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| Rosa 'Sir Thomas Lipton' scanned 13 May 2023 but used here to fill a blog hole on 9 May |
Today, 13 May I was talking to my friend Ralph Rinke on the phone. I was in the garden and suddenly I notice a lovely open rose. It is officially the third of the season.
The rose is a rugosa hybrid. The rugosa species all have rugose leaves. This one, Rosa ‘Sir Thomas Lipton’ has nasty thorns but grows nicely in a pot. Of the rose I found this:
The real Sir Thomas Lipton (1848-1931) was a Scotsman who was a persistent America's Cup challenger and who founded the Lipton Tea Company. 'Sir Thomas Lipton', the rose, is a hybrid rugosa introduced in 1900 by Van Fleet, he of 'New Dawn' fame. It was product of a cross between R. rugosa alba and the lovely Polyantha ‘Clotilde Soupert’
The name Sir Thomas Lipton brings me fond memories of living with Rosemary in Mexico City from 1967 to 1975 when we moved with our two daughters, Alexandra and Hilary to Vancouver.
We liked good tea but tea of any kind was unavailable in our Mexico City and we depended on friends coming back from the US who would bring us Lipton Tea bags. I have to confess that we re-used them.
Now here in Vancouver I have at least 10 different cans of the best loose tea I can find. I would not be caught dead (as they say) drinking tea-bag-tea!
While I have scanned this rose today I am going to put this blog back a few days to fill some holes.
