Does the society or its members keep records of the names and types of roses planted in historic gardens? Gardens such as the Wyck Rose Garden in Philadelphia, or the Wyck Rose Garden in Philadelphia, or Roses of Yesterday and Today in California, or Hershey Gardens in Pennsylvania, or the former White House Garden?
These are genetic libraries that should be preserved.
Interesting question, ARS is involved in preserving historic ramblers. Certainly the curators or horticulturists of the gardens you mentioned would have these records. Hopefully, more rosarians here will have connections to these rose ‘museums’.
That is an area I’ve long been interested in. I have created archives on Help Me Find-Roses of both historic gardens as well as rose nurseries. It is not “exhaustive” as it depends upon the availability of the lists of roses involved; my ability to find them; and my energy and time. I can’t guaranty what you’re looking for is already there, but try looking up the name of the garden on Helpmefind.com under the “roses” part of the database and see if you find some of what you are looking for. And, if you know of the availability of the information about what grew in a particular garden, please feel free to share it. Currently, because of the required re write of the programming to be compatible with the new server service and security, it isn’t possible to upload large lists of roses to the database. The latest one I uploaded had to be done plant by plant, but it’s still possible to obtain the information and assemble it in the necessary file format so it’s ready and waiting once the site is ready for it. Thank you!