(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 8.  Includes photo(s).
 
Pierre Bernaix is credited with introducing a Hybrid Tea named ‘Ellen Willmott’ in 1898. It was described as having large pale pink full blooms with a blush of salmon at the base of the petals, thick foliage, as lacking in fragrance. Numerous sources pronounced it a “strong grower.” Capt. George Thomas, Jr., who dedicated himself to buying almost all the new varieties coming out of Europe, considered it one of the best sixteen all-around roses for the MidAtlantic region of the U.S. His evaluation was based on his observation that it didn’t ball in wet weather and on its summer and fall repeat-flowering characteristics.

(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 9.  Includes photo(s).
 
Two years after Ms. Willmott’s death, the hybridizer of ‘Dainty Bess,’ William Edward Basil Archer, introduced another single Hybrid Tea he named ‘Ellen Willmott.’ A cross between ‘Dainty Bess’ and ‘Lady Hillingdon’ (an unusually hardy apricot yellow Tea), the Archer version of ‘Ellen Willmott’ is creamy white touched by a hint of lemon yellow with a pale frosting of pink around the edges of the petals, especially in cooler weather. Its stamens consist of red filaments topped with golden anthers, and are a prominent and attractive feature as evidenced by a comment recorded by Daphne Filiberti, “If roses had eyelashes this one could certainly bat her eyes.” The wavy petals occasionally have scalloped edges. In my garden it is upright growing with long cutting stems

(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 8.  Includes photo(s).
 
George Paul .....introduced ‘Miss Willmott,’ a coppery-red five-petaled rose. Released to commerce in 1899, sources suggest it was a seedling out of the similarly colored Tea-Noisette ‘L’Ideal,’ and thus it was classified as a Tea. Graham Stuart Thomas compared it in in flower form and size to the compact growing crimson China ‘Miss Lowe’s Variety.’ The only known illustration of ‘Miss Willmott’ appears in part five of The Genus Rosa

(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 9.  Includes photo(s).
 
In 1917 Sam McGredy (II) released a Hybrid Tea he named ‘Miss Willmott.’ It, along with a number of others, was a recipient of a gold medal from the National Rose Society in the summer of 1916. ‘Miss Willmott’s exhibition blooms were white to pale yellow with edges lightly flushed pink. Some sources claimed it was highly fragrant while others reported only moderate fragrance. It received acclaim as a good exhibition and garden rose in Britain, Australia, and America. National Rose Annual editor Courtney Page wrote, “There is a particular charm about this Rose, and I am inclined to think that it will rank as one of the raiser’s best efforts.”ix The 1929 Bobbink & Adkins catalog boldly stated, “This is the almost perfect white rose.”

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Paeonia obovata var. willmottiae This woodland species of peony grew from seed collected by E. H. Wilson in the Hubei (formerly Hupeh) province of China in 1900. Its white single flowers, appearing in late spring, are offset by beautiful maroon red filaments and yellow stamens. The plant will grow to 2’ (.6 m) in height and prefers rich soil. If flowers are not removed seed pods will form, splitting open on maturity to reveal startling blue black seeds. 

(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 8-9.  Includes photo(s).
 
Two roses follow that were grown in Ms. Willmott’s Warley garden and were first described by her in The Genus Rosa. She indicates in the work that Rosa blanda var. Willmottiana originated from seeds sent from America years earlier to John Baker at Kew. Its coral-pink single flowers and compact habit of growth were thought by Mr. Baker to be distinctive enough to warrant naming. It doesn’t appear to have been grown by anyone other than Ms. Willmott.

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One lot of seeds was from a “wild” rose found on China’s western frontier near Tibet. A resulting seedling bloomed for the first time in 1907 and was named Rosa willmottiae. ..... R. willmottiae is still in commerce. The smallish single flowers range from rose-purple to lilac-pink. Growing to roughly six to eight feet in height and width with an arching habit, the petite foliage is an attractive gray-green.

(Aug 2021)  Page(s) 9.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa x warleyensis was also raised from seeds that had been sent to Kew years earlier. In her comments she described it as a hybrid between R. rugosa and R. blanda, having characteristics of both. The note that it was “very free flowering” leads one to believe it had R. rugosa’s remontancy. Some botanists reversed the parentage suggesting R. blanda was the seed parent. [Ed. note; Baker gives two German botanical sources that suggest an earlier synonym may be R. rugosa x R. virginiana. The 1893 Koehne source has no botanical description and Koehne actually states that he had not seen the rose. The 1902 Ascherson source merely quotes Koehne.]