Article (newspaper)  (Jul 2012)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: In this climatically-assaulted garden of frigid temperatures, I venture into the coffin-shaped cemetery of buxus I call The Wee Garden and my mind longs for a confection of cheerful, sunny yellow roses underplanted with pale orange Atlantica Poppy; some Monkey Flower; the low Golden Moss plant and spires of fragrant white Lilium Longiflorum. Up high, in this daydream, will be a small red robin singing quietly to himself and there will be masses of delicate yellow Golden Showers roses wherever I look. The reality is very different from these reveries. The first bush of ‘Golden Showers’ I planted in 1995 was on the south side of a little wooden portal and a Juniper tree has grown and is now deeply shading it. All the rose subsists on is the smell of the tree’s gin-smelling seeds and even though it is on R. fortuniana rootstock, it can only now produce one or two flowers per year. How a garden changes with time. Because it is a lovely rose, I struck cuttings from it and in 1998 put another two in The Wee Garden and for a few years they did well, but increasing shade from a Cork Oak and the beggared soil took its toll. I still desperately want this rose, so struck yet another in 2010 and put it on the sunny side of the garden. ‘Golden Showers’ is a low climber of about three metres with strong upright canes that stand up by themselves and don’t need anything to lean on. The sturdy stems are almost thornless. The blooms occur singly or in clusters on long straight stems and many continuing laterals develop to produce yet more clusters. With time and the weight of the foliage, the bush can develop a lovely arching habit. It is said to be shade tolerant, but from my experience, perhaps it would tolerate only dappled shade. The buds have bright red tips but this red fades and almost disappears later. They open to five-inch, flat, ruffled blooms with about 20 petals of a clear yellow which fade somewhat with age. What really sets off this lovely rose is the circlet of reddish-orange stamens in the center of the bloom. It self-grooms as the petals shatter and drop cleanly. It is not a rose for picking as it is a “live fast, die young” rose - the blooms open fast and die fast. To compensate there is a magnificent production of flowers all summer if you deadhead it, and then perhaps you can give up on this job in autumn so that it will set some hips for autumn colour. Apparently there is a nice fragrance but my bushes have always been planted at the back of the bed so I’ve missed out on this aspect of ‘Golden Showers’. The flowers stand up well to rain and the dark glossy foliage is the perfect background for the yellow blooms. ‘Golden Showers’ was bred in the U.S. by Dr. Walter E. Lammerts in 1956 and it won a Gold Medal in 1957. The parentage was the famous deep pink HT ‘Charlotte Armstrong’ from 1940 x ‘Captain Thomas’, a 1935 yellow five-petalled climber, also with reddish stamens.

Book  (2007)  Page(s) 192.  
 
Golden Showers, LCl, my, 1957, [Charlotte Armstrong x Capt. Thomas], Lammerts, Dr. Walter ... description

Book  (Aug 2002)  Page(s) 44.  
 
Golden Showers
Rated 7.3

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 47.  
 
Golden Showers Large-flowered Climber, medium yellow, 1956. Rating: 7.4

Website/Catalog  (4 Jan 1999)  Page(s) 30.  Includes photo(s).
 
Golden Showers Description... Daffodil-yellow buds that open to golden yellow 5- to 5 1/2-inch blooms... tolerates some shade...

Website/Catalog  (Jun 1998)  Page(s) 61.  Includes photo(s).

Website/Catalog  (Jun 1998)  Page(s) 58.  
 
Cl. Golden Showers Abundant clusters of fragrant ruffled pure yellow flowers...

Book  (1996)  Page(s) 65.  Includes photo(s).
 
Golden Showers Climber or shrub rose... The cheerful bright yellow flowers appear constantly from summer to autumn... together with the sweet fragrance and the plant's general good health and bright foliage... [it is still popular] after so many years in commerce... it can look spindly if not trained sideways when grown on a wall or fence...

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 253.  
 
Golden Showers Lammerts (USA) 1956. Description. 'Charlotte Armstrong' x 'Captain Thomas'... bright clear yellow

Book  (Mar 1994)  Page(s) 97.  
 
Golden Showers mostly single, hybrid-tea-type flowers on long stems and is quite healthy...