'City of Benalla'

First bloom on my 'City of Benalla'.
This plant had been languishing in a pot when I picked it up. It had sustained some damage to its main stem at some point. Am hoping it will get going so I can take cuttings/buds from it. I don't think it would be generally available nowadays.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Looks like it has quite a nice blend or pinks and salmony colours, Wendy.

Yes, it's a combo I quite like in roses. I'll be interested to see if follow-up blooms / different weather conditions change the colours.

Glenorie Roses have at least 12 'City of Benalla' in pots. It's a very good blooming Dawson bred rose.
Another very good George Dawson bred HT is 'Ethel Dawson'. High centered red that is healthy as most HT's here.

I try to keep a good selection of Australian bred roses as there are so many of them lost. The Margurite Parkes roses are all here now with the exception of 'Starscent'. 'Williams Rose' is the most recent one. Must mention all these came from the breeders own clones. Also most of the Riethmuller's have been collected. What a shame it would be to lose some of these.

The Heritage Rose Soc ladies do a wonderful job collecting these oldies.
Every state has a group of dedicated people giving their time and finances free. If you can ever help this cause then please do.

Trouble is, most of the Aus-breds are more recent than the Heritage Roses Assocn can cover. We have a reasonable collection of pre-1940s, and are working on Riethmullers with help from Bruce and others. The Collection at Renmark is as big as we can maintain - too big, in fact - so we're hiving off the Reithmullers and 20th century Polyanthas to Brisbane. The Kodja Place Maze in Kojonup, WA, has some later Aus-breds, and the Vic State Rose garden has some, but I gather both have run out of space more or less. And the Golden Vale nursery which was a major preserver of Aus-breds has closed. I don't know whether Trewallyn Nursery in Qland will maintain its Aus-breds with the change of ownership.

Has the HRA approached Golden Vale to try and acquire their stock for the purpose of preserving them?

Not the recent ones (post-1940), except for a rare Riethmuller which Eric T is looking after and will share. The owner said he'd lost a lot of stock in the drought years, including some of the polyanthas we asked about. Unfortunately there is a limit to what HRIAI can take on; we did advise the Vic State Rose garden that Golden Vale was closing and that he had Aus-breds, but they're running out of space too.
It's great that Bruce has collected the Marguerite Parkes roses; there needs to be a back-up set somewhere. Maybe the people to contact re a possible site would be the NSW Rose Socy, which is celebrating its centenary this year or next.

Am really glad to hear you have some, Bruce! I thought it may be a "only of interest to Benalla" type of situation.
Yes, the chap at Golden Vale lost a lot of roses. I got the impression, after several visits, that he was quite bitter about the water restrictions etc.

With a little bit of help and a bit more water... I have a few spare acres...

With a little bit of help and a bit more water... I have a few spare acres...

I think, Wendy, that this is a great idea.

HAHAHA I'd better get the chooks and sheep working hard on my compost supplies...!! (Oh, and do something about the water... wait... ummmm ... the older shrubs won't need as much after this year... ummm .. )

Yours is a very pretty one Wendy.

Bye the way Wendy, does it repeat flower and what about the thorns.
I have never heard of it before.

Wendy, I was going to start a collection of all the Gorge Dawson roses but put this on hold due to other life's happenings. 'City of Benalla' just happened to be one of his I collected. This would be a good project for us all to collect these and see if we can get them all.
I only have a few of Dawsons but consider 'Headline' to be the best to date. It's a bit like 1945 'Peace' but much more vigorous and healthy.

Another Australian breeder around the 1930's is Mrs Fitzhardinge, perhaps someone could collect these. The only one of her's I have is 'Lubra' which needs a lot of TLC, not a rose to plant and forget. The Alister Clarks are in so many good hands I didn't feel it necessary to collect these. The Aussie roses between 1925 and 1970 now are the ones most likely to be lost, they are not Vintage or new enough to be in the demand.

This year I have propagated about 600 roses, many were from Margaret, and a nursery which will be bulldozed. Other's were breeding type HT's that make hips and have a lot of descendents. Some were to complete my collections.
If anyone who knows the people at Golden Vale could approach them for Aussie bred roses ( Budwood) then I would be happy to bud these.
My next lot of understocks will be ready next October/November.
I have plenty of water, courtesy of Sydney Water. All I have to do is find the money to pay for for their service.

Bruce, I have just spent 10 mins looking up the roses of " Gorge Dawson" to no avail however when I went to HMF to look up "City of Benalla" I found that his name is George not Gorge.
I know I would not build a collection of his roses as CoB I like but a lot I dont. So for me CoB yes but a collection no.
I am trying to get a fair collection of DA's as lots & lots I love but even David A has quite a few I dont like.
You have done well with your propagation this year
We also have no problem with water as ours comes from our well, it sounds free but it is very exy as it works by an electric pump

I couldn't find where you saw "Gorge", but it must be a typing error. On helpmefind you just type in the breeder's surname, then it will give you a list of people to choose from. By the way hmf neeeds a photo of City of Benalla.
Mrs Fizhardinge- we have Lubra, Lady Edgeworth David, and Warrawee at Renmark. Peter Cox wasn't able to find any more of hers when he wrote his book on Aus roses in 1999.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is the bit about the Renmark Collections on the Heritage Roses website - if you click on the pdf you'll see a list of what's there, plus a few we hope to plant this winter.

Yes Margaret, I know now that it was a typing error but I did not know this as I had never heard of the breeder.
You said you couldn't find where I saw "Gorge" it is in the first line of Bruce's post. So the post before my last one.

Carole, sorry for the typing error, definately George Dawson, not Gorge.
My lawn ( Paspalim ?) is growing at a rate of an inch a day at present so havent time to proof resd.

Margaret, perhaps you could produce a list of roses, lost or desireables. I know the Heritage Rose members are continually looking, who knows what forum members might find. Just a few each week would be OK for I know you are very busy doing other rose work, just a suggestion.

That's OK Bruce.
As I said I had never heard of him I didn't realise the e was missing. If I had I would just read it as George.
Anyway it is a fantastic colour.

Bruce, one day I hope to get a City of Benalla from you, and all the others you have collected. Try them in Tasmania.
The paspallim has taken other here. Once I get some more petrol I will start mowing it down again.

The Heritage Roses Collection at Renmark is pretty well full - we have been offered more planting space there but can't take it up, as none of us except David Ruston, who is rising 82, live close enough to help with on-going maintenance. What we're looking for is Blanc Pur, "Rockton Red", Los Angeles and any pre-1930 HT or pre-1940 Aus-bred or any China rose not on our planting list, Katharina Zeimet (Polyantha), and a form of Echo that hasn't reverted to Tausendschon (ie stays low-growing). I've lost track of whether Bruce has Louise d'Arzens.
Quarantine has tightened further on plant material coming into SA, and I think anything from the eastern states (at least) will have to be grown on in a nursery and then fumigated before coming to SA. All a bit gloomy.

Sorry Margaret, I don't have 'Louise d'Argens'.

Carole - Bruce will have a better idea in regards to frequency of flowering (but it is a HT so I presume that means it keeps on going...) but re thorns: this rose actually doesn't seem to have many.
Mine really was a poor speciman in the pot when I got it (for free actually) so I'm pleased that it is starting to take off a bit.

I've updated HMF with my pic of this rose.

Wendy, I have one to put on aswell, is it easy

roseman wrote:Wendy, I have one to put on aswell, is it easy

Yes, it is. Just make sure you are logged in first and you know where the file is on your computer. Probably best not to use full size files straight from camera?