The first roses to bloom in our garden in the spring are the banksiae family. There are four cultivated forms of this rose. The wild or species form is r. banksiae normalis which has single white flowers and is usually thorny, called in China, Mu Xiang Hua, which means Wood Perfume Flower.
There are two theories as to when and where r. banksiae banksiae came from China to England. One theory is that rose hunter William Kerr sent it from China in 1796.
The second theory is that it was sent from Canton to King George III’s garden at Kew in 1807. Both agree that it was named by William Kerr after Lady Dorothea Banks who was married to Sir Joseph Banks, who was then director of the Kew Gardens, a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a friend and companion of the well-known Captain Cook who went out on a sail and bumped into a little island in the south seas.
Leaving aside the arrogance of the plant hunters who renamed the roses, the Chinese grew this rose for some thousands of years as Mu Hisiang (Grove of Fragrance).
Let us talk some more about Lady Banks (Dorothea Hugesson). She married Joseph Banks in 1779 after his return from Australia. She was 20 and he was 36. It appears not to have been a very exciting marriage, as she merely went to join him and his sister in their London house. They had no children and she seems to have been kept in the background. It also appears that they had plenty of time to devote to eating; she weighed 60 kg (9 st 6 lbs) in 1781, and by 1794 she had reached 88kg (13 st 12 lbs). Still she was no real competition for her sister-in-law (Sarah Sophia Banks) who hit 90kg (14 st 3 lbs) the same year, to say nothing of her husband who ended up at more than 108kg (17 st).
Back to the roses. All the cultivated forms are thornless, perfumed, evergreen and very vigourous. r. banksiae banksiae is a cultivated white double rose, more commonly known these days as r. banksiae alba plena. Its double-golden cousin, r. banksia lutea, and its single sister, r. banksiae lutescens were common cultivated garden roses in China. R. banksiae lutea arrived in England in 1824, and its single sister, r. banksiae lutescens, reaching there via Italy in 1871.
Wal J Oct 2019
