Newsletter  (Sep 2013)  Page(s) 12.  
 
[From "California's oldest surviving roses", by Darrell Schramm]
John H. Sievers, of Metropolitan Nursery in San Francisco, introduced a “clear pink striped with carmine pink and blush” tea rose developed from a sport of the rose Papa Gontier. He named the introduction Rainbow; it remains California’s oldest surviving cultivated rose.

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 482.  
 
Rainbow Tea, pink blend, 1889, 'Papa Gontier' sport; Siever. Description.

Book  (Jun 1992)  Page(s) 56.  
 
Rainbow Tea. Siever, 1889. Sport of 'Papa Gontier'. [The author cites information from different sources. The Journal des Roses says: "Originated in California, and resembles its parent in all features, even in color, which is a light yellow at the base, shading upwards to a bright red, while on the exterior of the petals there are silvery stripes."]

Book  (1987)  Page(s) 122.  Includes photo(s).
 
[p40 [Excellent photo]

p122. Article by Jessie Mould, Akaroa.
Twenty six years ago when I decided to grow old fashioned roses in an old fashioned garden round an old fashioned cottage, I set out to gather together as many as possible of the roses that grew on Banks Peninsula when my cottage was young. I asked an elderly friend if she could remember, in her youth, any striped roses in our gardens. “Well,” she replied, “there was ‘Rainbow’.” ‘Rainbow’ - I had never heard of it!. She told me where it grew but, unfortunately, that garden had been turned into a tennis court for a modern holiday home. Modern Roses IV. Yes, there it was. A Tea rose, Sievers, 1889. A ‘Papa Gontier’ sport. Semi double, pink striped carmine. Foliage mildew resistant. Vigorous. ‘Papa Gontier’ is a semi double, bright pink with carmine reverse and fragrant. A Nabonnand Tea of 1883 Nancy Steen, in The Charm of Old Roses, mentions ‘Rainbow’, but briefly. The search was on. The first sighting was in a wonderful garden of Old Roses near Te Aute. Someone budded plants for me but I found ‘Rainbow’ a weakling and eventually lost both plants. Next glimpse was in a Palmerston North garden where it was a family rose, shared between relations. A friend in Dannevirke grew it but it was never the vigorous bush her sister-in-law grew. 1984 Rose Convention Hastings: There were reports of ‘Rainbow in several gardens including one climbing up trees. We visited its owners but, sadly, saw only the deer, no ‘Rainbow’. “There’s a striped rose at Nuhaka, I’d like you to see,” a friend remarked. We went to Nuhaka and there on a vacant section, in the remains of an old garden, grew a beautiful, vigorous bush of ‘Rainbow’ - quite the best specimen I have ever seen. We photographed it, took cuttings and budwood - not too successfully, and I learned later that the magnificent bush had been hacked out by P.E.P. workers. Hawke’s Bay; Manawatu; surely Masons once stocked ‘Rainbow’? 1986 catalogue: yes, there it is again - “‘Rainbow’- Pink with carmine stripes. Fragrant. Vigorous.” Welcome home, to the two ‘Rainbows’ drinking in my washtub this June day. Roll on November!

Website/Catalog  (1948)  Page(s) 21.  
 
Rainbow. Tea. China. Picked up by the Lesters on one of their adventurous journeys through the Mother Lode Country. Origin and history unknown to us. Charming globular blooms, similar to Duchesse de Brabant, start cream color at center and darken to deep crimson at the outer edges....

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 595.  
 
Rainbow (tea) Sievers 1889 [Ding. & Con.] sport of Papa Gontier; pink-yellow, striped and stained carmine-pink and white, base amber-coloured, large, double, floriferous, growth 6/10.

Website/Catalog  (1924)  Page(s) 39.  
 
General List. (104) Rainbow (Tea. Sievers 1889). 2. .....semi-double

Website/Catalog  (1922)  Page(s) 26.  
 
(90) Rainbow (T) (Sievers) 2. A sport from Papa Gontier, and possessing all that variety's qualities. Pink striped carmine. Mildew proof.

Magazine  (1918)  Page(s) 259.  
 
"Mildew-Resistant Roses: With Some Suggestions as to Increasing Their Number" By Walter Easlea, F.R.H.S.
[Read July 17, 1917; Mr. W. H. Divers, V.M.H., in the Chair.]
Teas.
Rainbow.

Website/Catalog  (1914)  Page(s) 15.  
 
Tea Roses. Rainbow. Light pink striped, Form, blooming and colour like Papa Gontier