Mathias Tantau, Jr. carried forward the German Rosen Tantau breeding house founded by his father in 1906. When he succeeded the previous generation, he helped push the company toward roses with larger flowers, longer stems, and increasingly vivid colors, qualities that strengthened Tantau's reputation outside Germany and contributed to the international growth of the company.
Among the roses associated with Tantau Jr. are Super Star, known in the United States as Tropicana, and Fragrant Cloud, one of the most famous strongly scented Hybrid Teas of its era. His period of leadership helped position Rosen Tantau as an international breeding house rather than simply a German nursery. The company later became a major force in both garden and cut roses, building on the breeding direction established during the Tantau family's generations of leadership.
