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'Squatter's Dream' rose Reviews & Comments
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Nice rose. I like it. Purely a single at this stage, and fades to cream/white fairly quickly, after opening a nice apricot. I originally selected it to tie in with a Magnolia grandiflora nearby, and it will work well for that.
The foliage is looking a bit odd. Grown in the same soil as the others, but looks to be a bit short on nitrogen or something. Actually the slightly motley look got me thinking of RMV, but I'm hoping it just needs a bit of extra food.
Forgot to sniff it (must do that). Bees approve.
Edit: Sniffed it. Nice scent. Not one of the all time most awesome scents, but still very pleasant.
Update: Foliage is fine now. After thinking things through I figured it was probably short of nitrogen, or at least that was the most likely suspect. It's possible the spot it was planted in just happened to have less manure and more wood shavings than average, and may have suffered from nitrogen drawdown.
Anyway, I gave it a shot of urea since that's the easiest way of adding nitrogen without complicating factors. Foliage has come good now, so that seems to have answered that question.
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Could I ask those who grow or visit 'Squatter's Dream' to check your plants for prickles please?
Some references, older and recent, refer to the absence of prickles.
The plants I photographed at the HRIA Repository at Renmark and at Thomas for Roses were not unarmed (will add photos) and I was wondering whether this rose varies in its prickliness, or if it tends to drop its prickles as the wood matures.
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Height for 'Squatter's Dream' altered as per references (min 75cm) and comments in Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden (St. Kilda Botanic Gardens) comments (max 200cm.)
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Thank you, Patricia. In the photo below all the yellow roses are SD, both sides of the path. Hard to tell from the photo, but the tallest are well above my head, and I am six feet tall.
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I am worried about the height. In the earlier refs 'Squatter's Dream' was said to be semi-double and compact 1923-86; dwarf 1923-116; low 1923-41; and bedding 1925-50.
The rose Trevor Nottle found at Anlaby and presumed to be 'Squatter's Dream' was single, tall and apparently had "comparatively few thorns". But Pat Toolan photographed the Anlaby rose and noted "thin, black and strong" thorns.
This is where knowing the provenance of a rose is worth its weight in gold. As far as I understand it, the provenance of the 'Squatter's Dream' in commerce in Australia is [Anlaby-1; Nottle-2; Nieuwesteeg-3; etc].
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What about the SD in commerce in the US? Is there any available information on its growth habit?
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In 1928-99 it was described in the U.S. as "ground cover....with low spreading growth".
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Thanks, Patricia. Fingers crossed (again) for authenticity. It is a truly lovely rose, no matter what it is. But I see I may have been too hard on the St Kilda Botanic Garden.
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I have a vague memory of a suggestion by someone, that SD in commerce in Aus may be Mrs Oakley Fisher (which reaches 5' x 5' at Sissinghurst, according to one reference). It would be nice to do a side-by-side comparison. Eg if they're both flowering next time someone with trained eyes (or a camera) goes to Renmark.
Of course, in the 1980s when many found roses were identified, the researchers didn't have the access to international texts and pictures that we have; and rose books generally focus on pretty images rather than on diagnostic aspects of a rose.
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I've had a good look at the 'Squatter's Dream' in the HRIA Repository at Renmark with that suggestion in mind Margaret, but it's definitely not 'Mrs Oakley Fisher'.
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Thanks for doing that Billy; it's one uncertainty out of the way!
Margaret
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The Argus Newspaper 10th November 1923.
By using the pollen of the Gigantea, Mr Clark, after years of effort, has achieved
the unique distinction of having produced dwarf perpetual bloomers.
Squatter's Dream is the first of its race. Its handsome foliage is surmounted by
rich golden-yellow blooms, the result of two crosses with the Gigantea.
Two others mentioned- Mrs Frank Guthrie and Lorraine Lee.
"I don't know of three busier roses than these," says Mr Clark;"They never seem to
rest."
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