Magazine  (2010)  Page(s) 41. Vol 32, No. 1.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosemary Heather. The History of 'Blushing Lucy'.
[includes photo of Mrs. John Laing (Florence)

Book  (Dec 2000)  Page(s) 25.  
 
Mr. John Laing

Mrs. John Laing
Hybrid Perpetual
Henry Bennett 1887

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 50.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mrs. John Laing
Hybrid Perpetual
... a vigorous grower even in poor soil... lilac-pink...

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 418.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mrs. John Laing. Old. Hybrid perpetual. Medium Pink. Repeat-flowering.
‘Francois Michelon’ is a seedling of the famous ‘La Reine’, one of the first Hybrid perpetuals from Jean Laffay, who created the class. The flowerheads resemble cabbages; they are cupped, large, fully double and very fragrant, and the color is silvery lilac-pink. The stems are nearly thornless. ‘Mrs. John Laing’ is a healthy plant with a vigorous growth habit and is able to grow in poor soils. It is free from mildew. Bennett is said to have received $45,000 for the US distribution rights of this rose. John Laing was a London horticulturalist who died in 1901. Zones 5-9. Bennett, UK 1887. ‘Francois Michelon’ x seedling. National Rose Society Gold Medal 1885.

Book  (1995)  
 
p3 I think the rose must hold a high place in our early affection for flowers. I can distinctly remember delighting in the fragrance of the Hybrid Perpetual ‘Mrs. John Laing’at the age of eight; in fact ‘Mrs. Laing’ and ‘Alister Stella Gray’ have been my constant companions since those early days, and never fail to give plentifully of their beauty, year by year.

p139. Origin Britain (Bennett) 1887. Height 4ft / 1.2m. Mrs. John Laing is a splendid Hybrid Perpetual with beautiful shapely flowers. It was bred by Henry Bennett who raised the very first Hybrid Teas in the 1870s. Its buds have tufts of pointed sepals which separate to reveal a rich red, and the half-opened flower is exquisitely scrolled. The flowers in June are double, elegant, pale silver-pink, 3 in / 8 cm across, and perfumed with a rich sweet scent. The centre of the flower remains cupped, while the outer petals curve backwards, and the flower are borne in clusters well aloft on long stems. The foliage is a handsome mid green, rounded and toothed. After the main summer flowering it will flower repeatedly throughout the season. This is an exceptionally vigorous, healthy rose. With its bushy upright shape and profusion of very decorative flowers it would be a key plant in a mixed border. It associates well with blues and violets, and because of its long flowering period there are many opportunities for happy companion planting. Plant it with the campanulas, lavenders and sages of high summer, and the caryopteris, perovskia and sky-blue Salvia uliginosa of late summer. I have seen it looking beautiful in early August surrounded by waves of white Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’). Graham Stuart Thomas “Rose Book

p145. Mrs. John Laing. Bennett, UK 1887. Ancestry includes ‘La Reine’. Hundreds of pink roses have been raised and named since the appearance of this, but none has that bland, old world, uniform tone of pink with its faint lilac flush. Nor have many roses so excellent a constitution, which enables it to thrive in poor sandy soils and to excel in good soils, where its upright habit and stiff flower-stalks provide some of the best blooms anyone could want, on plants up to 6 feet. The flowers are large, fully double, with high outer petals, rather shorter within, opening from an exquisite bud to a well-filled, cupped flower. It is one of the most satisfying roses to grow and cut, and has a glorious scent. Foliage plentiful, of soft, light green, dull and smooth. Nearly thornless. For one who was brought up smelling this rose - and even complaining of its ubiquity in a small garden - this is a conservative estimate of its attractions. Dean Hole was much more lavish: “Not only in vigour, constancy, and abundance, but in form and features, Beauty’s Queen.”

Book  (1995)  
 
p3. I think the rose must hold a high place in our early affection for flowers. I can distinctly remember delighting in the fragrance of the Hybrid Perpetual ‘Mrs. John Laing’at the age of eight; in fact ‘Mrs. Laing’ and ‘Alister Stella Gray’ have been my constant companions since those early days, and never fail to give plentifully of their beauty, year by year.

p139. Origin Britain (Bennett) 1887. Height 4ft / 1.2m. Mrs. John Laing is a splendid Hybrid Perpetual with beautiful shapely flowers. It was bred by Henry Bennett who raised the very first Hybrid Teas in the 1870s. Its buds have tufts of pointed sepals which separate to reveal a rich red, and the half-opened flower is exquisitely scrolled. The flowers in June are double, elegant, pale silver-pink, 3 in / 8 cm across, and perfumed with a rich sweet scent. The centre of the flower remains cupped, while the outer petals curve backwards, and the flower are borne in clusters well aloft on long stems. The foliage is a handsome mid green, rounded and toothed. After the main summer flowering it will flower repeatedly throughout the season. This is an exceptionally vigorous, healthy rose. With its bushy upright shape and profusion of very decorative flowers it would be a key plant in a mixed border. It associates well with blues and violets, and because of its long flowering period there are many opportunities for happy companion planting. Plant it with the campanulas, lavenders and sages of high summer, and the caryopteris, perovskia and sky-blue Salvia uliginosa of late summer. I have seen it looking beautiful in early August surrounded by waves of white Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’). Graham Stuart Thomas “Rose Book

p145. Mrs. John Laing. Bennett, UK 1887. Ancestry includes ‘La Reine’. Hundreds of pink roses have been raised and named since the appearance of this, but none has that bland, old world, uniform tone of pink with its faint lilac flush. Nor have many roses so excellent a constitution, which enables it to thrive in poor sandy soils and to excel in good soils, where its upright habit and stiff flower-stalks provide some of the best blooms anyone could want, on plants up to 6 feet. The flowers are large, fully double, with high outer petals, rather shorter within, opening from an exquisite bud to a well-filled, cupped flower. It is one of the most satisfying roses to grow and cut, and has a glorious scent. Foliage plentiful, of soft, light green, dull and smooth. Nearly thornless. For one who was brought up smelling this rose - and even complaining of its ubiquity in a small garden - this is a conservative estimate of its attractions. Dean Hole was much more lavish: “Not only in vigour, constancy, and abundance, but in form and features, Beauty’s Queen.”

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 145.  
 
Mrs. John Laing Hybrid Perpetual. Bennett (UK) 1887. Description... ancestry includes 'La Reine'... uniform tone of pink with its faint lilac flush... it is one of the most satifying roses to grow and cut, and has a glorious scent.

Book  (Dec 1993)  Page(s) 100, 103.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mrs. John Laing
Page 100: [PHOTO]
Page 103: Hybrid Perpetual
Henry Bennett, 1887
A seedling from François Michelon'
... may be regarded as [Bennett's] finest production... silvery-pink... greyish-green foliage... truly recurrent... strongly scented... one of the most popular roses of its time, it was said that Bennett received $45,000 for the distribution rights in America...

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 295.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mrs. John Laing Hybrid Perpetual. Henry Bennett 1887. Description... large, full, cool pink with just a hint of lilac... features in the breeding of some quite recent roses. Parentage: 'François Michelon' x unknown.

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 398.  
 
Hybrid Perpetual (OGR), medium pink, 1887, 'François Michelon' x Seedling; Bennett. Bud pointed; flowers soft pink, double (45 petals), large; fragrant; foliage light; vigorous, rather dwarf growth; recurrent bloom