39 Rose breeders

David Charles Henshaw Austin was a British rose breeder and writer who lived in Shropshire, England. His emphasis was on breeding roses with the character and fragrance of old garden roses but with the repeat-flowering ability and wide colour range of modern roses such as hybrid teas and floribundas.

Peter Beales MBE, was a British rosarian, author and lecturer. Beales was considered one of the leading experts on roses, especially species and classic roses, preserving many old varieties and introducing 70 new cultivars during his lifetime. He served as the President of the Royal National Rose Society from 2003 until 2005. Speaking of his contribution on BBC news, Alan Titchmarsh said: "It was the old and classic roses that Peter loved best and by growing them and making them available to a wider range of gardeners, he did tremendous work in terms of our rose-growing heritage."

Henry Bennett (1823–1890) was a British pioneer in the systematic, deliberate hybridisation of roses. The tenant farmer from Stapleford in the Wylye Valley near Salisbury, Wiltshire applied the systematic breeding used in raising cattle to roses, and emphasised that his roses were raised scientifically from known parents. His hybrids, between Teas and Hybrid Perpetuals, were called Pedigree Hybrids of the Tea Rose. He is considered the father of the Hybrid Tea class. Important cultivars are the Hybrid Tea 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam' (1882), a parent of 'Mme. Caroline Testout' and the Hybrid Perpetuals 'Captain Hayward' (1893) and 'Mrs. John Laing' (1887).

Johannes Böttner was a German horticulturist. He was born in Greußen, Germany and died in Frankfurt an der Oder. He created new cultivars of roses and vegetables: asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb.

Griffith J. Buck was an American professor and a horticulturist. He taught horticulture at Iowa State University and he created over 80 named cultivars of the rose, all of which are capable of withstanding temperatures of -20 °F and need no pesticides or fungicides to thrive.

Tom Carruth is an American award-winning rose hybridizer, who has created more than 100 rose varieties, including eleven All-America Rose Selections (AARS). He is currently the E.L. and Ruth B. Shannon Curator of the Rose Collections at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

Alister Clark (1864–1949) was the best known and most influential Australian rose breeder. His roses were the most widely planted in Australia between the World Wars and made an enduring difference to the appearance of Australian cities. His experiments hybridising Rosa gigantea were in world class and have never been surpassed.

Pierre Antoine Marie Crozy (1831-1903) [also called Crozy aîné—French for "elder"] was a nineteenth-century French rose breeder. He was a partner in the French firm, Avoux & Crozy, La Guillotière, Lyon, actively breeding roses from the 1850s to 1860s. From the early 1860s until his death in 1903 he was also hybridising Canna species, and introduced many hundreds of new cultivars. The largest Canna Group today is still called the Crozy Group, and many of those cultivars are still being raised.

Dickson Nurseries is a family owned rose nursery in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Pedro Dot (1885–1976) was a Spanish rose breeder.

Francis Dubreuil (1842–1916) was a French rose breeder and nursery owner from Lyon, France. He was the second generation of the Meilland family to breed and grow roses. He introduced over 64 rose varieties during his career and was the founding member of the French Society of rose growers.

Everard Francis Aguilar was a Jamaican horticulturist, stamp dealer, and philatelist.

Olive Fitzhardinge (1881–1956) was an Australian rose breeder, the first to patent her work. Her four surviving roses are held in Australian collections. Her roses were well received in the 1930s but after the Second World War favoured styles of roses changed significantly.

Rudolf Geschwind (born 29 August 1829 in Hředle, Bohemia, Austro-Hungary - today Czech Republic – died 30 August 1910 in Karpfen, Austro-Hungary, Krupina, today Slovakia was a German Austrian rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars.

Jean-Marie Gonod (1827–1888) was a French rosarian.

Jules Léopold Gravereaux was a French rosarian. He was a top executive at the department store Le Bon Marché and in 1892 purchased land at the village of L'Haÿ about 8 km south of Paris. There, he built the first ever complete garden devoted exclusively to roses, the Roseraie de L'Haÿ. It became so popular that a few years later the village changed its name to L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Jean-Baptiste André Guillot was a nurseryman and rose hybridizer in Lyon, France, son of nurseryman and rose hybridizer Jean-Baptiste Guillot. Jean-Baptiste the son is known as Guillot Fils, and Jean-Baptiste the elder as Guillot Père. Guillot Fils is best known as the creator of the rose 'La France', considered to be the first hybrid tea rose, introduced in 1867.

Harkness Roses are rose breeders based at Hitchin, Hertfordshire in England. The nursery was founded in 1879 in Yorkshire by brothers, John and Robert Harkness. Early varieties include 'Mrs. Harkness', 'Frensham' and 'Ena Harkness'. Jack Harkness, grandson of original co-founder, John Harkness, established the first rose hybridization program at the company in 1962, developing vigorous, healthy roses by hybridizing from wild rose species. His most successful new rose cultivars include: 'Amber Queen', 'Belmonte' and 'Anne Harkness'.

Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet was a British floriculturist and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1818.

