Steven, I'm impressed that you're taking delivery now...I always delay shipments until April, and I'm south of you in Indiana. I don't have a good place to keep them if they are leafed out this early.

Hope it does great for you. One of the first roses I ever remember seeing was Harison's Yellow all around two sides of a farmhouse in Ft. Morgan, Colorado in full bloom...I was in grade school and still remember the purity of those beautiful yellow blooms, fifty years later! Bob

Thank you, I appreciate the concern, hope, and congratulations.
It seemed implied from the website and the gentleman I spoke with that they could only ship them while currently dormant, and I have a few good places to keep them dormant but unexposed.
Otherwise I would have implored for an April ship date. I prefer mid-end of April for arrival. The earth is generally fully thawed by then in my area.

Isn't it amazing how such sights (and scents!) will linger with us so vividly? I do hope the plant does well for me.
I am quite geeked.

Steven

So, an update-

This spring is season three for my Harison's Yellow from RVR.

I'm REALLY hoping it actually decides to grow and build for me this year. The first season it leafed out well and had a couple blooms. Last year, it leafed out and survived but had no big, new canes, no extra height, no suckers.

Does HY usually take time to settle in and take off?

Steven

I don't think it should take more than three years to get some larger canes. I have some newer old roses in really poor, sandy soil and by the third year they have mostly thrown some bigger canes, but I am going to start fertilizing the younger ones to get some better growth this year. Harison's Yellow is bred from Rosa foetida, which HATES pruning. Pruned branches often die back, leaving stubs, and refusing to resprout. If you prune, I'd only remove older spindly or dead shoots and remove them to the ground. I'd be sure and keep it fertilized and watered this spring and summer and you should get some big canes for a great show next year.

Hang on Steven, this is how these plants are. Your plant will be beautiful in time!

I found that voles considered my large-ish Harison's Yellow to be the vole equivalent of caviar....they destroyed the plant , one root at a time. In retrospect, I should have planted it in a mix of soil and gravel. Voles can't chew their way through gravel.

Thanks Ann, I'll have to start doing that, nice tip.

Thank you guys for your input. I really appreciate it.

No, I haven't pruned it and wouldn't dare. It's still too small! I try to avoid any thinning or cutting back except dead wood for a few years at least.

Sheila, that's wonderful to hear! My Kordesii William Baffin has taken the better part of ten years to get some good size started. It's own root too.

Our soil here is fantastic.

Here's to hoping for some take-off after putting down roots! I see swelling leaf buds on existing canes!

Steven

My R. hugonis took almost ten years to bloom. Some of these are incredibly slow as own-root plants, and take off much faster grafted. IMHO, that is really how to buy these roses. Get them grafted, and bury the bud union. The rose will put on a decent show after a year or two, and then it can take its sweet time spreading off the rootstock if you want a nice thicket.

Steven, your enthusiasm is infectious. I'm glad you are delighted with ordering your rose, and of course wish you well with it...

Here are a couple of photos of what I think is 'Harison's Yellow' growing in a garden near me... I imagine it's been there a long time, and has formed a long thicket. I don't know what rootstock it's on, if any.

If you don't think it's the same rose as yours, please let me know. I'm not 100 percent on its i.d...

Marlorena, beautiful photos! I believe the one in your pictures is foetida persiana, the double form of foetida. It has more petals and a more muddled center than Harrison's Yellow and is a shade darker, too. These two are sometimes confused in the trade and I have received one in place of the other. For years this was believed to be one parent of Harrison's Yellow, but since it was not in the trade at that time, it is now believed that the single form of foetida, crossed with Rosa spinosissima created Harrison's Yellow. All are beautiful and show the dark wood of foetida. They are a beautiful family of roses!

aah..ok Bob, thank you, I wasn't sure so thought to post it here in case anyone might know. There was no label and there were no staff around to ask...

I was quite startled when I, sort of, bumped into it, turning a corner... I think I caught it at just the right moment...

I hope your Harisons Yellow takes off this spring...it's one I hope to have myself someday. I'm attaching a photo of the thicket at the Loose Park Rose Garden here in Kansas City, the only place I've seen it. Almost time to go visit it again!

madgallica, why can't you grow foetida in New York? Is there a law against it or something, or are you referring to its love of blackspot?

The humidity. It just dies. It's an order of magnitude, at least, worse than the usual bad blackspot.

I tried it this past year Mad_gallica and you are so right...dead! It killed itself with blackspot. I have never before seen that happen. I came across a old thread where you said this would happen, after the fact. O well I tried..I just wish I would have seen one bloom, and this was with R. Foetida. I think I spelled that right. :)

Harisons Yellow seems to be doing O.K. Any Tips with this one? I also got Lady Penzance it's still alive and I hope it does better this year..Tips on her?

Here is a pic of my Harison's Yellow.

Valerie

Valerie, beautiful photos! Thanks for your post!

Exciting update!

Harison's Yellow is suckering! It looks like season three is the beginning!

Steven

How exciting! Looking great.

I have one that is own root and it's taller than me and blooms well. I have never pruned it because I'm lazy and it looks dangerous.

Congrats, Steven. You'll have a big bush in no time. I have a plant I purchased as "Harrison's Yellow", but is something else. If it ever quits raining, maybe I can get a picture of it's bloom. It's blooms are more rumpled and not as bright as yours.