Angel Dust

In 1978, Mom was still a newbie in the nursery business. This was the first year that she introduced her own creations. She began with 2 perfect little test roses, one in deep mauve that she called 'Plum Duffy' and another in white with a delicate pink blush on the edges of the petals.

The second test rose had petals that could have been "wings for a fairy or better yet...an angel". Unfortunately, the name 'Angel Wings' had already been used.

One day, she heard the words 'Angel Dust' used somewhere (probably on the news). She couldn't remember, where she had heard it. She certainly didn't make the connection between the 'beautiful name' and street slang for the horrible drug PCP. She just liked the name, and decided that it would be perfect for her little white and pink mini.

Apparently, several people in the ARS also had no knowledge of drug slang, because no one questioned Mom's use of this name, when she registered her new rose. It wasn't, until the 1978 Tiny Petals catalog and the ARS Rose Magazine announced the new introduction with the name 'Angel Dust' that Mom started to get phone calls from her rose friends, asking about her sale of drugs through the Tiny Petals catalogue.

Mom was absolutely mortified by her mistake. She refused to send out any more of her 1978 catalogs; and it was several years later, before this mini ever returned to a TPN catalog. Mom was always embarrassed to admit that one of her roses had the same name as a horrible street drug.