(1978)  Page(s) 157.  
 
‘Baby Faurax’. Shortest. Amethyst. Remontant. P4. H1. *
R. multiflora astonishes us again with flowers of dark amethyst in ‘Baby Faurax’. they are small, very double, and fragrant. The plant does not distinguish itself by growing very much, being stumpy and rather ugly, which is a shame because the flowers are pretty. I recommend anyone to try it, because this is the nearest thing to a blue rose, and an interesting curiosity. The best way to grow it is in a pot in the greenhouse; let it stand outside after flowering. It is certainly not a Miniature, despite the descriptions to be found in some catalogues. It was raised by Leonard Lille of Lyon, and introduced in 1924. Speculation about its parentage has not found an answer, apart from a suggestion it may be a dwarf version of one of the Multiflora Climbers.

(1978)  Page(s) 209.  
 
'Bicolor' Short Pink & white Late spring
It is possible, though not certain, that this is one of the earliest Scotch Roses, for a list in 1822 refers the 'Large Double Two-Coloured Scotch Rose' to R. spinosissima bicolor; Modern Roses 7 refers the varieties 'Grahamstown' and 'Staffa' here, so the message seems to be, when in doubt call it bicolor; there has been much doubt in identifying Scotch Roses.

(1978)  Page(s) 213.  
 
'Canary Bird' Tall, Yellow, Late Spring
A joy each spring, when its dainty flowers turn the branches into yellow gauntlets arched down for perfect viewing. The colour is clear yellow, fresh and spring-like, not brazen in the slightest. A pleasant perfume surrounds the bush, and the ferny leaves are a pleasure all through the summer. The flowers are small, yet large in proportion to the leaves and stems behind them. This may not enjoy the more exposed and chilly areas, but the cost of a bush is slight compared with the pleasure that will ensue should the experiment be successful.

The species ought to be R. xanthina spontanea, but we are not sure whether it is now in cultivation. 'Canary Bird' was long thought to be that species, but appears to be a seedling probably raised in a Botanic Garden, and quietly passed around. Some of the stocks in Britain come from a fine form in the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh.

(1978)  Page(s) 141.  
 
'Easlea’s Golden Rambler'. Climber. yellow. summer. Perfume 3 (on an ascending scale of 1-10); Hips 2 (on an ascending scale of merit of 1-10); A specialist item of interest. The name is misleading; think of it as Easlea’s Golden Climber instead. It has large yellow flowers, with red marks on the outer petals. A vigorous grower, slightly more lax than most climbers because of its longer side shoots, it is best planted where its extremities are not too far out of reach, on a fence or pergola. Walter Easlea originally worked for William Paul & Son of Waltham Cross, until he made his own nursery at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. Hybridizing was his chief interest, and he raised a Hybrid Tea called ‘Lamia’, which was an unusual colour, like smoked salmon with a bit more red in it. Readers of Rose Annuals of the period cannot fail to gather the impression that Easlea enjoyed the affection and respect of his contemporaries. No parentage is given for his Rambler, and it was introduced in ‘32.

(1978)  Page(s) 86.  
 
Golden Dawn. Medium. yellow. Remontant. Perfume 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Hips 2 on a scale of 1-10. ** (2 star rose, - a 5 star is Harkness’s favourite) Patrick Grant of Macksville, NSW, Australia set an example to all rose breeders by his modest total of three introductions of which two were great successes; it is not necessary to be the most senior of rosarians to remember with pleasure ‘Golden Dawn’ and ‘Salmon Spray’. His third was ‘Midnight Sun’, quite unfamiliar to me..... ‘Golden Dawn’ is an interesting yellow Hybrid Tea, one of the most reliable growers of that colour, and with handsome and unusual leaves. I have always felt there was something very interesting for the breeder here, but I got no reward for the work I put into it. The parentage tells us very little, ‘Elegante’ x ‘Ethel Somerset’; for those two came from Pernet-Ducher and Alexander Dickson without a hint of their antecedents. The soft yellow flowers are large, and tend to look at their best when other Hybrid Teas are taking a rest, particularly in the autumn. By the time they are wide open, one usually notices a ‘split’, in other words the petals are not folded around the centre in a perfect cone, but are tucked back among themselves. When ‘Peace’ became available, few people could see any reason to keep ‘Golden Dawn’, but it is still a good rose. Introduced by Hazelwood Bros., Epping, NSW; and in Britain in 1929.

(1978)  Page(s) 158.  
 
