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UPDATE:  03 April 2005

** FRANCE **

‘Primula’ and her sisters

or The Lutea clan

by Odile Masquelier, TRN Correspondent, France

The month of April was slowly advancing; tulips and narcissi lit up the garden, herbaceous and tree peonies were the cynosure of every eye.   No visitor was yet thinking about roses.

 

Isolated and protected by a comfortable hedge of golden thuyas, a large, south-facing shrub was arching its supple boughs weighed down by innumerable buds.   Only a well-trained and attentive eye could have made out, amongst the tiny, dark green folioles, a few miniature rosebuds; swollen and about to open.   The next morning, two small corollas had opened out; small, simple, solitary whorls of a transparent, bright yellow. By noon, there were ten of them; by dusk, a hundred.   ‘Primula’ was in flower.

 

‘Primula’ or R. primula , according to horticulturists, owes its name precisely to that delicate yellow and, perhaps equally, to its fresh and irresistible primrose scent.   This scent blends itself with the odour of incense that emanates from its foliage, creating a unique fragrance that is unforgettable.   On account of this aromatic scent, it is called, ‘The incense rose’ across the Channel and beyond.

 

If the weather’s not too warm, our rose shrub will extend its flowering period over several weeks.   Bending beneath the weight of its flowers under such conditions, ‘Primula’ then puts on an unforgettable show.   Then, when no longer in bloom, it resembles a giant fern exhaling a fragrance of incense, especially after a Spring shower.

 

On their first Spring visit to the garden of La Bonne Maison - where, planted in well-drained soil and gravel, ‘Primula’ reaches the respectable size of 4m in width by 3.5m in height (~13ft x 11.5ft) - few roselovers recognize this shrub as a rose.   Once the realization settles over them, though, all are won over by it and wish to have a plant for their own gardens.

 

 

Where does it come from?

 

‘Primula’ comes from ancient Persia - present-day Uzbekistan - where an American, F.N. Meyer, discovered it in 1910 near Samarkand; the legendary city of Tamerlane. (1)

 

Samarkand is a city of countless domes, cupolas glazed in azure and indigo surrounded by fine gilt.   It was the locus and apogee of the Timurid civilization, a city where, even today, carved porches and polychrome mosaics offer an boundless variety of vegetal motifs.

 

Omnipresent in Persian art, such vegetation can still be found in Samarkand; although archaeologists and historians make only very slight mention of the gardens of Tamerlane.   We know, through the accounts of European travellers of that time (who also mutated his name), that sumptuous gardens gave shade to the Persian and Mongol palaces.   In Samarkand itself, they served as a setting for the lavish entertainments given by Timur Leng for his foreign guests.   Fruit and shade trees graced the vast garden of Bagh-i-Dil-Kusha ( “the garden that opens the heart”) where Timur received ambassadors, “...installed on a dais, sitting on cushions of broached silk, before a pool in which red apples float.” (2)

 

“In that same garden of Bagh-i-Dil-Kusha, there flowed a stream called Kan-i-Gul ( Mine of Roses).   Hence, a walk with a double line of white poplars led the visitor to the Gate of Turquoises…” (3)   One cannot thus imagine oneself wandering about the palaces and gardens of Tamerlane without lending an ear to the babbling of fountains or inhaling the delicious freshness of rosewater.  

And yet, it was beyond the walls covered in blue and golden tiles, far from the fountains, in arid scrub seldom known to gardeners, that the wild lutea roses flowered.   They would hasten to come into bloom after the first March rains.   It was here in early Spring, in crumbled and baked earth a few kilometres from Samarkand, that Meyer discovered ‘Primula,’ the rose with incensed leaves.  

 

‘Primula’ is often mistaken for her sisters, R. xanthina spontanea and R. ecae , whose blooms follow soon afterwards and are also natives of China and Turkestan.   R. xanthina spontanea , from Northern China and Korea, is a hardier rose with bright yellow buds and also with fine, dark green foliage.   It is a less attractive shrub, stiff in habit, that suckers and rapidly overruns its neighbours.

 

R. ecae, from Afghanistan and also confused with R. xanthina , has flowers very like those of ‘Primula’.   R. ecae flowers at the same time as Ceanothus (native “California lilac”).   Both R. ecae and R. xanthina stand out against a background of Ceanothus papillosus and C. thyrsiflorus repens at La Bonne Maison .   At their feet bloom steely blue Chinese irises, or I. tectorum, in full flower at the same time and, when no longer in flower, the irises form an ideal groundcover that lasts all Summer.

