O. L. “Ollie” Weeks was both a rose breeder and the founder of Weeks Roses, one of the central names in the American rose trade. Beginning with very limited resources in Southern California in the late 1930s, Ollie and his wife Verona built the operation into a major rose-growing enterprise that eventually expanded into large-scale production in Wasco, California.
Weeks was also directly involved in breeding important roses. He collaborated with Herbert Swim on classics including Mister Lincoln and Oklahoma, and his own introductions included the intensely fragrant Perfume Delight, an AARS winner. His dual role as breeder and businessman helped establish the foundation on which later Weeks hybridizers; including Tom Carruth, Christian Bédard, and others, would build.
