You know that feeling you get when something happens that makes you say, "I knew I was right !" ?

That's the reaction I had when I read Phil Schorr's article about 'Nicole' and 'Hannah Gordon' in the February [2007] issue of the American Rose ("Koricole, Korweiso, Kortabris, Oh My!").

In 1984, Larry and I joined the ARS and we imported roses from Kordes, Harkness, and C&K Jones. We got plants of both 'Hannah Gordon' and 'Nicole' from Kordes, and they were easily distinguishable from each other.… Our 'Hannah Gordon' grew tall, up and over the 6-foot fence; it could easily have been classed as a shrub rather than a floribunda. The blooms were white with bright red borders to the petals; I'd have termed it "red blend" rather than the ARS "pink blend". Our 'Nicole' grew short, about 30" or so, definitely a floribunda. The blooms were a white/pale pink blend - easy to understand its classification as "white". In 1986, we joined the Fort Vancouver Rose Society, and our roses came out of quarantine just in time for us to begin exhibiting them.…. 'Hannah Gordon' won several trophies over the next few years. 'Nicole's main claim to fame for us was that it was one of the roses we included in our Mt. St, Helens challenge entry of "5 Stems of White Roses" (along with a R. Viridiflora, a 'Sheila McQueen', and two other non-"white" blooms).

About the same time, Larry's brother Lee got 'Tabris', probably from Hortico. He tried to convince us that 'Tabris' and 'Hannah Gordon' were different, but we just couldn't see it. Occasionally, I would see 'Tabris' or 'Raspberry Ice' at a rose show, and I finally decided that somehow, they just had to be the same rose. Then, I started seeing a rose I knew was 'Hannah Gordon', but it was exhibited as 'Nicole'. As an arrangement judge, I didn't often get to judge the floribunda classes. When I did, I always noted on the entry card that the rose might be 'Hannah Gordon' and not 'Nicole', but it was a losing battle.

As Phil's article points out, the rose most people now grow as 'Nicole' is actually 'Hannah Gordon'. Jackson & Perkins was the only US nursery licensed by Kordes to sell both roses, but they chose not to do so (they may want to re-think this). Other nurseries which sold these roses got budwood from a grower, and somehow, it got mixed up. They sold 'Nicole' as 'Nicole' and they sold 'Hannah Gordon' as 'Nicole', but usually not from the same nursery. Only a few nurseries sold 'Hannah Gordon'. It turns out that both 'Tabris' and 'Raspberry Ice' are actually 'Hannah Gordon' as well, these simply being the names given to that rose by Dutch and New Zealand growers, respectively.

Bob Martin's article in the same issue of the American Rose lists the top exhibition roses for the past 5-year and 10-year periods. 'Nicole' tops the list for floribundas, and 'Hannah Gordon' is down at 18th (for the 5-year ranking) and in a tie for 13th (for the 10-year ranking). But, if we apply what we now know about these two roses (and 'Tabris' and 'Raspberry Ice' as well), this ranking should be turned around. Going by my own exhibiting experience, as well as seeing roses on the trophy stands, I think we could safely say that at least 75% of the first-place wins attributed to 'Nicole' truly belong to 'Hannah Gordon'. Thus, 'Hannah Gordon' is the top exhibition floribunda in the US over the past 5- and 10-year periods.

What this means to you as an exhibitor is that you must decide which rose you have. If it's the "vigorous plant with blooms of roughly 20 petals, and with strong pink to red petal edges", you have 'Hannah Gordon' and you should exhibit it as such. If it's the "more compact plant with blooms of roughly 35 petals, and with softer pink petals edges", you do have 'Nicole', and should exhibit it as such. To complicate the matter even more, if it's the "vigorous plant with blooms of roughly 20 petals, but with shrimp pink petals edges", it's John Sitton's 'Glenda Marie', and should be exhibited as such.

A couple of other distinctions between the two:

1. Dry some blooms from your plant. I dried blooms from both roses using a silica gel/microwave method. I cut the roses on the same day and at the same bloom stage. They looked almost identical before drying, except for the color edges. After drying, the 'Hannah Gordon' blooms retained their pink edging, while the 'Nicole' blooms ended up with a light purple edging.

2. Look at the older blooms. Older 'Nicole' blooms turn white and open out fairly flat, exposing the centers. 'Hannah Gordon' retains the pink edging, and, if anything, the petals ruffle even more, going off in all directions.