Jackson & Perkins Company, commonly known as Jackson & Perkins, is an American company that cultivates roses. Since its founding in 1872, Jackson & Perkins has grown to sell other products including live plants, garden accessories, holiday gifts, and home decor.

James Cocker and Sons is a nursery business located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Founded in 1841 by James Cocker, the company has been owned by the Cocker family for five generations. During the last seventy years, the nursery has introduced more than 100 new rose varieties and holds Royal Warrants from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and the Prince of Wales. James Cocker & Sons is best known for creating the hybrid tea rose, 'Silver Jubilee', the popular rose named in honour of the Queen's 25 years reign. The rose was developed by Alec Cocker, and introduced by his wife, Anne Cocker, after Alec's death in 1977. Anne continued to breed roses and manage the company until she was in her eighties. She won multiple horticultural awards and was internationally recognized for her work.

Hermann Kiese (1865–1923) was a German rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars. Born in Vieselbach, Thuringia, Germany on May 8, 1865. He worked for 22 years as gardener for the Johann Christoff Schmidt rosarium in Erfurt. In 1904 he started his own nursery in Vieselbach near Erfurt. Hermann Kiese is one of the founders of the Verein Deutscher Rosenfreunde – VDR. From 1911 to 1916 he was chief editor of the magazine Rosen-Zeitung. Consequently, he shared this responsibility with Friedrich Ries till 1919.

Peter Lambert was a German rose breeder from Trier.

Louis Lens, son of rose-breeder Victor Lens,, was a rose breeder in the Benelux countries.

Antoine '("Papa") Meilland (1884–1971) was a French rose grower and co-founder of Meilland International, a large rose growing company in southern France. As a young man, he worked as a nursery assistant for rose breeder, Francis Dubreuil. Antoine married, Dubreuil's daughter, Claudia in 1909 and their son Francis, was born in 1912. Antoine was drafted into the French army when France entered the War in 1914, and Claudia managed the nursery in his absence. Dubreuil died in 1916. When Antoine returned to Lyon, after the war, he and Claudia took over the management of the family business.

Corinne Lawton Mackall Melchers was an American painter, humanitarian, and gardener. She was the wife of painter Gari Melchers and maintained their Belmont estate after his death. As a gardener and rosarian, Melchers was an early supporter of the Historic Garden Week and heavily involved with the restoration of the grounds of the Kenmore plantation. She led humanitarian efforts during World War I and World War II. Melchers initiated the creation of the Stafford County Health Association and the hiring of the first Stafford County nurse. Melchers helped establish the Mary Washington Hospital and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She served on the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Ralph S. Moore was a rose breeder and discoverer born to Orlando Moore in Visalia, California.

Louis Claude Noisette was a French botanist and agronomist, son of Joseph Noisette, gardener to the Count of Provence, the future Louis XVIII.

Patrick Grant was a Scottish-born Australian rose breeder. Two of his roses were world-famous at his death, though to some extent superseded since.

James Plaisted Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance, was a noted British judge and rose breeder who was also a proponent of the Baconian theory that the works usually attributed to William Shakespeare were in fact written by Francis Bacon.

Joseph Pernet-Ducher (1859–1928) was a French rose breeder who is recognized for his work in the development of the modern Hybrid tea rose. Pernet and his father, Jean Pernet, worked together in the 1880s to develop the first yellow remontant Hybrid perpetual rose. After Jean Pernet's death in 1896, Pernet-Ducher continued their work and later introduced 'Soleil d'Or' in 1900. 'Soleil d'Or' initiated a new class of tea roses known as Pernetiana roses and is considered the ancestor of the modern Hybrid tea rose.

Jean Claude Pernet, père was a French nurseryman and rose breeder, best known for his Hybrid Perpetual and Bourbon rose varieties. His most popular roses include 'Baroness Rothschild' (1868), 'Merveille de Lyon (1882), and 'Triomphe des Noisettes' (1887). His father, Claude Pernet, and son Joseph Pernet-Ducher were also influential nursery owners and rose breeders.

Joseph Rambaux (1820–1878) was a gardener and rose breeder from Lyon, France. He is considered the patriarch of the legenday Meilland family, award-winning rose breeders for six generations. The rose variety he is best remembered for is the Polyantha, 'Perle d'Or', introduced in France in 1883. 'Perle d'Or' was granted several awards, including the Lyon Gold Medal in 1883, and the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.

Frank Riethmuller (1884–1965) was an Australian rose breeder.

Rosen Tantau is a rose breeding company located at Uetersen, in the District of Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

George Schoener, or Georg Schöner was a German-born Roman Catholic priest who became known in the United States as the "Padre of the Roses" for his experiments in rose breeding, especially in the use of wild species. Only two of his creations survive today, however: 'Arrilaga' and 'Schoener's Nutkana'.

Avoid confusion with Seizo Suzuki (鈴木清三), classical musician (oboist) 1922-2008

George Clifford Thomas Jr. was an American golf course architect, botanist, and author. He designed the original course at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and more than twenty courses in California, including Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.

Walter Van Fleet was an American physician, horticulturalist, botanist, ornithologist and all around naturalist.