 

R. hugonis , “the little golden Chinese rose,” which is easy to propagate, remains the great favourite.   Its solitary, cup-shaped corollas, all along its boughs, are of a bright, light yellow.   They open out only if the weather is dry.   The foliage, which is small, smooth, and dark green, also gives the impression of a giant fern.   When in flower, R. hugonis is a fountain of gold, 3 by 3m or more (~10ft around) if given room.

 

‘Cantabriensis,’ a semi-spontaneous rose that turned up in the Cambridge Botanical Garden, is of the same size and has the same foliage as R. hugonis .   Its flowers are identical but of a pale, buttery yellow, and they open out fully, even in wet weather.   The simultaneous flowering of these two roses makes a remarkable show.   Small, round, reddish-brown hips appear early on at the beginning of Summer but, unfortunately, fall all too soon.   These two roses flower exactly at the same time as our Clematis montana ‘Tetrarose.’

 

The appropriately named ‘Canary Bird’ has 5cm (~2in), cup-shaped flowers of a rich, golden yellow.   Its supple habit, its high stature of 2.5m by 2m (~8 x 6.5ft), and early flowering make this Primula descendant an ideal companion for prunus.   In front of ‘Canary Bird,’ I have placed ‘Springtime,’ a hybrid of R. xanthina created by the Belgian Louis Lens.

‘Springtime’ is of a lighter, softer yellow, with an outspreading and supple habit which makes it ideal as a foreground plant.   The simultaneous flowering of these two roses upon a carpet of Brunera macrophylla (a sort of perennial forget-me-not) is a cherished annual event.   Above Bruneras , ‘Springtime’ blends its corollas with the identical ones of miniature narcissi , notably N. ‘Sundisc.’

 

‘Golden Chersonese,’ a hybrid of ‘Canary Bird,’ flowers a short distance away and a few days later.   It is the most colourful of all, and its deep, golden yellow attracts visitors.

 

‘Harison’s Yellow,’ or R. harisonii (see picture, TRN homepage), is probably a hybrid of R. spinosissima and R. lutea raised by George Harison of New York in 1830.   It is a large shrub - more than 2.5m in height (~8ft) - with double or semi-double flowers of a refulgent sulphur-yellow quite similar to those of ‘William’s Double Yellow.’   In full bloom, its boughs bend down under their weight despite the shrub’s relatively stiff habit.   At La Bonne Maison, this brilliant blossoming coincides with the spectacular flowering of ‘Pink Cloud’ Kolkwitzias.

 

‘Helen Knight’ (1966) is a very large shrub that’s a cross between R. ecae and R. pimpinillefolia .   Its wood is black, and its large flowers are a pale yellow delicately scented.   It differentiates itself from the others by its later flowering.   At La Bonne Maison, a little hidden away in a semi-shaded corner not far from the invasive R. banksiae , we find the last of the lutea to flower.   However late it may bloom, it graciously does so for a long time.

 

R. foetida (Eastern Asia) is an historic rose; known and grown since before 1600 CE under the name R. lutea .   Its intense sulphur-yellow flowers and its parsley-green leaves that are sensitive to blackspot are at the origin of many of our modern roses.   It is more difficult to grow than its hybrids and indeed seems happier in cooler climates, as the late Graham Thomas noted, and as demonstrated by the superb specimen at Wilhelmshöhe Park in Germany.

‘Double Persian Yellow’ or R. foetida persiana , introduced from Persia by Sir Henry Willock in 1838, is a shrub of stiff habit with brittle wood but whose flowers are spectacular.   It, too, blooms with Ceanothus and, together, they make an unforgettable sight in early May.   This rose was to be the source of the first Pernetiana rose, ‘Soleil d’Or,’ hybridized by Joseph Pernet-Ducher.

 

‘Agnes,’ my last rose, is a Canadian hybrid raised by Saunders in 1922.   The only feature it has in common with the two previous roses is that it is a hybrid of R. foetida persiana lutea , but this time with R. rugosa .   It is a graceful shrub with boughs gently arching under the weight of its double, soft amber-tinted, yellow flowers.   ‘Agnes’ has an exquisite, lemony fragrance, is early in bloom, and flowers sometimes again in late Summer.   Its very healthy, small, dark green leaves combine the characteristics of both its parents.

(first published in Roses Anciennes en France nº9)

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

 

** JAPAN **

ENTER BELOW for our continuing series:

Roses Raised by Breeders in Japan

PART 2

 

 

     

** SOUTH AFRICA **

 

MY FRIENDS AND ROSES
AT JAMESON PARK

I was asked to open Jameson Park, a rose park known for its home to more than 4,000 roses. Mike Oxland, the manager, and Dennis, the man who tends to the roses, had set aside money from old roses that had been sold to buy good stone edgings for the beds. Their design is superb and they have a lovely fountain in the centre.

