Article (misc)  (30 Mar 2015)  
 
Miscellaneous Notes, Percy Wright fonds,

John McNab 1940 Rugosa x R. Beggeriana. The flowers are double pink & produced in quantity during July & occasionally throughout the balance of the summer. Large, very thorny plant. 6 feet.

Newsletter  (1 Mar 2012)  Page(s) 7-11.  
 
p. 10--
"Rose growers on the frontier did not have access to botanical reference works, but they had a good memory. The initial misidentification of a rose at Kew was maintained in Canada until fairly recent times, and identification of R. laxa, Retzius/Ross Rambler as R. beggeriana was the norm."
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Ironically, F. L. Skinner, later responsible for bringing to Canada what he called “the true laxa” (the R. laxa, Retz. collected in Semipalatinsk, Siberia by USDA plant explorer Niels E. Hansen) was responsible for identifying the ‘Ross Rambler’ as R. beggeriana. In the 1935 article, Skinner was quoted as saying, “It is my firm belief that the “Ross rose” is either a strong-growing form of R. beggeriana or a natural hybrid of that species” (p. 116). But the Ross Rambler has hips like those of R. laxa, Retz., not those of R. beggeriana. The hips of R. beggeriana are small and round, about the size of a pea, not long and bottle-shaped like those of Ross Rambler and Rosa laxa, Retz.—but Skinner had never seen that in a reference work. Later, when he received a plant of R. beggeriana from Russia, he was convinced that it was not the true beggeriana because it did not look like the rose that he was accustomed to thinking of as beggeriana."

Book  (11 Jun 1993)  Page(s) 39.  
 
....there once was a 'Mr. John McNab', a rose with deeper pink flowers whose breeding included 'Kamtchatica'. 'Mrs. John McNab' remains available; 'Mr. John McNab' (Skinner, 1938) seems to have vanished from commerce.

Book  (1967)  Page(s) 48.  
 
Some All-Canadian Roses
by Fred Blakeney, Victoria, B.C.
Now we come to the Dean of Canadian Hybridizers in the person of Dr. Frank L. Skinner of Dropmore, Manitoba, who has been hybridizing roses and other plants for over sixty years. [...]
Other originations followed in succession, the chief ones being:
"John McNab", R. rugosa kamtchatica x R. beggeriana. Double pink. Profuse midseason bloom, sometimes continuing later.

Book  (1966)  Page(s) 48, 103.  
 
p. 48, Table III--
Variety: John McNab
Outstanding Characteristics Pink, repeat flowering
Parentage R. beggeriana x R. rugosa
Year Listed 1932

p. 103
"John McNab," first listed in 1932, is a hybrid between Rosa rugosa
and R. begge[r]iana, the latter being from central Asia. It is a hardy shrub
growing about four feet tall with an abundance of shapely pink flowers
in June, and recurrent bloom throughout the summer.

Book  (1959)  Page(s) 292.  
 
John McNab (1938) R. rugosa kamtchatica x R. beggeriana. Double pink. Heavy July bloomer.

Website/Catalog  (1942)  Page(s) 15.  
 
'John McNab - This new hybrid raised by us is the result of a cross between R. rugosa and the central Asian R. beggeriana. The flowers are double pink and produced in quantity during July and occasionally throughout balance of the summer. Own root bushes. Each ..... 75 cents.

Book  (Jul 1938)  Page(s) 90.  
 
John McNab: Originated at Manitoba Hardy Plant Nursery. Hybrid of R. rugosa and R. Beggeriana. Made available in 1938. Flowers double, pink.

Website/Catalog  (1933)  
 
John McNab - A hybrid between Rosa Beggeriana, a central Asian species and a double flowered variety of Rosa Rugosa. This Rose is quite hardy and flowers throughout the summer. The flowers are deep rose in color quite double and cup shaped; its one fault being that the flower stems are sometimes a little weak. This is a Dropmore hybrid and is being sent out for the first time. Own root bushes. Each ---$1.50

[1932-1933 Manitoba Hardy Plant Nursery Price List]