# Is There a Rosebush Named Darling?
Finding a rose by specific feature is harder than searching by name, as in the case of “Darling” roses. Outdoor roses are first separated into the three groups of bush roses (include miniature rose bushes), shrub roses and climbing roses, each of these further subdivided into classes or families. Bush roses – generally 2 to 6 feet tall, though miniatures start at 6 inches – are classified by flower habit, winter hardiness, size and type of growth. Families of bush roses include hybrid tea, floribunda, grandiflora and miniature roses. Commercially available “Darling” roses are primarily in the bush group.
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“Grace Darling”
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First introduced in 1884, the cultivar “Grace Darling” is a vintage bush rose of the hybrid tea family. These rosebushes feature large, cupped double flowers that are creamy white to pale blush pink, and are as suited for growing as individual garden specimens as in containers or as hedges. Flowers are quite fragrant, like so many old roses, and canes and stems are fairly thorny. Mature “Grace Darling” bushes grow to 3 feet tall and spread 2 feet wide. No rose hips are produced.
“Little Darling”
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A hybrid floribunda, or a rosebush that produces blooms in clusters, “Little Darling” was introduced in 1956. It grows from 3 to 5 feet tall, depending on climate, and produces well-formed 3-inch double hybrid tea-type flowers. The product of a cross between “Captain Thomas” and an unidentified hybrid of “Baby Chateau” and “Fashion,” its flowers combine pale salmon pink and yellow and are reasonably fragrant. According to rose breeder Paul Barden, “Little Darling” is an excellent foundation rose for breeding new hybrid miniatures or floribundas.
“Angel Darling”
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A semi-double lilac pink or mauve-colored miniature rose with flowers that open flat like wild roses, “Angel Darling” is one of hundreds of miniature rose cultivars developed by Ralph Moore of Visalia, Calif., considered the father of miniature roses. According to Sunset magazine, more than 75 percent of all miniature roses have at least one Ralph Moore rose in their breeding background.
“Baby Darling”
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Among the progeny of “Little Darling” is this micro-miniature 1964 rose, another Ralph Moore hybrid. “Baby Darling” bushes stand just 9 inches tall. Extremely tiny double flowers have 20 petals and are apricot pink in color that bloom repeatedly. A sport or spontaneous mutation was discovered in 1972, a rose that features identical flowers and similar tiny foliage but with a climbing rose form. “Climbing Baby Darling” or “Baby Darling Climbing” is a miniature climbing rose that grows to 6 feet in height.
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