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The Roses
of Sean McCann
(Put your Mouse's pointer
over the photos to see the caption)
 I
first got to know Sean through a mutual friend, Kim
Rupert. I had known of Sean - who in roses hadn’t, from
his articles, books, talks and of course his roses.
I knew he was much loved and respected in the world of
roses. We made contact those years ago and Sean decided
to trust us with his larger flowered roses. The years
have gone on and with the help of Trish Walsh we now
have many of his miniature roses. The diversity of his
roses is as
eclectic as is background.
Sean
is a native of Ireland through and through. He has
lived there all his live with his wife, and they have 5
children and 11 grandchildren - proving he can raise
more than just roses!
 His middle son, Colum, is among
the most highly regarded young
novelists in the world – his most recent novel Dancer is
receiving wide praise and acceptance. Others have
their own businesses in golf, travel as well as
gardening and IT and associated interests.
 Since
he retired from journalism in 1988, Sean has devoted his
time to rose breeding and rose writing. Flowers ,
especially roses, have been an abiding
interest in his
life and of 27 books published (history, soccer,
biography) seven have been on gardening topics.
As well as writing on
roses he has travelled extensively worldwide as a speaker
at conventions, congresses and meetings. He has been
given top awards from numerous countries for his
contribution to roses – including the American Gold
Honour Medal, the only non-American ever to be awarded
this significant floral distinction, as well as The Vice
President and Silver Medals from The Royal National Rose
Society and the Gold award Australian Rose Society. Sean
has also been named as one of the 1,000 most influential
people in Irish life.
 Currently
he writes numerous columns on roses in the USA, the UK,
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He is also a
wine columnist with a syndicated column that appears in
some 40 publications.
At his home just outside
Dublin, Ireland, he works a garden with 1000 rose
plants, without assistance, and also breeds roses. Over
30 of these roses are
currently catalogued in the United States and each year
some new ones are added to this total. We here at
Ashdown are proud to offer many of these roses with many
more to come.
We invite you to click on
the link below to begin to visit the roses of a true
gentleman, a great Rosarian and most of all, a dear
friend of ours.
Help
us gather and preserve Sean’s roses
Over the years Sean has
generously sent roses to friends and rose lovers all
over the world. With Sean’s permission we are beginning
to gather and catalogue as many of his roses as we can.
Unfortunately Sean no longer has some of his own roses
so we need help. If you have any of Sean’s roses in your
garden and are willing to send us cuttings please
contact us by sending an e-mail directly to Trish at
Trish@ashdownroses.com
Sean
McCann and his roses "Spitfire Paddy" & "Alice
Faye"
Roses names are frequently used to
commemorate people who touched our lives. Sean recently
did so and it became a wonderful occasion. Also, this
help may answer the question we've all asked; "where do
rose names come from"? In Sean's words.
"Spitfire Paddy"
I would like to tell
you about a wonderful reception today for my rose
Spitfire Paddy. It is in memory of a famous Irish
Fighter ace and was given an unprecedented planting
today by the Irish Air Corps...the first time an Irish
airman who served with the British forces has been
honored. They had a reception all the officers of the
Air Corps, a Pipe Band (Irish pipes are much more
preferable to the Scottish skirls), a big specially
invited audience and a General to plant the rose. I was
thrilled. A rose of mine to get a reception like this. I
could not believe it.
Click Here to
read more about Wing Commander Brendan
"Paddy" Finucane
"Alice Faye"
Alice Faye memory:
Do you believe in fate? Or that a childhood romance can
be visited back almost 50 years later? Well, I might not
until a few years ago I was asked to name a rose for a
Hollywood star. Her name ? Alice Faye.
Don’t snigger and wonder
where she fits in with Madonna and whoever the modern
star is that crosses your mind. In my life she played a
huge part. I loved looking at those old beautifully
dressed Hollywood movies of the 40s and 50s. And one of
the stars was Alice Faye who played beside the more
famed Betty Grable, singing and dancing their way
through Hello, Frisco, Hello and numerous other
musicals. I was captivated by Alice. But living in a
small Irish town you never give it more than part of a
dream sequence.
Through my growing up years
I watched every old musical that TV presented us
with and got to enjoy many more of those old films. And
I never lost my crush on Alice.
Then out of the blue I was
asked to name a rose for her. I had one that I thought
presented her image perfectly. It was glamorous looking
– blonde and well
painted. So we named it and I was invited over to
California to make the presentation of behalf of the
rose societies in the Northern California-Nevada-Hawaii
area.
Wouldn’t it have been
terrible if we had not hit it off. But we did. And that
boyhood crush was answered. She was still fascinating,
even sensational, in my eyes. And when she spoke
afterwards and said: “If only Sean and I had met 40
years before!” You don’t get many compliments better
than that.
And the rose is still
beautiful - I only wish it could have been even more
gorgeous but in it I still can echo back to the days of
the great musicals. It is my memento to a lovely lady
who brought glamour to my life through the otherwise bad
youthful years of World War 11.
The Sean
McCann Garden Here at Ashdown Roses.
We just recently planted
the Sean McCann garden. It's a collection of all
of Sean's roses we currently have and there is room for
many, many more.
The bed is ready
Chester Brings the Roses
down
The Roses go in
Newly
Planted
And we rest after a good
day's work |
