Magazine  (2015)  Page(s) 25. Vol 37, No. 1.  
 
Patricia Routley. If I Could Only Grow Ten Roses.
What do I call this next one? There is a beautiful photo of it in Botanica’s Roses on p239 with the incorrect caption of ‘Feu Pernet-Ducher’. Someone moved the labels in David Ruston’s garden where this photo was taken and the photo is that of the rose grown by David as ‘Kootenay’. However, David has since admitted that his ‘Kootenay’ might not be the correct one. Just what is it then? I lean towards Mrs. Harold Brocklebank (Dickson 1907). It was obviously a much loved rose and it came to me from Sheila Gravett as ‘Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria’; from two different gardens in Pemberton; and once from Kojonup. I need to have it in my garden for the long hot days of summer when it is the star performer.

Magazine  (2011)  Page(s) 2. Vol 33, No. 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Below left, 'Mrs. Harold Brocklebank' (Dickson 1907), preserved by the Lynch family in WA.
Below, "Guppy St.", found in several old gardens in WA, is to be planted close by for comparison. Its petal count varies.

Article (newspaper)  (Jan 2009)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 

Patricia Routley:  In Pemberton there used to grow two bushes of a beautiful cream hybrid tea.     They grew on the side of a vacant block in Guppy Street, opposite St. Joseph’s School and existed very happily on their own with no fertiliser, no water, no pruning, no anything at all, except the love and admiration from the few people who knew about them.     They were very old bushes.   Jacqui from the hairdresser’s told me of them;  Lorraine from the pharmacy used to pick a bloom or two for her table; and I am sure many a child from the school  knew those roses.    I used to visit them whenever I went to Pemberton just to see and marvel and wonder who they were (note the ‘who’, for these old bushes became my friends.)    This happy association was not to last, however.   Sometime in the last year, someone lit a fire to burn some rubbish and the two roses were horrifically burnt and when I saw them soon after, they were just blackened canes.    One did not survive, but the southern one did and is now putting out a few feeble blooms.    Because I cannot resist beauty, I had taken cuttings in 2004,  and sent a few east to South Australia as well.   I put my bush in a too-shady place and I will have to move it next winter.     But at least I have it, and it is safe here.    I don’t know what this rose is, but I have two very likely candidates to consider. Mrs. Harold Brocklebank,  bred by Dickson in 1907.    Hazlewood’s (NSW) 1922 catalogue said: “Tall, rampant growing, non-climbing sorts suitable for back row.   Creamy white with buff centre.   The outer petals sometimes tinted salmon rose.    The blooms are large, full, perfect shape and sweetly scented.”  The other possibile identification may be that of ‘Kootenay’, also bred by Dickson in 1917.   Brundrett’s Nursery in 1918 said of it  “A magnificent rose of large size, globular form, and good substance, with vigorous and erect growth.    The blooms, which are produced in great profusion are a beautiful primrose colour”   Hazlewood, 1922 added: “Where shaded, the blooms are primrose yellow, but otherwise it can only be called a creamy white.    Large, very full blooms,  but in our climate not the improved ‘Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria’ it was claimed to be.    The plant mildews, but is very vigorous”.  Lorna Drake in Pemberton inherited a similar rose at the front steps of her cottage, and the picture here is  Lorna’s rose, growing in my garden.  This one seems to have a more upright and taller growth than the old and rather spreading hybrid tea I now temporarily call “Guppy Street”.     It seems the last old struggling mother plant is definitely doomed, for its home has now been rezoned from residential to commercial use.   The loss of these old Roses is so poignant as one seems to associate their beauty with our youth.      
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old Time is still a-flying:  And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.

Magazine  (2000)  Page(s) 13. Vol 41, No. 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Ron Goward,  A Rose Called Brocklebank. 
Growing up as kids in Chermside.....

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 396.  
 
Mrs. Harold Brocklebank Hybrid Tea, creamy white, center buff, base soft yellow, 1907, Dickson, A.

Book  (1955)  Page(s) 90.  
 
Frank Penn, New Zealand: 'Mrs. Harold Brocklebank'….. are now only a memory

Book  (1953)  Page(s) 74.  
 
Dr. A. S. Thomas, Victoria: Yellow Roses: Before discussing any varieties in detail, it seems advisable to arrive at some limits to which we may go in using the words “yellow” and “cream”. When Mrs. Harold Brocklebank is grown under normal outdoor conditions, it is almost white, but, when covered, it is a definite yellow, and one still hears old exhibitors reminiscing about the depth of colour of blooms shown by Mr. Mann, of Ceres. If this variety is to gain a place in our list, Mrs. David McKee, Phoebe, and Duchess of Portland are all eligible, all being deeper in colour.

Book  (1950)  
 
p18 G. Russ, Deepdene, Victoria: One of the finest roses I have ever seen was a 'Mrs. Harold Brocklebank' shown by Mr. Mann of Ceres, near Geelong.

p133-3 Frank Penn, NZ: It is interesting to find in the Australian lists such old roses of merit as 'Mrs. Harold Brocklebank' and …., which have long ago been dropped in New Zealand – goodness knows why.

Book  (1950)  Page(s) 38.  
 
p38 'Mrs. Harold Brocklebank'. HT (A. Dickson, 1907), Double Purpose, Strongly Perfumed, Light sandy soil, (One of) the best of roses. Growth to average height.

p261 ........the tea scent is found in .......and Mrs. Harold Brocklebank.

Book  (1947)  Page(s) 13.  
 
Harry H. Hazlewood.  Novelty
Richer fragrance: Autumn, Chateau de Clos Vougeot, Crimson Glory, Dame Edith Helen, Girona, Etoile de Hollande, Georg Arends, Gruss an Teplitz, Hoosier Beauty, Laurent Carle, Malar Ros, Marcia Stanhope, Mrs. Bryce Allan, Mrs. H. Brocklebank, Mrs. W. E. Lenon, Ophelia, President H. Hoover, Radiance, Rose Marie, Souv. de P. Ketten, Talisman and many others.