Hello, you lovely readers. Believe it or not, we’re approaching the actual anniversary of The Gardening Mind, and next week I’m going to be taking some strolls down Memory Lane to celebrate this. Thank you so, so much for supporting The Gardening Mind by paying a subscription; thank you every subscriber for sharing posts and for sharing The Gardening Mind with others. This is a reader-supported publication, and it works because you turn up every time to read, share, and support me. Thank you.
To mark the anniversary, I’ll also be giving you a state-of-play report, sharing with you some high points of this publication which I really do feel is becoming so much more than a newsletter and steadily becoming its own kind of magazine which you and The Gardening Mind community are all an enormous part of. Your comments, to me and to each other, are valuable and I’m honestly delighted every time a new one pings in. And when you share a post, oh my goodness, that is brilliant. Thank you again.
I’ll also be looking at what’s in store, and what I hope to do as more paying subscribers join us. If you’re a new member, paid subscriptions are what keeps this publication going, as it then enables to me to devote the time to mapping out what do next, researching, and writing. And making it a bit different.
In the meantime, we’re also having a Small Garden Design get-together next Tuesday evening; more information about that is coming up shortly in the Small Garden update later this week.
And now for those roses.
December 6th
Rosa banksiae Lutea is she: thousands of buttery pale sulphur primrose (Primrose, Gamboge and Lemon according to Werner and Syme) flowers which are so tiny, sweet and joyful. They explode into bloom around late April/early May - I’ve seen them in Cornwall in mid-April looking stupendous.
An aside here, if you’ll allow me, on Gamboge yellow.
Also known as rattan or wisteria yellow, gummi gutta and drop gum, gamboge is an organic pigment. Well known for its transparency, the warm golden pigment derives its name from its country of origin – Cambodia, itself named after the Latin word for pigment, gambogium.
It’s made from the resin of the garcinia evergreen tree, found across south-east Asia. The trees need to be at least 10 years old before the trunks can be lacerated or the branches broken to collect the poisonous, milky yellow resin. This is gathered in empty bamboo shoots, which are then roasted over fire to evaporate moisture, and then broken to reveal dull yellow resin cylinders. Only when this resin is pulverised does it become a brilliant yellow.
Unfortunately genuine gamboge is a colour whose poor lightfastness has meant that finding traces in old paintings can be difficult. The first appearance of gamboge was in 8th century watercolours in east Asia; it was also used in Thailand in the 12th century on a black (khoi) paper scroll. In the Middle Ages, gamboge was used to paint ornamental letters and illustrations.
First brought to Europe in 1603, it was also used as a cure for rheumatism, high blood pressure and as a purgative cleanser. But as even a small dose it was lethal, it quickly lost popularity.
The Flemish painters used gamboge as a transparent oil colour. It can be found in Rembrandt’s works in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. JMW Turner also used gamboge as an oil colour, though he quickly realised that it worked best as a watercolour.1
Back to banksiae:
There are so many best things about this rose that I struggle to select the very best of all these bests. The flowers, the sheer earliness (usually) of the buds which start tempting you in March and make you think that the really excellent bit of the year is nearly here. For those who don’t like yellow, think again.
And as for the general Fabulousness of the arching stems which explode out in all directions and grow and grow and grow.... I can no longer see out of one window in my house (see photos) because of the banksiae outside with all her arms waving around in the air as if she’s just finished a barnstorming performance of “I Am What I Am”, sequinned dress and all.