Joseph Pernet-Ducher was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 rosarian and hybridizer. Born near Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, the son of Jean Pernet

Jean Pernet, père

Jean Claude Pernet, père was a French rosarian known for his cultivation of rose cultivars. He was born to a family of rose growers in Villeurbanne, Rhône, near the city of Lyon...

, he was a third generation rose-grower. In 1879 he began his apprenticeship in the rose-breeding business with the Ducher nursery

Nursery (horticulture)

A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...

 in Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

. In 1882, he married Marie Ducher, the owner's daughter, and adopted the name "Pernet-Ducher" to signify the two rose growing entities.
Using Rosa foetida

Rosa foetida

Rosa foetida is a species of rose, native to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. It has yellow flowers with a mild, sour scent many find objectionable, thus the species name...

in 1887, he and his father began developing yellow rose cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s through a cross between a red hybrid perpetual and 'Persian Yellow'. After his father's death in 1896, Joseph Pernet-Ducher carried on the experiments and developed a worldwide reputation in 1900 when he introduced 'Soleil d'Or', the first yellow Hybrid Tea

Hybrid Tea

Hybrid Tea is a cultivar group of roses, created by cross-breeding two different types of roses, initially by hybridising Hybrid Perpetuals with Tea roses...

. This rose it is now recognized as the first of the "Pernetiana" roses (Roses of Pernet) and an important ancestor of 'Peace

Peace (rose)

The Peace rose is a well-known and successful garden rose. Over one hundred million plants had been sold, as of 1992. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with large flowers of a light yellow to cream color, slightly flushed at the petal edges with crimson-pink...

', introduced by Meilland

Meilland International SA

Meilland International SA is a family-owned rose growing business founded c. 1850. The business operates today out of the Domaine de Saint André in Le Cannet-des-Maures, Le Luc en Provence, Var, France with branches all over the world....

 in 1945.

Between 1907 and 1925, Joseph Pernet-Ducher won the Gold Medal thirteen times at the "Concours de Bagatelle

Concours international de roses nouvelles de Bagatelle

The Concours international de roses nouvelles de Bagatelle is held in June of each year in the rose trial grounds of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris's 16th arrondissement....

", the international competition for new roses held each June in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Some of his other rose creations include:

• 'Mme. Caroline Testout' - (Hybrid Tea
  Hybrid Tea
  Hybrid Tea is a cultivar group of roses, created by cross-breeding two different types of roses, initially by hybridising Hybrid Perpetuals with Tea roses...
  
  ) 1890
• 'Beaute Inconstante' - (Tea) 1892
• 'Souvenir du President Carnot' - (Hybrid Tea) 1894
• 'Antoine Rivoire' - (Hybrid Tea) 1895
• 'Mme. Abel Chatenay' - (Hybrid Tea) 1895
• 'Mme. Ravary' - (Pernetiana) 1899
• 'Prince de Bulgarie' - (Hybrid Tea) 1900
• 'Soleil d'Or' - (Pernetiana) 1900
• 'Etoile de France' - (Hybrid Tea) 1904

• 'Lyon Rose' - (Pernetiana) 1907
• 'Mrs. Aaron Ward' - (Hybrid Tea) 1907
• 'Château de Clos Vougeot' - (Hybrid Tea) 1908
• 'Mrs. Arthur Robert Waddell' - (Hybrid Tea) 1909
• 'Rayon d'Or' - (Hybrid Tea) 1910
• 'Sunburst' - (Pernetiana) 1912
• 'Daily Mail Rose' - (Hybrid Tea) 1913
• 'Admiral Ward' - (Hybrid Tea) 1915
• 'Souvenir de Claudius Pernet' - (Hybrid Tea) 1920
• 'Etoile de Feu' - (Pernetiana) 1921
• 'Souvenir de Georges Pernet' - (Pernetiana) 1921
• 'Souvenir de Mme. Boullet' - (Hybrid Tea) 1921
• 'Toison d'Or' - (Hybrid Tea) 1921
• 'Mrs. Herbert Stevens' - (Climbing Hybrid Tea) 1922
• 'Angèle Pernet' - (Hybrid Tea) 1924
• 'Ville de Paris' - (Pernetiana) 1925
• 'Cuba' - (Pernetiana) 1926
• 'Julien Potin' - (Hybrid Tea) 1927

Both of Joseph Pernet-Ducher's sons were killed in action the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He named the roses 'Souvenir de Claudius Pernet' and the 'Souvenir de Georges Pernet' in their memory. With no heir to follow in his footsteps, Joseph Pernet-Ducher arranged for Jean Gaujard to take over the business.