Article (newspaper)  (Apr 2012)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: What a dry summer! Most roses have survived on very little water, but in March the kangaroos invaded every night and have eaten all the rose leaves they could reach and the garden looks pitiful. In situations like this, the tall climbing roses like Easlea’s Golden Rambler are untouched. This rose was bred by Walter Easlea in the U.K. in 1932 and is probably unavailable now in the nurseries. The name of it is misleading as it is much more like a vigorous climber than a rambler and as the breeder did not leave specific records of its parentage, rosarians have often wondered about which roses could have produced such a beauty. Mr. Easlea himself admitted it looked like a climbing hybrid tea, but said it was a true hybrid wichuraiana. My guess is R. wichuraiana x ‘Mrs. Wemyss Quin’ (a 1914 HT/Pernetiana) because he mentioned the latter rose in his 1932 advertisement for ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’ and a black and white photo of ‘Mrs. Wemyss Quin’ on HelpMeFind shows similar leaves. ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’ makes a thick stem and at about one metre high it starts to make long branches, which branch again and again. Wherever I stop a cane, it will diverge. The flowers are light yellow, fading a little and the buds and flowers are tipped and marked outside with crimson. There is a light perfume. The small clusters of 10cm blooms of about 35 petals occur at the tips of all those laterals and the whole thing at the height of flowering is lavishly blowsy. One book said it needed no pruning, so I left it for years, unpruned. It made cane after cane at the top of the wire around The Wee Garden and the weight pulled the securing staple from the pole and then bent the strong mesh over. It was going to pull the whole Wee Garden surrounding fence down, and so in 2009 I climbed the ladder and pruned it severely and it didn’t mind one bit. In the 1932 Australian Rose Annual the W.A. nursery Wilson and Johns said “We believe we were the first people in Australia to have this rose, as we obtained stock last year from England before it was officially released.” ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’ came to me in 1998 from Rose Marsh in Kojonup under the name of ‘Emily Gray’, but it was not that variety. Mrs. Marsh had taken cuttings from her neighbour’s garden, a family called Leapingwell, and it obviously survived there for quite a few decades until Rose Marsh shared it with me. Those dark olive-green, rounded leaves, which are the perfect foil for the yellow flowers, have a distinguishing trait of being corrugated by deep veins. It was this trait that helped me identify it as ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’. In 2004, the editor of the English Historic Roses Group visited here and gave me much pleasure by agreeing firmly that yes, it was indeed ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’. It flowers for a long period in spring only and it has been one of the joys of this garden.

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 216.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Easlea’s Golden Rambler'. Syn: ‘Golden Rambler’ Modern, large-flowered climber. Yellow blend - medium yellow. ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’ was a late-comer to the list of rambling roses, most of which were bred early in the twentieth century. It has rich yellow flowers sometimes marked with red that are 4 in (10cm) across and bloom in clusters. They are double with 35 petals, and strongly fragrant, but the yellow color fades quickly in hot climates and there is no repeat bloom after the copious early flush. The vigorous climbing growth to 10-13 ft (3-4m) supports leathery, rich olive green foliage. This variety looks magnificent growing into purple foliaged trees and also looks good on arbors and arches, the canes being very pliable and easy to train. Easlea, UK 1932. Parentage unknown. National Rose Society Gold Medal 1932.

Website/Catalog  (Jun 1998)  Page(s) 56.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (1996)  Page(s) 32.  
 
Easlea's Golden Rambler Climber... double cupped yellow blooms, flecked red... Easlea (England) 1932.

Book  (1996)  Page(s) 44.  
 
'Easlea’s Golden Rambler'. Origin Easlea, UK 1932. Perhaps better described as a once-flowering climber. The foliage which distinguishes it from other roses is rich-green and glossy, distinctly corrugated by deep veins. large lovely flowers filled with petals of rich butter-yellow touched with red in the bud. These are borne singly and in clusters early in the season. With good fragrance, vigorous and extremely healthy growth, Easlea’s is an aristocrat of yellow climbers for fences, trellises and pergolas. Size 3 x 2.5m.

Book  (1995)  Page(s) 43.  
 
Grows at Sissinghurst.

Book  (1995)  Includes photo(s).
 
'Easlea’s Golden Rambler'. Origin Britain (Easlea) 1932. Height 15ft 4.5m. zone 5. This great yellow-flowered rambler has a splendid fortissimo character. Its buds show red and yellow at first when the sepals begin to part, but the half-open bud - a beautifully scrolled shape - is a warm apricot. The fully open flowers in June are loosely double, 4in / 10cm across, creamy yellow. The petals are pleated and rumpled, and as the flowers age they become lavishly blowsy. They have an excellent warm sweet scent, like ripe fruit. The flowers are carried in bold clusters at the tips of long stems, standing well out from the foliage - which is outstanding; dark glossy leaves, rounded and pointed, with strongly marked veins. It is a very healthy and vigorous rose. ‘Easlea’s Golden Rambler’ is bold and brassy but never coarse. Although it flowers only once, its shining foliage will continue to give pleasure. It is superlative on a pergola so that one may look up at its heavy flowers and savour their exceptional perfume to the full. Trained on a wall or trellis its colour would make a marvellous contribution to a border of yellows and creams spread out below it. Because of the large size and forthright colour of its flowers, which would swamp more timid plants, I do not think it is a good idea to mix it with other climbing plants that flower at the same time. But later in the season, some late-summer flowering clematis, such as the mauve ‘Little Nell’, would look marvellous with it.

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 245.  
 
'Easlea’s Golden Rambler'. Easlea, UK 1932. The best-known rose raised by Walter Easlea, who was a keen rosarian and appreciated the rose in al its forms. It is a pity this was called a Rambler, since this conjures up a small-flowered rose. It does certainly ramble, but would be better described as a once-flowering climber. The foliage distinguishes it from all other roses - rich green and glossy, broader at the end than at the middle, and distinctly corrugated by the deep veins. Large, lovely flowers filled with petals of rich butter-yellow touched with red in the bud, borne singly and in clusters early in the season. Glorious fragrance. 12 to 15 feet. (Best photo:)
McFarland Roses of the World, page 166
American Rose Annual 1934, page 40
Phillips and Rix, page 97

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 157.  Includes photo(s).
 
Easlea's Golden Rambler Large-flowered Climber. Description. Walter Easlea (England) 1923... It is not really a Rambler, which implies a small-flowered rose, but its branches are a lot less stiff than most large-flowered Climbers... a lovely clear shade of yellow, occasionally lightly touched with red. Parentage: unknown.

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 149.  
 
Easlea's Golden Rambler. Large-flowered Climber, yellow blend, 1932, ('Golden Rambler'); Easlea. Description.