'Sunset Celebration' Rose: A Centennial Hybrid Tea with Global Acclaim

Debuting in 1998 for Sunset magazine's centennial, 'Sunset Celebration' is a sunset-colored hybrid tea with deep-green foliage, long stems, and a moderately fruity fragrance. It won nine international awards—including the Golden Rose of The Hague—and was named a 1998 All-America Rose Selection. Price: $10–15.

Mail-Order Sources

• Edmunds' Roses (888-481-7673)
• Petaluma Rose Co. (707-769-8862)
• Garden Valley Ranch/Nursery (707-795-0919)

The Making of a Prizewinner

Hybridizer Gareth Fryer of Knutsford, England, selected this seedling from thousands. Its chameleon-like blooms shift from rich peach to apricot-umber brushed with cream, born of a cross between an unnamed seedling and 'Pot O' Gold'. Originally coded 'Fryxotic', it was renamed for the U.S. market to honor Sunset's 100th anniversary.

"It captures everything gardeners love in a hybrid tea—but on a plant that looks great in the landscape," says Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses. "It pumps out fragrant flowers in quantities that will make home gardeners happy." Few roses earn such honors across so many climates.

Vital Statistics

• Plant: ~4 ft. tall, bushy, deep-green foliage, excellent disease resistance.
• Flower: 4½–5½ in., 25–30 petals in formal spiral. Color varies by climate (richer peach in cool, lighter apricot in warm). Sweetly fruity fragrance. Exceptional for cutting—vase life ~7 days, among the longest for apricot roses.