Banksia Lutea Rose
Banksia Lutea Rose Flowers
My Banksia Lutea rose - a yellow Banksia - started life as a small cutting. It was nipped (oops) from a bush I saw on a country garden tour.
My Washing Line Rose
As soon as the rose looked robust I planted it by a pole belonging to the Moosey washing line. The plan was to use the pole as access to the heights of the nearby plum tree.
Hmm... The wires of the washing line proved far too tempting. There's still enough room to hang the sheets and towels on a good drying day - only just - and the Banksia rose has been allowed to take over.
One summer I did try a bit of 'restraint pruning', and naturally had very few flowers the following spring. This is an old rose which flowers only once.
Lemon Yellow Colour
Banksia Lutea is a beautifully soft lemon yellow colour, and luckily thornless. Imagine the shirts and pillowcases shredded in the late spring breeze! Interestingly the rose petals seem oblivious to wind - they stay put for weeks.
Banksia Lutea - Yellow Banksia Rose
The colour and form of the flowers are both so pretty - I wonder if there is a small bush cottage rose look-alike? I'd like much more of this gentle colour in my rose garden.
A Strong Grower
And what a strong grower this rose is! It has already got the stout pole to which the Moosey washing line is connected leaning approximately 20 degrees from the vertical. Eek! The old plum tree seems OK being a host, though I must admit I didn't really think through the consequences.
I know that Banksia roses grow large - they are often grown against houses, and their trunks appear quite tree-like. Many of the older colonial homesteads in Canterbury have very old, gnarly specimens.
White Banksia Rose
There is also a white variety, which I have just acquired. I've planted it to grow up into a plum tree in the Island Bed.