Friday, April 29, 2011

Lady Banks

Fig. 1    Rosa banksiae 'Lutea'

Lady Banks rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea')  is one of the first roses that blooms in my garden.   Its dainty, soft yellow flowers come in clusters on long arching canes.   This time of the year it provides a surprise spray of color in the 'Down Under' (part of the yard).  It blooms profusely but only once a year. 
Fig. 2     The fence provides a support for its arching slender canes.

 Some of the cane lean against the fence on the eastern side of the yard. This rose could be trained onto  an arbor or strong trellis.

Fig. 3      Canes drape on the nearby plum tree.

This year I allowed some canes to extend beyond to the height of the plum tree growing next to it.  The delicate flowers cascading on the  tree is a very pleasing sight (Fig. 3).  However, knowing how aggressive this rose is, I prune it down every year.  Discipline is required for this rose in order for the plum tree to thrive.   There is mulberry tree nearby which shades it during part of the day and thus regulates its growth a little bit.

Fig. 4    Clusters of tiny soft yellow flowers.

Rosa 'Lady Banks'  has small glossy leaves.  In our area, the plant is evergreen and almost pest-free.  The canes are vigorous growing more ten feet per growing season. The rose is almost thornless which makes it rank high on my list of preferred plants for my garden. 

Rosa banksiae near a creek;  my daughter following some ducks.

Named to honor the wife of an English botanist (Sir Joseph Banks 1743-1820), the Lady Banks rose is nobility in season.

10 comments:

Masha said...

Your pictures of this rose are lovely. It is one of the most beautiful roses and I am glad you grow it.

Christine @ The Gardening Blog said...

Those are beautiful!! (Your daughter looks lovely!! Very pretty girl!). :)

Helen Lewis said...

Masha --
Thanks! I was lucky to have some cloud cover when I took the pictures. Too much light can make them look washed out. I like the rose but I regulate its growth a lot because I do not want to go wild. :)

Helen Lewis said...

Christine --
Thanks for the complement about my daughter. She was on vacation for two weeks (spring break) and her siblings went back to school a week earlier hence she's with me most of the time. :)
--Helen

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I love this little rose. I tried desperately to get one to grow at our first house, but sadly we just didn't quite have enough sun to make it happy. It is lovely though, and I always enjoy see the few down the road in the neighbor's yards.

Katie M said...

Oh lovely! We used to have a Banksia Rose (I think perhaps it's the same thing?) in our tiny backyard when we lived in an apartment. It was such a drab little yard, yet every year this rose would send out glorious stems arching over our heads and flower profusely; our crowning glory.

fer said...

the rose looks amazing! loved the last photo. At my garden roses still are in their buds, maybe one more week for some blooms

Anonymous said...

The last photo looks like it is in a magazine. Your daughter makes a beautiful model. Lady Banks is a wonderful rose, I love the clustering and the show.

Bom said...

Those are lovely roses. The volume of them in the last picture with your daughter is great.

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