Rosa 'Leander' 18 May 2024

She lets him "whisper in her ear, / Flatter, entreat, promise, protest, and swear," and after a series of coy, half-hearted attempts to "defend the fort" she yields to bliss.

Wikipedia - Hero and Leander

I met Rosemary sometime in mid-December 1967 and we were married in Coyocán, Mexico on Feb 8 of 1968. It would seem that I was Leander to Rosemary’s Hero.

Rosa ‘Leander’ was hybridized by David Austin in 1982. Sometime around 1989 we bought the rose. We quickly found out that unlike most roses that need lots of sun, Leander managed to grow well in the shade. In our shady Kerrisdale garden she was a pleasant survivor.

When we moved to our small Kitsilano duplex with its small garden, we had to divest ourselves of many  plants, including my hostas and roses. We drove to our daughter Alexandra’s Lillooet where she has one acre garden and our plants found a home there.

But Leander had to come with us. Alas, after a couple of years Leander (I use the name as I don’t want to decide if the plant is a he or a she. I am being gender fluid) died. It is about impossible to find old English Roses (not old but simply from the end of the 20^th century as Austin's first rose, Constance Spry was introduced in 1962) in Vancouver so Rosemary became sad. About a year before Rosemary died her friend Jennifer Lamb brought us a rose she had rescued from a garden. She thought it was Leander. Leander it was and that made Rosemary happy and for me it was wonderful to see how she smiled when I showed her a scan of Leander.

But now in 2024 whenever these roses bloom for the first time as Leander did today I have that question in my head (a futile question it is but I cannot avoid it), “Why Leander and not Rosemary?” How can it be that she is not with me in Kitsilano today enjoying the sun and that bright Leander in all its pretty glory?

And because Leander is remontant, I will be seeing Leander often until the fall.