Lady Banks Rose:  The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

I grew Lady Banks thinking it was a climbing rose.  Lady Banks rose is a rambling rose.  Not a climbing rose.  Believe me, there’s a difference.

Lady B. is a beast.  Don’t let those dainty flowers deceive you.

How could I be unmoved by those sweet butter yellow flowers?   Mini flowers that look like a fairy’s bridal bouquet.  How?

The garden needed a yellow rose.  Jumbled up in my subconscious was a misguided nostalgia for the state flower of Texas and a birthday cake (much too elegant for a five year old) with a single yellow buttercream rose on it.  Yellow is my favorite flower color.  

It was settled.  The garden’s getting a yellow rose.

Yellow Rose Hunting: Cash Rules Everything Around Me

But most of the yellow roses for sale looked best in vases, not gardens.  Formal,  uptight even.  Where were the blousy, romantic blooms befitting cottage gardens?

Of course, David Austin sells more than one suitable yellow rose.  I didn’t have suitable money.  That was the end of that.

Once again, I turned to an obscure source to get my Lady Banks.  I liked the price.  The numbers are hazy; I think I got two for $15 or less.  

Red flags kept waving.  I kept ignoring them.

I can’t believe I ordered two.  Yes, I can.  I confused the definitions of rambling rose and climbing rose. Unbelievable. One Lady Banks is a challenge.  Having two in a small garden is madness.

Beware a Gardener's Lady Banks Rose Obsession

I had no business growing this rose.  Especially in a small garden.

I planned to grow Lady Banks up two columns on the front porch.  I thought they’d obscure the lopsidedness of the house front.

That wasn’t going to happen.  One plant arrived with a broken main stem. I’ll spare you the customer service details.  Let’s just say I I took the loss and moved on.

I shamefully admit it took a growing season (or two) to notice that the whip like stems resisted training.  It rambled; no method coerced it to climb.

I stubbornly refused to dig up Lady B. and plant a true climbing rose.  This was not my style.  Was I infatuated with growing a rare plant?!

Two years after planting, Lady B. bloomed.  Four years after planting, it bloomed profusely.  Lady banks perfumed the air with an unusual scent of violets.  A violet scented rose.  Stubbornness paid off… this time.

Other than pruning (an ordeal), Lady B. had few needs.  It’s a healthy plant that doesn’t need much water or food.  Grown on a western facing brick column it was disease and pest resistant.

What it needs the most is room to grow as it pleases.  It was the one thing I lacked.  I’m hopeful that I’ll someday give Lady Banks a deserving home.

Why Grow Lady Banks Rose

Lady B.’s charming but…  It’s best rambling in luxurious spaciousness with grand walled gardens, avenues of arched trellises, gazebos and pergolas.  Yes, I’m projecting my horticultural fantasies.  

Don’t have any of that?  Still want to grow it?  Good luck, my gardening friend.

• a healthy, vigorous and THORNLESS rose

• semi-evergreen in zone 7a

• rarely grown in residential gardens (see above for reasons)

• flowers in early to mid spring

• double flowers in a buttery yellow

• smells like violets

• dried petals make a delicious tea