Planting a Yellow Rose

This is not to say that I have no other roses in my garden. Life would not be complete without a few good reds, a generous handful of peach-tinted varieties and a sprinkling of whites. This year we may acquire one or two striped roses, and I have a feeling that they may prove addictive. However, for the moment, the yellow roses hold sway in my heart.

Everyone should have at least one passion. If you are lucky, you will have many more, and if you are unlucky, you will have more than time, energy, and finances allow. I am passionate about yellow roses and consider myself very lucky.

The first yellow rose that really impressed me was an anonymous climber or rambler that I saw a long time ago, when I was driving through farm country in rural western New York State. This extremely vigorous plant was scaling a trellis that was leaning against an old barn. It was covered with small, medium yellow blooms that were so beautiful that I stopped the car and went to the door of the farmhouse to ask the owner the name of the variety. There was no one home at the time, and I never had an opportunity to go back.

The yellow barn rose whetted my appetite, which was further honed when I saw a picture of a yellow ‘Lady Banks’ rose (Rosa banksiae lutea). This free-flowering rambler had been trained up a tree somewhere in the southern United States, and had succeeded so well that the blossom-laden canes hung down from the branches like a yellow silk curtain. I wanted yellow roses, and I especially wanted a yellow Lady Banks rose.

As with many things the object of my desire was not right for me. Lady Banks roses are on the list of potentially invasive plants in this state. While I would have no objections to a rose taking over my property,