Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rosa 'Huntington's 100th'
About the Object
Rosa 'Huntington's 100th'
The Rose Garden is one of the oldest gardens at The Huntington. It was created in 1908 as a private garden for Arabella Huntington, as she loved roses. Often the roses grown in the gardens were clipped and used to adorn her house, now known as the Huntington Art Gallery. Curious to see what the Rose Garden used to look like? Click here to see for yourself.
Today, there are over 1,200 different varieties of roses ranging in colors from red, to yellow, to orange and purple. Fun fact! There are no blue or black roses! Some of the roses feature two colors, like the ‘Huntington’s 100th.’ Rose Garden Curator Tom Carruth created this hybrid rose by crossing the ‘Julia Child’ and ‘Stormy Weather’ roses. This rose took years (over 10!) to develop and was named to celebrate The Huntington’s centennial year.
Listen to a lecture about the ‘Huntington’s 100th’ here.
You can follow Tom Carruth, the E.L. and Ruth B. Shannon Curator of the Rose Collection, on Twitter and on Instagram!
Helpful Terms
Hybridize – Taking pollen from one rose to another to cross-pollinate in order to create a new hybrid (or mixed) rose. You can read more about the hybridization of the ‘Huntington’s 100th’ here.
More to Explore…
“HYBRIDIZE” YOUR OWN ROSE!
When deciding to breed two roses together, it is important to think about the characteristics of each rose. Some questions to ask yourself when deciding are: What colors are the roses? How do they smell? Are they a bush rose or are they climbing? Think about two roses you like. Need some inspiration? Take a virtual tour of the Rose Garden here. Once you have your two roses, sketch or draw how your new hybrid rose will look. What characteristics from each of your two starting roses will your new rose have?
Level Up
With some food coloring and a long stemmed white rose, you can create your own rose. Fill a cup or bowl with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Cut the stem of your rose and add it to your cup or bowl. Let it sit in the food color water until you notice the petals start to change. What does your new rose look like? Does it look similar to a rose you have seen before? What will you call your new rose?
Question Corner
- Once your white rose petals were dyed, is it what you expected it to look like? Was it different? Do you like how it turned out?
- Roses are often symbolic. Yellow roses can mean friendship, while red roses can imply love. If you could assign your rose a symbolic meaning, what would it be?
