Hi Terry, gorgeous yellow rose! I’m surprised to learn that it’s cane hardy to -32 C and that its staminate parent, Morden Sunrise, didn’t compromise cane hardiness in the offspring - considering that MS it’s one of the most tender of the Parklands. Last time I crossed MS pollen with a gallica (Belle Isis), it produced a once-blooming specimen with beautiful foliage but compromised cane hardiness and therefore bloom to a large extent. This offspring required winter coverage and protection to preserve its canes so that it bloomed, otherwise; it faced 75% damage by freezing rain followed by very low temps of -32 C. I’m in eastern Ontario zone 4/5, between Ottawa and the Quebec border, where an average of 60 hours of freezing rain befalls winter on top of having temperatures as low as -32 C. So at times, this extreme is comparable to a zone 3 climate.
Hello Dee, the rose inherited a degree of hardiness from ‘John Davis’, even has the same spicy fragrance of foliage. It is very particular as to receiving pollen and only ever carried a few hips, though pollen easily takes upon other roses. Canes will blacken below -34 C, plant is rigid and difficult to bend to the ground, though very rewarding doing so for the quality of bloom produced upon old wood, well tended will carry at least some flowers the entire season, a zone 4 b climate and up without cercospora pressure would suit it best.
Ahhh, those ‘Morden Sunrise’ offspring can be finicky of hardiness and disease. ‘Morden Sunrise’ x ‘John Davis’ gave a range of colors and health, only a few other keepers, one having been a vigorous shrub to 3 ft with large blousy semi double white and pink, good hardiness and repeat, though defoliating badly. ‘Maybe Margit’ with intense sunset colors and a more compact habit, decent disease resistance and crown hardy.
Last fall l had the pleasure of visiting a nameless (out of discretion) Calgary garden that had some Terry creations. There to collect a nice offered example of a young Mossman.
A Yellow John Davis was there blooming very well imo with no disfiguring disease issues for early fall and nice yellow retention and in 1 to 2 foot region. A pleasant surprise.
Garden somewhat sheltered relative to a garden on a B.A’ed nose hill.
If that Yellow John Davis could be gotten back into circulation, I think we would ALL be happier for it!
Couldn’t agree more … cant help wondering if CDN commercial / psyche barriers and loss of M/P nurseries plays a part compared to the mass produced commercial “stuff” out there these days (imo).
Though noticed Cornhill (New Brunswick) and Manitoba CDN nurseries pop out a local CDN effort once in a while.
Even walked the talk and ordered 3 of the rose “Lavender Bouquet” from CHR.
Parentage:
Apple Blossom (Rosa multiflora hybrid) × seedling
Partially from CHR site … “This seedling was bred by George MacPhail of Nova Scotia.
(Aug 9 2017 CBC burlb can be found - hybridizer of yore driven by same grumpiness about modern commercialized efforts - interesting his efforts at the time were being tested by European interest - all roads lie east?).
The flowers are small but arrive in large and dense clusters on an extremely vigorous bush. It has long arching grass-green canes with few prickles. This can be useful for those looking to train a climbing rose, though, this plant may be a bit dense for that purpose. One of the few true lavender hardy roses “
Apparently good to Zone 4 CDN and maybe 3B. Also 4th A&B to see if takes back north gardens climate.
Aka “we snooze, we risk losing”
Been 10 years since l “re-discovered” it - not knowing what it was, except it had good looking potential - and an apparently unknown, labelled correctly and apparently renegade own-root example in a well known commercial nursery in the land of lotus blossoms … and ends up originating from nearly my own backyard … in the Edmonton deep freeze. Oh well least my inquiry, WTH is this? gave it some push.
I don’t attach much long term importance to the results of it not “surviving” its first Calgary winter on the hill 10 years ago. Results just say it does not have “spino” winter cane hardiness, and cane tender in some specific zone 4A conditions.
It may recover, and perform better on Dr Hughy / or in east R. multiflora. But none of the dozen “John Davis” tried over the years on “the House on the Hill” survived winter weather. And it took me 3-4 tries to get grafted Carefree Beauty to make in the front gardens. Has performed extremely well at spring recovery (60-80% cane loss) and gives copious quantities of blooms and hips for last 5-7 years, after so many winter duds. Approximates for years as lazy in checking my planting year archives.
The Calgary TY example seen this year appears to have done well. Testing in warmer Canada or American regions for quality is a good idea …
Use to live in Edmonton source area during the Great Gretzky period … some good street “cup” parties. Then moved to the colder region.
Still tapping my fingers on the study desk top amazed at the maybe a memory of the “Avro Arrow” of Canadian bred roses.
Feels like time is quickly winding down before the methods that created the great pretender in American rose history show up … or Victorian Memory ll shows up as a reincarnation … until somebody figures out in the future what happened."
I found 1 litre rooted cuttings of maybe ten varieties of Canadian hybrids (and a couple Kordes’ shrubs too!), at Home Depot last spring. Couldn’t pass up a Winnipeg Parks to try as a seed parent for some hardier shrub-types.
And maybe some softer, coastal types with tenderer mates.
Winnipeg Parks is the rose that started me off on my journey some decades ago.
Strategically displayed by a nursery under just right light to accentuate the bloom color. Great rose to start with for me.
Though veered off for a few years in the wrong direction eg chinas, teas, bourbons, musks etc etc etc “not” for zone 3/4 … pretty well anything Pickering offered back in the day. And lots bales of fall peat moss and burlap for protection … regret it ? Nope.