"Harison's Yellow"

I found this lovely yellow rose on Charles St. in the West Village on Wednesday.

Whenever I see yellow roses I'm reminded of the gardens at Andrew Jackson's home in Middle Tennessee, The Hermitage. A garden there has the most beautiful yellow roses of an old, once-blooming, fragrant variety, with very thorny canes and numerous tiny blossoms. If I remember correctly, the variety at the Hermitage is known as Harison's Yellow, initially found as a chance hybrid in the gardens of George F. Harison, an attorney who lived between 8th and 9th Avenues on 32nd Street, not far from my office! It was first sold commercially from cuttings in 1830 and was so popular that it was frequently carried westward by settlers heading for California and Oregon. As a result, it is often found growing wild along these western migration routes and is sometimes referred to as the "Oregon Trail Rose." It can also be found at the sites of long abandoned gardens and derelict homes.