Golden Salmon, The promise of 'Coral Cluster' was abundantly fulfilled by 'Golden Salmon'. Here, and for the first time, rose colours moved into that part of the spectrum we call orange. How and why the Multiflora Hybrids broke into completely new colours by a series of sports is a mystery. It would be an intersting enquiry, to seek a relationship between the act of sporting and the formation of the colour compounds.
De Ruiter discovered this sport in plants of 'Superb' and he named it 'Goldlachs'. It was introduced in 1926. He followed it in 1929 with one of his own sports, said to hold its colour better, for 'Golden Salmon unfortunately ended its career in disgrace from magenta. 'Golden Salmon Superior' (or Improved in Britain) was thenceforth generally grown instead.

(1978)  Page(s) 208.  
 
R. spinosissima altaica...Western and Central Asia. The name represents one of its homes, the Altai Mountains, which straddle the border between Russia and Mongolia, and give rise to the perfectly correct inference that this is an extremely hardy rose. It blooms early, usually before mid-summer, with glistening creamy white flowers, which are purely single of five petals, set along thin branches, in comparison with which they look large. The scent is fresh and pleasant. The shining maroon black hips are a compelling sight in late summer and autumn....It is not so thorny as most Scotch Roses, indeed the upper part of the branches is often quite smooth, the slender prickles and bristles appearing more at the base of the stems. This rose will sucker freely....Wilhelm Kordes used it in the hope of breeding frost-proof roses for northern Europe; and similar endeavours took place in Canada and the United states. This is is an ancestor of the attractive shrub 'Golden Wings'...and of 'Frülingsmorgen' from Germany. Through 'Frülingsmorgen', it has some ancestral credit for 'Picasso' and all the 'hand-painted' line therefrom....It has borne other names, R. baltica, R. grandiflora, and R. sibirica; it was for a time considered a separate species as R. altaica.

(1978)  
 
xHulthemosa hardii Some books claim that H. persica was the pollen parent of 'Hardii'. But I believe the truth is the other way round, that the seeds and not the pollen came from H. persica around 1832. When this seedling flowered it was clearly seen to be a hybrid...An effort was made to guess at the identity of the pollen parent, and opinion fixed upon a nearby plant alleged to be R. clinophylla. That guesss has become fact....All I can say is that some people are easily convinced!...The flowers are larger and paler than those of H. persica. The leaves are pinnate...and furnished with stipules. The hips are smooth. This is a beautiful rose to grow, and flowers two or three weeks later than H. persica. It can be budded quite easily, and is best grown as a pot plant under cool greenhouse conditions in colder climates. The main drawback is mildew....

(1978)  Page(s) 125.  
 
He [Le Grice] had been working with ‘Mrs. Beckwith’ a yellow Hybrid Tea introduced by Pernet-Ducher in 1922, which had the failing of producing white flowers in its first flush, like many other yellow roses in those days, such as ‘Julien Potin’ and even ‘Phyllis Gold’.

(1978)  Page(s) 71.  
 
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam. Henry Bennett introduced this light pink rose in 1882, and its importance lay in its pollen. There’s a study in the Rose Annual 1956 by James Alexander Gamble of Maryland in which the author had industriously examined the contemporary edition of Modern Roses, and found that of 3575 varieties whose parentage was stated, no fewer than 1300 could be traced back to ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’. To the rosarians who grew it, ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ was known as a feeble plant with perfect flowers. D’ombrain remarked that ‘a weaker and more unsatisfactory grower than Lady Mary Fitzwilliam it would be difficult to find’. The exhibitors consoled themselves by accepting that there were worse things than a rose which put all its strength into its flowers, and they nursed it on standard stems, in the belief it was a little better grown that way. We can only note with surprise that such powers of procreation lay within such weakly loins. Through its pollen it had three particularly significant children, ‘Mme. Caroline Testout’, ‘Mrs. W. J. Grant’ and ‘Antoine Rivoire’, through which it became ancestor of very many Hybrid Teas. Its own parentage was ‘Devoniensis’ x ‘Victor Verdier’. If C. C. Hurst could point to four ‘stud Chinas’, this rose could be taken as a ‘stud Hybrid Tea’. It is no wonder that a consequence of its debility was its disappearance, which set modern rosarians searching for it. Gordon Rowley, then of the John Innes Horticultural Institution in Bayfordbury, Hertford, England, received from two different sources a rose alleged to be ‘Lady Mary Fitzwillam’. The coincidence that both sources submitted the same variety convinced the rose world that it was the true variety. I received stock of it by Mr. Rowley’s generosity, and it certainly appeared to be a lavish provider of pollen, and a mean supplier of seed, bearing out its recorded breeding history. The colour was deeper than I expected, and although the growth was feeble by modern standards, it was not beyond forgiveness. I was surprised at the irregular formation of the sexual organs, my experience being that successful parents are more likely to be sweetly formed in that respect; although it is not an immutable rule. Alas for all this endeavour and goodwill! It now appears someone has located the same rose, and identified it as ‘Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller’, introduced by McGredy in 1909.