J & J Rose Production was founded by Dr. John Pottschmidt and Jay Bosse (pictured on the left).

      Dr. Pottschmidt, aka, Dr. P, acquired his love for growing roses from his father-in-law when he married his wife, Joan. This love for growing roses expanded when they purchased their house in 1972. Rose gardens fill their back yard, containing about 1500 roses. In 1987, Jay Bosse began working for Dr. P, taking care of grass cutting, weeding, general clean-up, and started to learn about growing roses. At that time, Dr. P's main goal with the roses was to take them to rose shows, hoping to win Queen of the show and as many 1st place trophies as he could. Another area that Dr. P was interested in was hybridizing, or crossing roses to develop new varieties. The focus at that time was on hybrid tea roses, as they are the best for showing at rose shows.

      Jay started to enjoy the roses, and no longer looked at going to work as something he had to do, but as something he wanted to do. Seeing the new varieties that they created, and knowing that they were each unique, made him strive to work with Dr. P to improve the breeding program.

      Time would change the type of roses that they would try to develop. The general public did not want roses that had to be sprayed every week to prevent insects or fungus from destroying their plants. They wanted plants that were naturally disease resistant, but still beautiful. So breeders around the world started mixing more shrub roses into their breeding programs, and accomplished the goal of more disease resistance. What was lost, however, was a lot of the fragrance that the older roses were known for. The goal of J and J Rose Production is to develop new varieties of roses that have the good qualities of disease resistance, sustainability, and fragrance.

      Currently, J and J Rose Production makes about 3,000 crosses each year, which produces about 16,000 seeds. The germination rate of rose seeds is low, so only about 2,000 seeds actually germinate. These roses are looked at for qualities such as color, fragrance, disease resistance, growth habit, and of course, a beautiful bloom. The good ones are saved for the next year, the rest are discarded. These roses are moved to a larger pot for the next year, and the best of those are chosen to keep yet another year. Finally, the best of these roses are sent to a company in Arizona so they may be looked at as a budded plant in another climate. The ultimate goal is to have our roses put onto the market and sold not only across the United States, but also around the world.

      Roses that are kept for 3 years are then available for purchase, along with varieties that already on the market, and also plants that have been sent back from Arizona as a budded plant. The roses are sold at local farmer's markets and also at the rose garden on two weekends in late May when the roses start blooming.

      J and J Rose Production is proud to offer great quality roses at very reasonable prices. Our goal is to get more people interested in growing roses so they may enjoy their beauty and reap the rewards of growing a beautiful garden.