Legacy in Bloom: The Sally Jordan Rose

Twenty-five years ago, two women bonded over conversation about dogs and roses. They were Sally Jordan, the matriarch of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, and Danielle Dall’armi Hahn, owner of Rose Story Farm. With its 130 varieties of roses, Rose Story Farm in Carpinteria, California became the source for freshly cut roses at Mrs. Jordan’s home, thoughtfully placed in a spectrum of hues to complement each room during dinner parties. This allowed Mrs. Jordan’s cloistered garden of nearly 50 types of roses to remain pristine and in full bloom.

When John Jordan embarked on the renovation of the Jordan Chateau’s gardens and grounds last year, he wanted to honor his mother, who turns 90 this year.

“There’s no better way to make sure she’s always a part of the winery than to name a rose after her that will greet our guests for decades to come,” John Jordan said.

The winery approached Hahn and Rose Story Farm to help create a rose for her fellow rosarian, and quickly learned of the lengthy and often disappointing process to grow a new breed of rose. It takes 10 years from start to finish, and the 10,000 pairs of seeds needed to attempt the pollination may only result in 3-4 seedlings after a decade of waiting.

A decade of patience was not a virtue to explore, so Hahn, named one of the Great Rosarians of the World, used her deep knowledge of niche growing and cultivation network to find a rose fitting of the Sally Jordan name that had already passed its viability hurdle.

“I wanted to create a rose in her honor that has all of the characteristics that she loves in a rose,” Hahn said. “Mrs. Jordan prefers hybrid tea roses, known for their exquisite form. This class of rose is typically a single larger bloom on a single stem. Most often they are found in formal gardens and are most suitable for large estates with traditional architecture.” The rose also had to have a lovely, subtle fragrance and be a specific color.

“Whenever she’s having friends over for dinner or hosting a party, a vase of creamy-white hybrid tea roses always greets her guests,” Hahn said. “It’s that welcome scent and first sight. The Sally Jordan Rose needed to be that color.”

Call it fate, but the perfect rose was about to make its grand debut to the floral world—and Rose Story Farm was able to help John Jordan and Jordan Winery purchase the rights to the rose and all of its future plantings.

“There’s no one who deserves her own rose more than Sally Jordan, and I’ve worked on rose development for Julia Child and Martha Stewart,” Hahn said. “Not only does she have a deep love of roses, but her exquisite attention to detail in her rose garden is unparalleled. Her roses are so perfect, you can’t believe they are real.”

Fifty of these plants, with their creamy-white petals, were planted around the Jordan Chateau terrace last summer. The nursery expects to add another 200 Sally Jordan Roses ready for planting next year, which will be added to the fougeraie, a fern garden promenade that leads from the winery lobby to the upper terrace, and future plantings, as well as florals for the guest suites and Jordan Tisane service.

“This truly is the Sally Jordan Rose,” John Jordan said with a laugh. “It’s elegant, but also tough. You usually lose some flowers when you plant a new garden, but not our Sally Jordan Roses. Not even one died. They exploded in color and came to life as soon as they were planted. They clearly feel right at home.”

Sally Jordan Roses are expected to bloom at the winery from May to early November each year. Her legacy now includes a perennial welcome to every guest who visits the chateau.