Alister Clark

Alister Clark (1864–1949) was an Australian rose breeder.

Contents

Biography

Alister Clark was the son of an immigrant Scottish tenant farmer who did well in Australia, leaving his family with several outback cattle stations and “Glenara,” a big property in a valley north of Melbourne. His children knew Europe well and Alister was educated at Cambridge. He married a New Zealander with a fortune and never worked, giving himself over to the business of being a gentleman: huntsman, polo player, racehorse owner, golfer, photographer — and rose breeder.[1] Typically he began his rose breeding by ordering roses from Paul & Son in England; later they came from Nabonnand on the Riviera. He released about 150 roses between 1912 and his death, usually through the garden and sporting clubs he gave the royalties to.[2]

Clark was also a keen breeder of daffodils.

Roses

Clark's main aim as a breeder was to produce roses that were hardy in the hot dry climate of southern Australia. To this end he made original use of crosses to Rosa gigantea, which produced in the second generation some of the toughest and most floriferous roses ever bred: 'Lorraine Lee' of 1924 and 'Nancy Hayward' of 1937 have never lost public favour.[3] 'Black Boy' of 1919, 'Lady Huntingfield' of 1937 (named after the State Governor's wife) and 'Squatter's Dream' of 1923 (named after a racehorse) are outstanding roses which have been unknown or underrated outside Australia.[4]

Soon after the First World War Clark's experiments with Rosa gigantea petered out. He turned to creating what are essentially hybrid teas in an astonishing variety of forms: low shrubs ('Mab Grimwade'), high bushes ('Editor Stewart'), rampant climbers ('Mrs Richard Turnbull'), pillar roses ('Princeps'), roses for hedges ('Sunny South'), ramblers ('Gladsome') and dwarves ('Borderer'). He seems to have had no breeding plan beyond making as many crosses as possible at “Glenara” and seeing what came up. His grounds became “a vast nursery for the propagation of roses and daffodils.”[5] Roses should be tested in the climate they were meant for, he said. And he insisted that a seedling (like a yearling) takes three years to show what it can do.[6]

Perhaps it is surprising for a man who wore a bowler hat and wing collar to the races in 1920, but his roses have the bright pinks, creamy apricots and hard reds of between-the-wars taste. It was the great age of the single or near-single rose; few can compare with 'Nancy Hayward,' 'Cicely Lascelles' or 'Squatter's Dream.' It is difficult to tell how his taste adjusted to the 1940s since 30 of the 40 roses he produced then have been lost, casualties of war. In any case, his roses of all periods have an endearing irregularity which holds our interest.

Clark's roses, with some exceptions, went out of fashion after his death. Others were lost or never released. But many have been revived since the 1990s by such enthusiasts as Susan Irvine and the nurseryman John Nieuwesteeg.[7]

Rose names and dedications

Most of Clark's roses are named after and for women he knew, more often than not from landed families ('Cicely Lascelles,' 'Kitty Kininmonth'). Most women in his own family and all wives of Victorian Governors and Australian Governors-General had roses named for them. Lady Gowrie already had one, so hers had to be called 'Zara Hore-Ruthven.' Very few men received roses, all of them rose people in one way or another. Far more are devoted to racehorses: 'Squatter's Dream,' 'Tonner's Fancy,' 'Flying Colours' and so on. Trailing the field are descriptive titles: 'Sunny South,' 'Borderer' and 'Daydream.' 'Scorcher' and 'Billy Boiler' were slang for a hot day.[8]

Where Alister Clark roses can be seen

Public gardens in suitable climates beyond Australia contain a tiny number of his roses. The Monserrate Palace garden at Sintra outside Lisbon in Portugal has three. Sangerhausen in north Germany has a small selection of Clark roses including two which would otherwise be extinct. Many of his roses were popular in the US between the wars and, after a long lapse, interest has revived. So far this is only partly shown in public collections. The Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, California have had 55 and are said to be restoring their collection. Roses Unlimited of Laurens, South Carolina has 18 Clark roses on its list. 'Borderer' is said to be the Clark rose most popular with American gardeners.[9] A few European collectors of hybrid gigantea crosses have Clark examples in private gardens. Apart from those, interested rose lovers must make their way to Australia.

Sixty-seven of his available roses are collected at the Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden in Bulla, the township next to “Glenara.”[10] This collection should not be confused with that of the same name in the Botanic Gardens in St Kilda, a Melbourne suburb, which has about five Clark varieties, unlabelled.

The National Rose Collection created by David Ruston at Renmark in South Australia has nearly all known Clark climbers, at least.[11]

The Morwell Centenary Rose Garden in Gippsland lists 38, including the often-confused 'Black Boy' and 'Countess of Stradbroke.'[12] Almost as big and closer to Melbourne is the informal collection at The Perfumed Garden and Roseraie at Mount Martha; very well presented.

In Canberra the centre of the Rex Hazlewood Rose Garden at Old Parliament House has 26 Alister Clark roses, including such relative rarities as 'Mrs Albert Nash.'[13]
The Victoria State Rose Garden at Werribee Park has a good collection, especially of his gigantea climbers.

The Geelong Botanic Gardens have 'Borderer,' 'Lady Huntingfield,' Mrs Maud Alston,' 'Mrs Fred Danks' and 'Squatter's Dream.'

The Adelaide Botanical Garden, South Australia has some, including 'Amy Johnson.'

The Kodja Place Roze Maze at Kojonup, Western Australia uses hedges of Australian roses, including 32 by Alister Clark.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ TR Garnett, Man of Roses: Alister Clark of Glenara, Kangaroo Press, 1990. ISBN 0-86417-332-6.
  2. ^ Peter Cox, Australian Roses, Bloomings Books, 1999, pp. 7–18. ISBN 1-876473-02-9.
  3. ^ Charles Quest-Ritson, Climbing Roses of the World, Timber Press, 2003, pp. 38–41, 240–2. ISBN 0-88192-563-2.
  4. ^ Charles & Brigid Quest-Ritson, Encyclopaedia of Roses, Dorling Kindersley, 2003, especially p. 237. ISBN 978-1-4053-3511-9. See also Peter Harkness, "Notable Rose Breeders", entry for Clark, Alister (Australia), p. 677 in Peter Beales and others, Botanica's Roses: the Encyclopaedia of Roses, 1998, Random House. ISBN 0-09-183592-5.
  5. ^ ANDB, 'Clark, Alister (1864–1949),' online at http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080004b.htm.
  6. ^ Alister Clark, “Hybridization at ‘Glenara,’ ” The Australian Rose Annual, 1928. reprinted at http://www.rosarosam.com/articles_new/clark_index.html
  7. ^ Susan Irvine, A Hillside of Roses, Hyland House, 1994, pp. 118–23. ISBN 1-875657-37-1.
  8. ^ Tilley & Andrew Govanstone, The Women Behind the Roses, Rosenberg Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-877058-93-6.
  9. ^ Gene Waering, “Alister Clark Roses in America,” Heritage Roses, vol. 31 no. 6, August 2007, pp 3–8.
  10. ^ The Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden
  11. ^ National Rose Collection of Australia
  12. ^ Morwell Centenary Rose Garden
  13. ^ The Rex Hazlewood Rose Garden
  14. ^ Kodja Place Roze Maze
The 1937 rambler 'Gladsome' at Werribee Park.