I might recognize your face (I almost NEVER forget a face!) but without that, a name I'd recognize or some other characteristic detail, it's difficult to pull the information out of the "muck'! What was your research project about? Perhaps that might jog the right file from the pile. Those sales were a real blast! Generating the plants each year in anticipation of them was great fun, then getting to kibitz with the folks looking for special desires iced that cake. I do remember things such as the eight year old boy from Britain who sought a brown rose. I'd imported all the brown, gray and green roses in the Harkness and LeGrice catalogs and made sure they were available for the sales. I asked him if he was British, then showed him what we had and explained they were also British. I suggested he bring his mom back with him, which he dutifully did. They were both excited and couldn't decide which they had to have, so one of each went home with them. There was a gentleman who had a yellow house with a low brick planter across a portion of the facade. He sought a dozen plants of a suitable rose to grow in that planter. I asked him what he thought of a violet colored one then showed him the eleven plants of Mr. Bluebird we had and told him how easily it rooted and how to do it. He bought those eleven Mr. Bluebirds for the planter. The next year, he deliberately sought me out to make sure he told me how wonderful his TWELVE Mr. Bluebird roses looked in his planter. He rooted the required twelfth and enjoyed the whole experience. The sales were real feeding frenzies, but great fun!

You might also look at the climber, Sympathie. It has created some very good, very healthy roses and has always been spectacular each time I've encountered it in gardens here. It might be more difficult to find these days, but I think you might enjoy it if you luck out with one.