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The following descriptions were provided courtesy of Patricia Routley, Australia:
“EDNA WALLING”
1991 Heritage Roses in Australia journal. Vol 13, No. 2.
p15. Trevor Nottle. ....There seems to be a number of roses which individual gardeners who knew her, or commissioned gardens from her hand, recall as being used frequently by Miss Walling in executing her plans.
P16. ....so I believe that there is no Edna Walling rose, but a whole group which she found useful and which were at the time not known by their names as she collected and propagated them from old gardens. In different phases of her work, she probably liked or had stocks of, several varieties. Each one became known by reputation and tradition as the Edna Walling rose.
Be that as it may, let us for the moment, concentrate on the climber, pink fading to green. – Patricia.
1991 Heritage Roses in Australia journal. Vol 13, No. 2.
p17. A Pink Rose Fading to Green. [by] Beryl Warne, Victoria.
The rose commonly known as The Edna Walling Rose (Garden Journal, April-May 1986 – Roses for Country Gardens) is an enigmatic lady. Some thirty three years ago [1958] a dear friend of my family made a gift of “Cottage and Garden in Australia” by Edna Walling to my husband and me at the time of our marriage. This book became the first of our collection of her works and was the beginning of our interest in her gardens. One day, years ago, when wandering down Bickleigh Vale Road I came into conversation with a resident of one of Edna Walling’s houses. She told me of a person, Peg Widdows, who interested herself in the gathering of plants Edna Walling loved. I was delighted to meet Peg who kindly gave me cuttings of a rose. This rose had been given to her by a neighbour’s mother, the rose having come from an Edna Walling garden in Hawthorn. Although the day of my visit to Peg was exceedingly hot and the season inappropriate for taking rose cuttings, I accepted her offer of a cutting and hoped for the best. The best I hoped for I received. Its soft pink blooms fading to green and its light grey-green serrated-edged leaves combine to bring a yearly pleasure which is eagerly awaited. It flourishes equally well in the sandy soil at St. George’s Manse, East St. Kilda as it did in the harder and harsher climate in our garden at Woodend and is now flourishing in our mountain garden in Kalorama on Mt. Dandenong. My husband and I began to refer, between ourselves, to the plant as the “Edna Walling Rose”. Therefore, if it is commonly known as The Edna Walling Rose we must take responsibility for this misnomer. I think this could well be the rose that is photographed by Edna Walling for her book ‘A Gardener’s Log’, 1969 reprint of 1948 edition. Of this rose Edna Walling wrote “the Bee’s Rose, so named because we always credited them with its creation, never having succeeded in running to earth any other name for it. It is pale, pale pink.”
I have heard that Edna Walling did speak of a ‘green rose’ and also I was told she imported a rose from America. Could these two roses have anything to do with the parentage of the Bee’s Rose? I took this beauty to Jan Laidlaw’s HRA Open Day in Geelong in 1981 where it caused much excitement. My husband and I overheard someone in the garden say they “had to have an Edna Walling Rose.” I quickly interrupted to correct the belief that this was its name. The rose pictured in the Garden Journal referred to earlier in this article is a descendant of the cuttings which I was privileged to obtain from Peg Widdows and is the one that I have been pleased to make available to Susan Iirvine (Bleak House) and others. Some have thought that it might be Apple Blossom but I am not convinced. In the meantime I will continue to associate it with Edna Walling and her Bee’s Rose planted in many of her gardens, until such time as this enigmatic lady reveals her secrets.
1991 Heritage Roses in Australia journal. Vol 13, No. 2.
p18. The Edna Walling Green Rose – Again. [by] Emily Darley. Blue Mountains.
As I have grown what we know as The Edna Walling Green Rose for the last twenty years, I add my little bit of experience to assist in this delightful mystery. My plant was bought from a lady in Vermont, Victoria who advertised in the Trading Paper, Roses on Own Roots for Sale. We went down there from Balwyn and got our plant. We were warned that it was vigorous. It is. Our plant at the farm rambles to 8’ and spreads out in all directions and has to be cut back regularly (if you want to get into the house). The thorns are lethal, the leaves green and finely serrated. The flowers cover the branches, are single in large pale, pale pink clusters – very strong inflorescence. The flowers stay on the stems and turn greenish – the whole bush is stunning. The buds are a deeper pink and have a slight briar scent, which remains when first opened. Once flowering in summer. The hips are small, round and red.
1997. “ Susan Irvine’s Rose Gardens” , 1992 & 1994. This edition 1997
p106. .....on the west fence I planted four of the superb rambler known in Victoria as The Edna Walling Rose. What its real name is, I do not know, but the story is that, while Edna Walling did not breed it, she had used it in many gardens that she designed. It flowers late – into December – and bears great clusters of single, cupped blooms, white with the faintest pink flush. As it ages, the blooms take on a greenish tinge. It grows very rapidly to a great height .....
p246. The Edna Walling Rose – Clusters of small blooms (single, palest pink fading to greenish-white. Early summer. [note – the calendar summer in Australia commences on December 1. – Patricia]
1999 Peter Cox Australian Roses
p46. Edna Walling Used in gardens designed by Edna Walling and later named in her honour. Multiflora rambling rose. Large clusters of semi-double, cream flowers with pink and green tints, in late spring. Large leaflets. Globular hips. 10mm in diameter. Flower 12 petals, 40 mm, 10 to 346. Rambler: 6m x 5m.
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