Rosa 'Joanna Hill'

Edward Gurney Hill and his father, Joseph, established the family nursery business, Hill and Company, in Richmond, Indiana in 1881. By the 1890s, The Hill Company had moved its greenhouses to a larger location and incorporated as the E.G. Hill Co. Hill began introducing European roses, and later began a rose hybridization program with his son Joseph Herbert. While visiting nurseryman William Paul in Waltham Cross, England in 1912, E.G. discovered an interesting seedling in Paul's rose fields. That seedling was later introduced by Paul as 'Ophelia' and became an important part of the Hill family's rose breeding program. In the nursery's rose fields, 'Ophelia' produced a sport, which the company introduced in 1918 as 'Madame Butterfly' and used the award-winning rose in their breeding program, producing a number of best selling roses, including 'Columbia' and 'Joanna Hill.[3][4][5]

The rose cultivar was bred by Joseph H. Hill by crossing pink hybrid tea, 'Madame Butterfly' with 'Amelia Bude'. The rose cultivar was introduced in the United States in 1928 and in Australia in 1930.[2][6] 'Joanna Hill is one of three parents of the legendary hybrid tea rose, 'Peace'.[7] Besides the Peace rose, 'Joanna Hill' was used to hybridize 7 child plants, including 'Eclipse' (1935), 'Fritz Nobis' (1940), 'Joanna Hill Cl.' (sport, 1935), 'Michelle Meilland' (1945), 'Shepherd's Delight' (1956), 'Show Girl' (1945) and 'Swantje' (1936).[8]