Sherry Parks Sunrise

Credit: Terry Guscott

Sherry Parks is a fortunate woman. Along with the traditional Valentine’s gifts of red roses and chocolates, she received a rose she could name as her own. Husband Dan, looking to outdo a long record of rare and unusual gifts, held the winning bid for the privilege of naming the new rose in St. Paul’s Hospital’s on-line auction of “Things Money Can’t Buy.”

And so the rose, a fragrant blend of apricot, buff and tangerine created by Langley hybridizer and nurseryman Brad Jalbert, will be registered with the International Registration for Roses, run by the American Rose Society, as `Sherry Parks Sunrise.’ Brad, who describes the rose as “one of the best minifloras I’ve done,” also expects it to continue as a parent in the Select Roses breeding program.

“It reminds me of the sunrise I see from my windows,” says Sherry. She receives 10 specimens of her rose as part of her prize. Some will go in a bed between those windows and the waterfront of her Vancouver Island home. Brad will graft others onto half-standards to make miniature rose trees that will line the drive at her gate. In addition, the couple are having an image of the flower sandblasted onto a wooden panel as their address sign.

“I feel like I’ve been blessed rather than I won,” Sherry enthuses. ”Winning is a contest. This is a gift.”