Roots and Routes

Rosa ‘First Prize’

• Introduced Jackson and Perkins in 1970
• Bred by Eugene Boerner
• Class: Hybrid Tea
• Layers of rose, pink, and ivory
• Classic traditional rose scent with occasional hints of tea or citrus
• Parentage: (Enchantment x unknown) X (Golden Masterpiece x unknown)

The First Prize rose produces enormous, high-centered hybrid tea blooms in a luminous blend of rose pink, softer pink, and creamy ivory. The blossoms are carried on long stems and last particularly well when cut, qualities that have made First Prize a longtime favorite for exhibition as well as the garden.

Bred by legendary Jackson & Perkins hybridizer Eugene “Gene” Boerner, First Prize was one of the final roses developed during his extraordinary career. Boerner, known as the “Father of the Floribunda,” developed more than 155 new roses and had more roses patented in his name than any other person in history. He died in 1966, four years before First Prize was commercially introduced in 1970.

First Prize was the last of fourteen Boerner-bred roses to receive the prestigious All-America Rose Selections (AARS) award, bringing a fitting posthumous conclusion to one of the most remarkable careers in American rose breeding.