I met Jyl and Alan Atmore, of Santa Paula, CA, in the mid 1990's, when they visited a Ventura Co. Rose Society rose show at the Ventura Co. Museum of History and Art. I was "sitting" the information table.

They told me that they had a "family" rose, which had been brought from Placerville to Ventura County in 1869. It was still growing at the family home, a "wedding cake" Victorian in Santa Paula, built by their ancestors, Richard and Ambrosia Atmore. They wondered if we could tell them what it was. I cautioned them that there were many, many roses which simply cannot be matched to a historic identity, but said that I was very interested.

The next day, they returned to the show, bringing with them a big armload of frothy lemon-white blooms.

I caught my breath, and flipped open my copy of "Landscaping With Antique Roses" (Druit/Shoup, 1992) to page 161, for a perfect match to the roses they were carrying. 'Lamarque' -- (1830).

IF ARE is still using the same clone of 'Lamarque' that they had in the 1990's, it's a very good match (at least in appearance) to the Atmore family's rose.

The REALLY good news is that the "Atmore 'Lamarque'" has been ELISA tested (late 2015; per. Dr. Manners) and is found to be free of the viruses that tests for -- the ones most-commonly afflicting U.S. roses. That fact substantiates the oral history we have for this clone of 'Lamarque'.