The Garden Guy wasn’t stopping to smell the roses but instead stared in awe at the form of a rosebud. Even though this new rose variety called Suñorita is considered a miniflora, the bud looked like a classic tiny hybrid tea. Then — out of nowhere as if to confirm my admiration — a butterfly landed on top and proceeded to investigate.
The New Year will recognize Suñorita as the American Rose Society’s 2022 Winner of the Award of Excellence. It was 49 years ago that the American Rose Society took a bold step to form the Award of Excellence to recognize new miniature and miniflora rose varieties of superior quality and marked distinctions.
I say bold because in 1973, other classes of roses like the hybrid tea, floribunda and grandiflora were at their pinnacle of popularity. Who could have imagined the impact that these new miniature, and miniflora varieties would have in the landscape? Fortunately, some astute rosarians and ARS board members had a vision.
