Eleanor Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor in 1943 - image from MedScape
Is this story true? I’ve not been able to verify the quote — it’s a great story, and better if true. From MedScape Today, “The Case of the Well-known Woman with Unexplained Anemia”:
Although reserved, Roosevelt had a quiet sense of humor. When commenting about how she felt about having a rose named after her, she remarked: “I was very flattered . . . but not pleased with the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.”
Can anyone tell us when and where she said that? Gardeners, can you confirm? Can anyone find a photo of the rose, “Eleanor Roosevelt?” (It’s probably a yellow rose, but I haven’t found a description.)
Eleanor Roosevelt teacup, First Ladies Library
More:
- Get the t-shirt
- From the First Ladies Library, the Eleanor Roosevelt teacup, featuring a yellow rose (probably not the rose “Eleanor Roosevelt,” however)
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
Great sleuthing, once again!
I see the rose is named “Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt,” and no mention of “Eleanor.” It would have taken me weeks to figure that out, I’m sure.
The t-shirt makers won’t stop making the t-shirt, I’ll wager, even if we confirm that the quote is apocryphal.
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the rose
http://books.google.com/books?id=_UEEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA50#v=twopage&q&f=false
no documentary evidence for quote
http://books.google.com/books?id=anq6v1LekNIC&lpg=PA1895&dq=rose%20eleanor%20roosevelt&pg=PA1895#v=onepage&q=rose%20eleanor%20roosevelt&f=false
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