The Dead

[Drunk Monk]

Specially-developed Grateful Dead roses on display at Golden Gate Park Rose Garden

ByZach Fuentes  
Friday, August 1, 2025 2:34PM


A brand new, specially developed rose, inspired by the Grateful Dead, is now home at the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A brand new, specially-developed rose is now home at the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park.
"We are planting the Grateful Dead rose, the official Grateful Dead rose," said Brooks Guyer, a partner at Las Palmas de Ojai, the company that grew the babies of the flower.
The rose was requested by Wendy Weir, the sister of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir.
It was bred specifically by JB Williams and Associates, the same company that's bred other iconic roses like the ones for the Rose Parade and for other legends like Celine Dion.
Creating a rose for the Grateful Dead was one of the company's most fitting assignments.
"The Grateful Dead and the rose are synonymous with each other." Guyer said. "There's a number of songs that relate to the rose, and they've used the rose iconography as long, as well as the skeleton, for many, many years."
The ruby red Grateful Dead rose is hybridized from two different flowers. Creating it was a two-year process involving intricate work.
"Two flowers put together, and then you come up with a proprietary rose that. Then, if you clone it, that flower stays consistent throughout," Guyer said.
Now twelve of those rose bushes will be in one of the most visible spots at the Golden Gate Park's Rose Garden, with plenty of time for dead heads and others to see.
"The Dead and its traveling circus will come and go, but this rose will be here for a long, long time," said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.
A limited number of Grateful Dead roses are going to launch later this year for the public.

 Sorry I missed this...