'Careless Love' rose discovered in Santa Monica in 1955

The 'Found Rose' is a way to categorize roses found in fields, old cemeteries, and abandonded gardens that have not been identified before. 'Careless Love' was discovered and named by Henry A. Conklin in Santa Monica in 1955 and introduced by the Golden State Nursery the same year.

Careless Love

'Careless Love' is a pink blend with stripes. The petals have deep pink flecks with white. The rose has a strong frangrance. The rose blooms in flushes throughout the season with medium-sized, semi-double to double flowers in small clusters.

Red Radiance

This rose is a 'sport' of 'Red Radiance" a hybrid tea rose from 1916. Sports occur in roses when the plant's cells experience a genetic mistake while the plant grows, producing an entirely new cane and rose, which can be propagated by a cutting. The rose was patented in the United States on March 26, 1957 (PP 1,582) and is still available at some nursery's and online today.

The finder, Henry Conklin, was a rose grower in the San Fernando Valley in 1944 and originally started growing roses in the San Gabriel Valley. The nursery was called Conklin Rose Co. initially, then Conklin Rose Co./Great Westerm Rose.  Mr. Conklin lives in McFarland, California and is currently 94 years old. His son, Henry Conklin, is the current owner of Conklin Rose Co. in Litchfield Park, Arizona.