A Rose Named Peace: How Francis Meilland Created a Flower of Hope For a World at War

Francis Meilland always wanted to grow his own roses, like his father and grandfathers before him. More than that, he wanted to create a brand-new rose, the most beautiful rose the world had ever seen. Year after year — through sudden frosts and insect infestations and failure after failure — Francis tried to craft a new hybrid. And then, just as he finally began to find success, World War II exploded across Europe.

When the German army stormed into France, Francis and his family had to sacrifice their rose beds for vegetable gardens. It seemed that Francis’s efforts to create a new rose would be lost forever.

But at war’s end, the story of the Peace Rose was just beginning.

Beautifully illustrated by celebrated illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline, this biography of the Peace Rose and its creator is an ode to living a dream from beginning to end, through sun and through storm.