An American woman who lost almost everything in Hurricane Katrina has gifted Bermudian rose lovers with a special symbol of hope – a mystery rose hardy enough to survive one of the worst storms in history.

In 2005, the rambling rose was the sole survivor out of 450 antique rose plants, belonging to rose lover Peggy Martin of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

Mrs. Martin gifted the Bermuda Rose Society with several cuttings from this rose, when she visited the Island to act as a rose judge at the Annual Exhibition.

Before the hurricane Mrs. Martin was a mainstay of the American Old Garden Rose Society.

She not only lost her beautiful garden in Hurricane Katrina, but also her home and her husband's shrimp boat. Most devastating of all, her elderly parents were killed in the hurricane.

"My parents names were Rosalie and Pivon Dupuy," said Mrs. Martin who now lives in Gonzales, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge. "They were both 82 and were having medical problems. They said 'save yourself; we want you to live your life. We are old, and we want to stay here'."

The Dupuys hadn't evacuated their home for a storm since hurricane Camille in 1969.

Mrs. Martin tried several times to get her parents to evacuate, and later officials went in and also tried to get them out, but they refused to leave their home.

"My father had faith in the levees," said Mrs. Martin. "And they didn't break in our area, the water just went over them. There was a 30 foot tidal surge."

The Dupuys house broke apart during the storm. Four days later, their bodies were found outside. For a long time, Mrs. Martin was in such a state of shock she found it hard to function.

Finally, after a month she went back with her husband, MJ, to review the wreckage left behind in their home. She had maintained a garden on a large piece of property for 35 years and had been heavily into old roses since 1989.

Out of all her roses, only one rose survived, a mystery rambling rose that she chalked it up for dead. Not only had it been subjected to high winds, but it had been submerged in 20 feet of seawater.

"My father was right," said Mrs. Martin. "The levees had held so well that after the water rushed over the top the water became trapped. The levees had to be broken to let the water out again."

She'd been given the rose by a friend, who got it from their mother-in-law, Faye Dupriest. The rose had no thorns and had luscious pink blooms.

"After the storm, at first I didn't want another garden," she said, "and I especially didn't want any more roses."

But her friends in the rose world wouldn't let her rest. She received 160 roses from friends all over the United States. Her friends outside of the United States couldn't send roses because of various environmental health codes, so they sent rose books instead.

As the time passed, she was amazed to see that the rambling rose not only survived, but flourished despite all it had been through.

"I thought 'how did this survive when everything else looks like Hiroshima'," said Mrs. Martin. "Everything was covered by this thick, marshy, muddy water with a lot of this marsh grass in it.

"When all of that came down, we had three or four weeks of almost 100 degree heat and it was dry, no rain. Everything dried up to this ash looking stuff."

But the rose continued to flourish and for Mrs. Martin, it became a tremendous symbol of hope for her. "Some people might think I am crazy," she said, "but I think it was a gift from my parents."

Dr. William Welch, professor and landscape horticulturist at Texas A&M University visited what was left of Mrs. Martin's garden, and had a look at the rose.

Nobody in the rose world knew the identity of the tough little rose. It was a mystery rose.

Dr. Welch took cuttings and passed them around to a few key people. Then later, he came up with an idea.

"He said in the middle of the night something came to him and said 'name the rose 'Peggy Martin'," said Mrs. Martin. "And he did."

The Peggy Martin rose is now widely available at plant nurseries in the United States.

It sells for approximately $9 in the United States, and for every sale, a dollar goes to the 'Zone IX Horticulture Restoration Fund'.

The fund is helping to restore green spaces, parks and gardens in New Orleans, and many other places badly hit by the storm.

Mrs. Martin said that five years later things still aren't back to normal in their old parish in Louisiana.

"My husband missed having the shrimp boat, so he bought another about a year ago," said Mrs. Martin.

"Some of the guys go back, but the wives don't want to go back.

"The area hasn't at all returned to normal. I have friends in New Orleans and their home owners' insurance is astronomical.

"I think one set of our friends went back and rebuilt a house. But their insurance is $12,000 a year. So now they are stuck with this home they rebuilt. They can't sell it. What Katrina didn't finish the insurance and other problems did."

Members of the Bermuda Rose Society will be growing the gifted Peggy Martin rose cuttings.

It blooms a fushia pink, but turns a lighter pink as it ages. It is a huge rambler, and needs room.

Because it doesn't have any thorns, it is great around children's play areas.