YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS
A woman named Emily West is said to be the original Yellow Rose of Texas. She was lauded in the most beloved song of that state. But look under the braided rug of American history and the truth is much deeper than you would think. Emily and the rose are linked by the racial label “high yellow,” once used to describe the lightest colored individuals of mixed Caucasian and African-American descent. It’s quite familiar to me because my people were just such folks, Creoles of 19th century New Orleans.
The origin of the song dates from an 1836 invasion of New Washington, Texas, by the Mexican cavalry. Emily West, a colored indentured servant of James Morgan was captured. It is said, but probably incorrectly, that Gen. Santa Anna was smitten with the prisoner’s long-haired beauty. Her presence delayed his departure to meet Sam Houston’s Army at Buffalo Bayou, 10 miles away. In the interim Houston surprised the Mexicans still encamped and routed them. Emily somehow became the heroine of that battle as the cause of Santa Anna’s fateful delay, and the story was told around many a campfire in the 1840s. Thus the myth was born.
Today’s antique rose aficionados have sought to discover if there was an actual yellow rose associated with this legendary song. Some believe it is Harrison’s Yellow, discovered in the garden of George Folliott Harrison of New York in that first decade of campfire tales. It is a spontaneous hybrid of the old species, Rosa foetida. With yellow flower color rare in old rose varieties, it caught on quickly and came west with settlers to Texas. But it’s the old rose’s resilient nature that allowed it to naturalize in many Western states, ensuring it remained in gardens into this century. Perhaps because of its rarity, that led to its folklore associations.
But Harrison’s Yellow is a once-blooming rose as are most older varieties. It flowers heavily for just a few short weeks a year. Those who seek to hallow this historic rose color in homes and ranches are better off exploring another yellow. It is one that blooms nearly year-round in mild climates, and for the entire growing season elsewhere.
The blooms are semidouble buttercup yellow, more than 2 inches across and held in bunches of five to six blooms each. This gives the appearance of larger individual flowers than they actually are. For those in Texas and other hot climates where yellow flowers tend to bleach under the sun, this one has proven to hold its color better than many others.
For those familiar with the Flower Carpet family of roses, this one is the most unusual because a clear yellow is downright hard to get. It’s also taller than its kin, growing to about 2 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Deep green leafy plants bear attractive glossy foliage. It’s rare you’ll find mildew or blackspot on these, making them a delightfully carefree choice.
The best news for suburban, rural and ranch landscapes is that these roses don’t need pruning. The flowers fall and new ones form without you lifting a finger. Water with a linear drip system on a timer. That means you can line a split rail fence or driveway with yellow roses. Make a foundation hedge around the bottom of a stable knowing that roses are nontoxic to horses and cattle if they browse. Use them with other Flower Carpet colors to create a massed carefree rose garden to mark a grand entry.
Flower Carpet Yellow is just one of a new rose family that anyone can grow. It is a color that evokes many thoughts, some patriotic, others just a comfortable feeling of home.
As for me, I’ve begun to see this new yellow rose as a symbol of my own mixed ancestry. Our struggle for identity during Reconstruction is so like that of Emily West, the mulatto indentured servant. And though her tales may sound romantic, the truth of women captives and free colored life in the old South is something very different altogether.
Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of “Weekend Gardening” on DIY Network. Contact her at her Web site www.moplants.com or visit www.diynetwork.com.
