a long lasting bloom but by the time it opens the outer petals have lost too much substance, exhibition rose with a goodly number of blooms on the plant, the foliage is poorly spaced on the canes;
Cleveland, WI, You’ll never tell this from ‘Toro’.