Adorning a small cabinet in the sitting room, these roses are the perfect shade of sunshiny yellow.
I have to enjoy them while I can! These old-fashioned roses only bloom in late Spring...like right now! The tall arching canes are loaded with garlands of small double- and triple-petalled blossoms. The ancestor of this rose was originally introduced from Persia into Europe prior to the 16th century.
Rosa foetida (Austrian Briar) was likely a parent of my yellow roses. Research I did recently indicates that my rose is Rosa foetida harisonii, or Harrison's yellow rose, best known as the Yellow Rose of Texas. This is what graces my Back Garden with sunny blossoms each Spring.
This is the rose that pioneer women loved so much that they brought seeds and cuttings to plant as they headed West.
Prior to my research I was convinced that my yellow roses were Austrian Briar, but my Internet search indicated that the Briar roses (Austrian Briar and Austrian Copper) are single-petalled. Mine aren't.
The Back Garden is filled with the scent exuded by the canes only when the roses are blooming. Cedar, saffron, frankincense, with a light sparkle of lemon, perfumes the gardens abundantly. The blossoms smell faintly lemony with an underlying, very mild old rose scent. The fragrance of these roses has been described as, "medicinal" or "licorice-like" in some literature. Perhaps I'm romanticizing its perfume, but to me their scent is that of the incense of be-jewelled Persian palaces of yore.
The canes are tall and arching and sucker freely creating a thorny "rose forest". These roses need room! Lots of room. They tend to form dense, tall thickets and are not suitable for narrow garden borders!
Harrison's yellow does need...space...and lots of it, but it's worth devoting a large chunk of garden to, if you have room. These roses, once established are drought-resistant and don't need pampering or fertilizing.
These lovely roses should be gathered just when the flowers are about halfway open or they simply fall apart. When gathered at the proper time they will last several days in water. Upon cutting the wood ceases to exude scent.
I've already harvested both blooms and buds to dry for potpourri next Spring, for myself and for gifting.
Once dried, blossoms and buds will be stored in waxed paper lined boxes until needed.
Perfect yellow roses! Tough, fragrant, beloved of pioneer women! Loved by Texans. Loved by me, too.
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Abundance is...these!
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