(19 Oct 1996)  
 
Hector Deane was our family surgeon. He took out my tonsils, in bed, at home, when I was circa 4 yrs old. I remember it vividly as my woolly stuffed bunny rabbit wet the bed that night, and I got blamed for it:)

Hector lived to a ripe old age, and always boasted about his rose. I didn't dare tell him he was a so-and-so for rust. He had a fantastic perfume.

Sam McGredy 
 

(11 May 1996)  
 
The most neglected rose of mine in rosebreeding has to be Paddy Stephens. 
It has great potential.

Sam McGredy 
 

(17 May 1996)  
 
mjpi...@ix.netcom.com(Judy Pineda ) wrote:
>
>"At first sight, "Paddy Stevens" looks to be a straight coral-rose, (clip)
>So Sam, it sounds lovely.  Has it been introduced in America yet?
>*****************************************************************
No, nor will it be. The flower goes absolutely tiny in your heat.
-- 
Sam McGredy 
 

(16 Feb 1999)  
 
I have nothing against the original intentions of David Austin, i.e. to produce modern roses with old-fashioned looking blooms. In fact I very much like a number of his releases. What I dislike is how they have become a sort of cult following. I think it rather sad and narrow-minded that people will devote their entire rose garden to Austin cultivars - or to roses from any one breeder for that matter!. I also feel that Austin roses are now all becoming much of a muchness - there really is nothing novel anymore, yet people continue to buy them as though they are obsessed. What is very interesting here in New Zealand is that a local breeder, Bob Matthews, is focussing on producing Austin-like blooms on far more compact floribundas. He has produced an exceptional white named <b>Pure Magic</b> by crossing Sexy Rexy with Graham Thomas; and a very nice apricot bred from Abraham Darby. This line of thinking has a great future in my opinion.
--
Doug Bone
Auckland Regional Botanic Gardens
Aotearoa - New Zealand