When they had finished laying out the beds, I received a phone call to design the roses. I happily went down with a big pad and Ludwig's catalogue, sat on a large stone, and spent two hours selecting roses that I thought would be suitable. [FOR the complete Jameson Park slideshow (Quicktime - approx. 3.5 minutes), click on the African Elephant image here - be prepared to wait a few more seconds for it to load completely - Click on the Black Rhinoceros image below for a shorter (approx. one minute) Quicktime slideshow - Click on the African Elephant (sunset) at the bottom of this page for the non-Quicktime Photo Gallery].

I was then told that R22,000 (Rands, approx. $3,500US) had been saved and what could I do, especially as I needed at least R90,000 (~ $14,400US) to complete the park. I had no idea how I would accomplish this feat. I immediately phoned my very good friend, Ludwig, and I told him what the boys had saved and did he have any ideas as to how I could fill the park with about 3,000 roses.

The retail selling price of a rose, including delivery, is R52.95 ($8.48US)! Ludwig very kindly asked me to submit the plan and he would see what he could do. When I came down for a quick review, my heart lurched with joy as I now realised that Cinderella had suddenly found her slipper and was now queen of the ball again!

The very latest roses had been supplied by Ludwig and, as it happens, there are two good beds of 'Lynette Keppler,' a lovely, double, soft pink, fragrant rose; as well as two beds of 'Helen Naude,' named in honor of a radio personality whom I had met at the convention.

She was our compere (facilitator) during the international quiz, and Des Wright the Chairman for Natal Rose Society, Professor Alan Brimer who was head of the Durban-Westville University, and I were on the quiz team representing kwa Zulu Natal. And we WON the quiz and were presented with a very expensive, pure silver, floating trophy; which was quickly snatched back and kept under lock and key for the next event! (I will send you photos of the opening and photos of the roses. They are exquisite and ALL THANKS TO LUDWIG.)

I was presented with two certificates and a filigree gold bracelet that I had set my heart on and which had been set aside for me to buy when I had sufficient funds. My sister has a way of finding these things out. Heirlooms at the Heritage is my favourite shopping spot as they often sell cut glass bowls with roses engraved on them and antique jewelry which happens to be my weakness.

Getting back to something old, I will be planting Noisettes over the gazebos and thought that Crepuscule, which came out in 1904 and also grows exceedingly well in our very hot humid climate, would be the perfect candidate. This rose blooms all year and will also provide shade for people sitting in this area ().

For the other gazebo, I am tempted to plant Lamarque (see our TRN's Top 11 for 2004) - another Noisette - and combine it with Ralph Moore's Royal Midinette which has a profusion of.small burgundy roses. We will continue with our Mutabilis hedge, which will replace the acalapha wind breaks.

The history of Jameson Park goes back to 1925 when she was considered one of Cinderella's ugly sisters. Robert Jameson was born in 1832 in Kilmanock, in the lowlands of Scotland. It was in the Crimea that his patron died of cholera. And with him died Jameson's hopes of a commission. The young man, cast out into the world, decided to emigrate, and at that time, thanks to the publicity given to the Byrne settlers (who incidentally brought out many heritage roses with them and planted them in the Richmond area), the obvious place to go was Natal.

Jameson arrived in Durban in 1856. Some reports say that he grew pineapples where Jameson Park is now situated. His business flourished, and Jameson's jam was well known in Natal and beyond. Robert Jameson died at his home in Bellair on the 28th of February, 1919. Harry Worthington took over and found himself in his glory tending the business. He produced beds of sweetpeas, heliotrope, mignonette, wallflowers, pansies, and dahlias. The original ravenalia, planted at that time, are still standing today, as well as the steps built during his tenure.
The blossoming of Jameson Park came with the new regime in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Beaches. Mr. Cederick van Ryneveld introduced serios rose-growing in 1949. In Durban, we know that the Botanic Gardens grew the following roses:

Rosa centifolia "cabbage " pink
Rosa damascena "monthly" pink
Rosa indica, crimson China
Rosa semerflorens(crimson)
Rosa sempervirens,(white).

In 1939, Killie Campbell gave the Durban Botanic Gardens an old red rose which had been brought to Natal in 1863. The history of this rose is written in Gwen Fagan's book, "Roses of the Cape." It is 'Cramoisi Superieur,' which is still available today.

Jameson Park and its sister park, Mitchell Park - with avairies and animals and superbly planted gardens- is a must-see for anyone visiting Kwa Zulu Natal. The Durban Botanical Gardens, located near these two gardens, boasts wonderful old trees orchids, waterlilies, and a butterfly house; all in all, an absolute must for everyone who visits our region. We even have musical evenings, which are often held in the gardens.

The absolute beauty and tranquility of these gardens is enjoyed by everyone.

REGARDS,
LYN.

 

 

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