Presidential Rose

OK, how many roses are named for Presidents?

The tradition goes way, way back to the mid-1800's.  By my calculations, the first rose bred and named for a president was in 1855, with the appearance of "General Washington." However, it's hard to figure why some presidents received this honor and others didn't.  Or maybe our view of history has changed.

The rose pictured here -- John F. Kennedy -- is the only presidential rose that's not red or shades of pink.  Why this one is white is anyone's guess.  JFK is a large-flowered, very fragrant hybrid tea tree rose with blooms of white and near-white petals, bred in 1965 by Gene Boerner and introduced by Jackson and Perkins.  It's disease-resistant, but requires winter protection if the temperature drops below freezing. 

Anyway, who would like to take the test and guess which presidents received the rose honor and which didn't?

The following presidents -- true or false -- have a rose named in their honor:

George Washington       
John Adams
James Madison               
Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson          
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses Grant         
William McKinley         
Theodore Roosevelt
Wm Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson    
Calvin Coolidge            
Herbert Hoover            
Franklin Roosevelt      
Dwight Eisenhower      
Lyndon Johnson         
Richard Nixon            
Jimmy Carter            
George Bush I            
Ronald Reagan            
Bill Clinton                  
George Bush II          

Answers in the next post.

(photo: courtesy Jackson & Perkins)