'Moore, Ralph S.' Photos

Ralph Moore. The world's most famous “Miniature Rose Hybridizer.” Many rosarians refer to him as : “Mr. MINIATURE” This photo was taken in 1989 on one of my five visits to Ralph Moore in the late eighties and early nineties. Ralph is on the right, with my rose friend Doug Fields from the Seattle/Tacoma area on the left. Doug and I were also visiting the rose fields near Wasco, CA on the same trip, where you see me in between several rows of ‘Canadian White Star’® plants growing right up to my shoulders. Every time I visited Ralph he was so generous and helpful and spent hours with me going through the greenhouses, showing me many of his promising seedlings and giving me the names of his best (often unnamed) seed parents. He never had secrets about anything and when asking him questions or asking for advise in the field of minis, he would never give a short answer but go into great detail every time. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit and spend hours with Ralph on every one of my five trips to California and I am thankful for all his good advise. Incidently, I should not forget to mention that Ralph Moore’s ‘Rise ’n’ Shine’, 1977 (ARS Award of excellence, 1978; Elected to Hall of Fame, 1999) was the first mini I have grown and used in my miniature breeding program. Ralph told me that he was not using it any more because it was producing too many white seedlings. He was right, but it was the only mini I had at the time. Luckily, it was the perfect combination with my ‘MANpurple’ as pollen parent to produce my first mini, ’Rubies ’n’ Pearls’ which had the color I was seeking for 15 long years. Then ‘Rubies ’n’ Pearls’ gave me ‘Glowing Amber’, my BEST ROSE ever produced in 32 years of rosebreeding. [ See ‘MANpurple Story’ ] Last but not least, I should also mention that when I first met Ralph in 1986 he was most helpful in finding and recommending contract rose growers in California. I needed to find a grower for my H.T. ‘Canadian White Star’®, as I already had orders for several thousand plants. I am very thankful to Ralph for all the good advise he has given me over the years. All of us, rosarians and hybridizers alike, should appreciate what he has contributed to the “World of Roses” (not only to “Miniatures”) in over 60 years of rose breeding. George Mander May 2001