My favorite plant: 'Harison's Yellow' rose

Flower & Garden Magazine, March-April, 1997 by Nancy Schaffert

A rose the color of sunshine: this is the best description of `Harison's Yellow,' the rose that went west with the pioneers.

An old-fashioned shrub rose with a divine scent, Harison's Yellow' covers itself in soft yellow, semidouble flowers with gold centers. It blooms only once a year, in late May or early June. The Gush is very thorny with small leaves that give a fernlike impression.

`Harison's Yellow' originated sometime before 1830 in the New York garden of George F. Harison, an attorney. Eventually it was brought to the attention of nurseryman William Prince, who began selling it in this country and abroad. Billed as the first dependable true yellow rose, it soon became the most popular rose in America. Many of the pioneers traveling west packed rooted suckers from it into their covered wagons along with their household goods. Some of those pioneer plantings still bloom every year.

Its extreme hardiness, however, eventually proved to be this rose's downfall. Left to itself, it spreads and grows lanky. Without occasional pruning and thinning, it can fill an entire yard with an impenetrable, prickly thicket.

Almost 50 years ago when my family and I moved to the southwestern Nebraska farm where we still live, we found a cluster of `Harison's Yellow' bushes thriving near our house. Over the years we've transplanted suckers from the original group to locations all over the farmyard. We may have one of the largest Harison's Yellow, collections in the region.

Recently, I was pleased to see Harison's Yellow, listed in a nursery catalog (Royall River Roses, 70 New Gloucester Road, Dept. FG, North Yarmouth. ME 04097; 207-829-5830; catalog $3). Maybe it's time this old-fashioned favorite made a comeback.

Editor's note:a With this issue we mark the return to FLOWER & GARDEN of "My Favorite Plant," a department that has been absent it from our pages for five or six years. In "My Favorite Plant," gardeners extol the attributes of a flower, herb, tree or houseplant that gives them pleasure.

If you'd like to tell FLOWER & GARDEN readers about your favorite plant, send us a page of text describing what makes it special; brief cultural information; and sources of seeds or plants. Include clear color photos (we prefer original color transparencies or 35 mm slides) of the plant and gardener. Sorry, but no submitted materials can be returned.