Wild rambunctious kudos to Tom Carruth for hybridizing his eighth All America Rose Selection winner in less than 10 years! The man's on a serious roll, folks. Even though I just planted mine in February, this unassuming little yellow rose has already become one of my all-time favorites, and is indisputably the centerpiece of my front yard this year. 'Julia Child®' has at least four spectacular qualities that make it stand out in the garden. One, it's constantly covered in an abundance of sunny yellow blooms; two, so far it's completely free of disease with no spraying required; three, it's self-cleaning so when the petals are spent they drop discreetly to the ground; and four, the clusters of big old-fashioned flowers are the most exquisitely delicious shade of the most beautiful soft pale buttery yellow you can possibly imagine. The buds open a bit darker with cheerful bright sunny gold overtones (reminiscent of 'Graham Thomas'), then gradually soften to the delightful creamy pastel butter color that makes my mouth water. This shade of yellow goes so well with everything, even pinks, but has always been a major challenge to achieve in the garden. Until now I've only been able to provide little bursts with early spring daffodils, or an occasional maverick sunflower that was supposed to be white but turns out to be this wonderful color. I'm elated to finally have it available as a year-round addition to my garden palette. The bushy little floribunda maintains a nice tidy habit, small and rounded, just under 3' tall and wide (which means 'Julia Child' will also make an perfect standard tree rose). The attractive foliage is full and clean, medium green, and slightly glossy. Others have reported that it has the sweet strong licorice fragrance characteristic of many yellow roses, but for some reason my nose has never been able to detect that particular scent. I guess it depends on the individual sniffer, and maybe the climate, but to me, 'Julia Child' has a light, clean, refreshing, pleasantly typical-rose smell. I've always been a huge fan of the late great epicurean Julia Child®, but ironically I fell in love with this rose several months before I found out what its name was, back when it was just "Test Rose # Whatever." Apparently Ms. Child fell in love with it at first sight too. She had always turned down offers to have a rose named after her before, until she laid eyes on this beauty. Then she was instantly smitten, and requested that this be "the one." It's certainly a worthy tribute to such a great and beloved lady. Dr. Leda