Article (newspaper)  (Sep 2013)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: I have a rose here that continually amazes me with its beauty. Yes, yes, you’ve heard this refrain before I know, but I see beyond the Diamond Jubilee rose blooming in front of me and I think of its famous parent ‘Maréchal Niel’. Gene Boerner, the director of the breeding programme at Jackson & Perkins in America bred it and the rose was named to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee or 75th anniversary of the company. Boerner in 1947 took an entirely different path with this one and put pollen of the new 1935 strong yellow ‘Feu Pernet-Ducher', on to the then 85-year-old ‘Maréchal Niel’ from 1864. What foresight to use such an old rose! ‘Maréchal Niel’ had been the darling of the 1800’s and it grew in heated glasshouses in England where the main stem was trained up and then pruned just before roof height. Two lateral branches then grew from either side and then off them, canes grew up which were tied to the rafters. This tea-noisette had nodding blooms that hung down so the whole ceiling was covered with great golden voluptuous orbs. No wonder it was loved. When I look at its child, ‘Diamond Jubilee’, I see its history and lineage in every lovely petal. Margaret Dixon, out near the sand dunes, gave me cuttings of ‘Diamond Jubilee’ in 2002 and it has grown well, although last year it did develop a fair bit of dieback. The buds are said to be amongst the ugliest ones of any rose, but I can’t see that. I admit they are not tall and slim, instead being rather squat, but nothing in nature is ugly to me. The 10cm flowers open slowly and last a long time so it would make a good picking rose. They are borne mostly singly on long, stiff stems with up to 30 thick petals of deep cream or buff. Deeper colours appear on the reverse so that the bloom appears to have a heart of light apricot, sometimes blushed with pink. They are wonderful colours. ‘Diamond Jubilee’ is a fragrant rose, but the blooms do ball a little in wet weather. The wood is thicker than the norm and a smooth, pleasant brown colour which tones in well with the blooms. The new foliage is an attractive copper-brown. My bush grows about 1m high and is at its best when the weather really warms up. It was a variable bloom in the USA, sometimes said to have the loveliness of an orchid and at other times, the coarseness of a cabbage. Because of its susceptibility to thrips and Japanese beetles, and the Americans repeating ad infinitum the word "ugly” for the bud, it only just scraped up a national rating there of 6.7 (out of a possible 10.0). And yet in Australia fifty years after it was released, it was voted the 4th most favourite rose. We thought it was one of the all-time classic hybrid teas and it won many awards and was exhibited often, many times winning Best Rose in the Show and Best Bunch in the Show. Here in Northcliffe, I find it utterly exquisite. Thanks Margaret.

Book  (1999)  Page(s) 63.  
 
Clive Boote. ‘Diamond Jubilee’ Fifty Years on. ….Feeling that this new release would perform well under Australian conditions I asked a leading rose nurseryman, the late Allen Brundrett, if he could import budwood of this new variety. He did so in 1949, and I duly received a plant on Indica major understock in late June, 1951. ….the new ‘Diamond Jubilee’ was uprooted and given to my brother-in-law…where it thrived for many years becoming his “pride and joy:” …. In 1982 I took cuttings from this, at the time, forty one year old monster of a bush at least 8ft tall and 6 ft wide, placing each in a 32cm plastic pot of striking soil where they all “struck”. ….In the autumn of 1996 I counted 124 blooms in varying stages of opening with many more buds to follow. ….still thriving.

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 198.  Includes photo(s).
 
Diamond Jubilee Large-flowered/Hybrid Tea. Boerner (USA) 1947. Description... buff yellow, double, cupped flowers... Royal National Rose Society Trial Ground Certificate 1952.

Book  (1996)  Page(s) 87.  
 
David Ruston. Australia’s Favourite Rose. the results of voting for Australia’s Favourite Rose are as follows:
‘Mr. Lincoln’ First 42 points (5 states).
‘Joyfulness’ second. 41 points (6 states)
‘Peter Frankenfeld’ Third. 32 points (5 states)
‘Diamond Jubilee’. Fourth. 26 points (3 states)……

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 145.  Includes photo(s).
 
Diamond Jubilee Large-flowered. Eugene Boerner 1947. Introduced by Jackson & Perkins the year in which they celebrated sixty years of growing roses. Parentage: 'Maréchal Niel' x 'Feu Pernet Ducher'. Description... The color varies with the season... yellow, cream, apricot, blushed with pink...

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 131.  
 
Diamond Jubilee Hybrid Tea, light yellow, 1947, 'Maréchal Niel' x 'Feu Pernet-Ducher'; Boerner. Description.

Book  (Feb 1993)  Page(s) 181.  
 
Diamond Jubilee Large-flowered hybrid tea. Parentage: 'Maréchal Niel' x 'Feu Pernet-Ducher'. USA 1947. Description and cultivation. Flowers: creamy buff coloured with apricot shadings... one of the classic hybrid tea roses and therefore used often as an exhibition plant.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 153.  Includes photo(s).
 
A large, bushy Hybrid Tea. Raised by Boerner and introduced by Jackson & Perkins (USA) 1947. ('Maréchal Niel' x 'Feu Pernet-Ducher') Flowers continuously.

Book  (1992)  Page(s) 242.  
 
Diamond Jubilee toasted Jackson & Perkins' 75th Anniversary.

Book  (1992)  Page(s) 285.  
 
Diamond Jubilee Boerner 1947. Description... buff yellow to apricot flowers... This rose was once classified as a floribunda, and it has the blooming characteristics of one, as it usually produces its flowers in sprays...