Now you can have Martha Stewart in your garden

For most of us, the chances of having Martha Stewart visit our garden is vanishingly small. Until now. After years of research, a highly fragrant pink and apricot hybrid tea rose named after the lifestyle doyenne has hit the market. In May 2023 Stewart decided to install a rose garden at her Bedford, New York estate and invited Danielle Dall’Armi Hahn, the owner of Rose Story Farms and author of “The Color of Roses,” to advise her. While Hahn was in New York for the garden build, the two began to discuss an idea over dinner. “I said, ‘Martha, what do you think about having your own rose?’. And she said, ‘Amazing, I would love that’,” explained Hahn. Creating a new rose is a massive undertaking — from inception to market usually takes years. So, while Stewart’s involvement in the project began a few years ago, the rose named after her has been around a decade in the making. The creation of a rose begins by considering “the traits you want” the flower to have, explained Consulting Rosarian (a certified expert in rose care) and independent hybridizer Christopher Huffer, before choosing your parent plants with those traits. Once the parents are crossed through the pollination process, seeds will form in rose hips (the seed pods of roses) with each seed having the potential to become a new rose. Then there are years of testing before a potential new rose can ever be sold commercially. Hahn is no stranger to working with celebrities. She and her father Lorenzo Dall’Armi collaborated with chef and author Julia Child when Child decided to pick the now iconic yellow rose to be her namesake. Stewart, meanwhile, already has a number of plants carrying her name including a begonia, a daffodil and an orchid. But to have a rose named after you is “a really big honor,” said Hahn. “And for people who love roses, it is the highest honor”. Finding the perfect rose to become Martha’s namesake was difficult according to Hahn, who visited various fields and looked at dozens of contenders. When searching for the right rose, there are a number of factors to consider, including color. Stewart has a “very defined color palette,” said Hahn, “but anything in like the medium-pink to peach, to apricot, even a creamy apricot, I think she would have been open to.” But the search ended when they came across a compact hybrid tea in Martha’s preferred color palette at Star Roses and Plants, an American horticultural company involved in plant breeding, distribution and intellectual property. What would become the Martha Stewart rose was first sent to the United States as a test rose called CP 15 8603 in December 2015, one of many sent by European rose breeding company Meilland International for evaluation. “On average, it’s maybe 150 codes (roses) we get from them every year,” Kristen Smith, a rose evaluation manager for Star Roses and Plants, told CNN. But Meilland is just one of the rose breeders the company works with. On average, it looks at close to 700 roses annually, according to Smith. After entering the US, roses are placed in a two-year quarantine period before testing begins. During the testing phase roses are reviewed for certain criteria, including growth and development in different weather conditions, as well as disease resistance. The rose that would become Stewart’s was placed at Star Roses’ testing fields in Pennsylvania and California. In 2021, as it became apparent that CP 15 8603 was special, the Star Roses team decided to patent it. “At that time, we hadn’t necessarily 100% decided to introduce it, but we knew that it was an important variety,” said Susan Bacus Morgan, marketing manager for Star Roses and Plants. “On average, it’s about five varieties that are going in to the catalog every year,” said Smith, meaning that on average less than 1% of the roses tested make it into Star’s portfolio annually. “It’s a really long and loving process to launch a rose,” said Morgan. “We want to release the very best.” While many people had a hand in finding the perfect rose to carry Stewart’s name, it was ultimately Martha’s choice. “Martha personally chose and approved the rose,” confirmed a spokesperson from a public relations agency that represents Stewart, in an email to CNN. “I am so happy that such a great rose is named after me and that many of you will be adding it to your garden!”, said Stewart in an Instagram post on her verified account last week. Stewart also thanked Hahn who “worked with me for two years to make this happen”. While new to the North American market, this same rose has been available since 2021 in Europe, where it is known as “Jean de la Fontaine.” “Oftentimes a rose introduced in Europe will receive a different name in America,” said Morgan. When choosing a name for commercial use, cultivators pick “something to catch people’s attention,” said Beth Smiley, publications director of the American Rose Society. “The Martha Stewart rose is going to attract a lot of attention”. There is no “financial benefit for having a rose named after you — absolutely zero,” said Hahn. In a statement provided to CNN, Star Roses said: “This rose has been named in honor of Martha Stewart, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to lifestyle, design, homemaking, and gardening… Our hope is that this rose will honor her legacy and serve as a source of inspiration for generations to come.” While there are only a limited number of Martha Stewart rose plants are available for pre-order, if you miss out this year, the variety is expected to be available at independent garden centers in 2026. As a repeat bloomer, you can expect the Martha Stewart rose to flower in flushes through the growing season. Smith said that while the rose has performed well in hot, dry climates like California, “it does get some leaf spot in areas that are more susceptible to fungal diseases, but it is better than older varieties of hybrid tea types.” But it’s the scent that’s the standout for this plant. “It’s not a traditional rose fragrance,” said Hahn. “It’s fruitier, it’s light, it’s luscious. You feel like you could eat it.”