Newsletter  (2006)  Page(s) 17. Vol 15, No. 1.  
 
Bonita Cattell. I wanted to tell you what a knockout of a rose is ‘Kathleen Kellahan’ bred by Peter Lavings of Nanango. I am not very good at smelling perfume because of allergies but the perfume on this rose is just so strong and beautiful. I wish we could see this rose a lot more often.

Book  (2004)  Page(s) 132.  
 
Peter Lavings. To Breed New Rose Symposium. I admit the only real success I’ve had is by deliberate pollination and this was done by picturing what Lilian Austin would look like if pollinated by Oklahoma. I got some very nondescript washed out looking seedlings, but one turned out to be a meld of both roses in flower and fragrance. I named it Kathleen Kellehan, my mother’s maiden name.

Magazine  (2004)  Page(s) 37. Vol 26, No. 4.  
 
Sue and John Zwar. But the pick of the [Peter Lavings’] garden was a rose which Peter had bred himself from Oklahoma and Lilian Austin, a deep vibrant pink with many petals. He has named it Kathleen Kellehan after his mother. We found this rose in nearly every Queensland garden we visited, looking luxuriously healthy in all of them.

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 37.  
 
New Rose Registrations. Kathleen Kellehan. Shrub. P. Lavings, 1999.

Magazine  (Oct 1999)  Page(s) 31.  
 
Registration

Magazine  (1999)  Page(s) 34. Vol 21, No. 1.  
 
Peter Lavings. In past letters I’ve urged members to do a little hybridizing or at least grow a few open pollinated seeds from your rose hips just for fun. I’ve been doing this for a few years now with mixed results. One I’ve named Kathleen Kellehan is the result of a cross between Lilian Austin x Okalahoma and is a David Austin style. It is burgundy in colour, has 40 petals, with the edges sometimes tinged with white. It has a Damask perfume with myrrh overtones and repeats well. At times it may be covered with 200 or more blooms in various stages. I was honoured to have it chosen as the rose for the Nanango Sesquicentennial year Celebrations and understandably it’s now been shortened to the Nanango Rose. Rod Hultgren, an A.B.C. garden guru, successfully launched it at an open garden day, and local poet Jimmy Mangan wrote a poem. I now have people knocking at my door wanting plants, altogether very rewarding. So lets get to it all you rose lovers and start planting a few seeds!

Newsletter  (1998)  Page(s) 6. Vol 36, No. 3.  
 
Carolyn Idec. Peter has developed a new rose named ‘Kathleen Kellehan’ which is a lovely red, in memory of his mother, and this rose has the honour of being the Nanango Sesquicentenary Rose.

Newsletter  (1998)  Page(s) 8. Vol 36, No. 4.  
 
Rod Hultgren. New Queensland Rose. Kathleen Kellehan – remember that name, for it is the name of a rose certain to make its mark. Peter and Ada Lavings live in Nanango and are avid growers of roses, particularly heritage and David Austin roses. Amongst their many roses they have one bred by Peter, which is outstanding and this is a Lilian Austin / Oklahoma cross, and is burgundy in colour, has 40 petals, is typical David Austin style and has a heady perfume. We were lucky to view Peter and Ada’s roses and were shown a well-grown bush of Kathleen Kellehan, which must have had 200 buds and blooms, even after a large vase of blooms had been picked. I was lucky enough to be asked to launch this rose at the Caffey’s Open Garden ‘Ashdale’ at Nanango, and when it was presented caused quite a stir, with people clamoring to buy the few plants ready for sale. I predict a great future for this rose and thank Peter and Ada for the one given to us. We can hardly wait for it to grow and bloomn in our yard.