To Luke - Canberra1913!

Dear Luke,
May we all have grandsons of your calibre.
I think I have Helen Traubel’, but there is a tiny doubt in my mind. I planted an own root plant in an area which later became too shaded and it has never done well. In 2024 I moved it to a pot and it is doing better now, but still a small plant. It doesn’t seem to have a weak neck.

I think my plant can donate one cutting though if you want to try it. I can wrap it in only just damp newspaper and if it callouses up, I can post it later.

But you should try to get it from others too to play it safe. (The 1986 reference says it may be hard to propagate - but I have done it once). Johno, Cheryl Moore, and Yvonne Foster - can your plants donate any wood?

Luke, I think you should remove your email address from your comment as you might regret the spam that it may attract.

Until I was 6 and laid my eyes upon Cherry-Vanilla, good ol' Helen Traubel was my favorite rose---always had to mnake sure my parents had one and for me they always did. This is now what I call a "very 1950's" rose---bigger, somewhat loose bloom in the style of the mother, Charlotte Armstrong, and enough of the coral to the pink blend to jump on the Fashion color craze bandwagon. The color combinations can be truly beautiful, usually quite warm, salmon pink with a glow, varies in tone. Some clusters, a lot of singles, large blooms. But now the downside: the plant just throws itself everywhere---Helen has very few children on the market but she has one that remains rather well-konwn: Lemon Spice from 1966. And the relation is soooo evident in the plants! Wirey, loose, wide and big with somewhat matte green leaves with a grey or bluish tone. And yep, weak necks. Weakkkkk necks. Helen hangs her blooms more than holds them up and might be quite lovely as a standard for it is actually surprisily healthy for a 60 year old variety. A grouping of Helen Traubel, Fashion and Tiffany would make a nice cornerstone for a "1950's" planting......