Found Roses
Bishop’s Lodge, Hay. NSW Australia
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These are unidentified (found) roses at Hay’s Bishop’s Lodge, home to the Anglican Bishop of the Riverina from 1889 to 1943. The second Bishop, Ernest Anderson (1895 - 1925) was a known rose enthusiast and we feel quite certain that he introduced them to the garden. They are growing in an enclosed area called the Hidden Garden and also along the northern border in front on the house.
Each rose must have the preface Bishop’s Lodge (B.L.) before its given name. The names are relevant to people who were associated with the Lodge or pertaining to the area.
Hybrid Perpetual
B.L. Sydney Linton, named for the first Bishop of the Riverina, is a very tall (to 2m) arching Hybrid Perpetual with enormous deep pink, flat, cupped blooms and broad rounded leaves. It has a peony-like form with a huge spring flush. Odd blooms continue throughout summer and autumn. Beautiful perfume and is a marvelous cut flower. There are three original bushes in the garden.
B.L. Reginal Halse named for the third Bishop, a bachelor who shared the Lodge with The Linton Boys when it became a boy’s hostel. It is a dark pink or light crimson Hybrid Perpetual with upright tall growth and good fragrance. Main flowering is in late October, early November with occasional flowers later on if hips are removed. The large round hips, if allowed to remain, are very decorative and profuse.
Teas
B.L. Ah Mow named after the Lodge’s Chinese gardener. A tea rose, variable in its coloring. In shade, blooms are creamy when full blown, but in the sun they have a strong pink colour. When the buds begin to unfurl they are pointed and give no indication of the tightly packed and quilled full blooms to follow. It has few thorns and resents pruning. The original bush was overtaken by rootstock and possums and died.
B.L. Aimee named for Amelia wife of Bishop Anderson. A tall tea rose which, when grown in dappled shade, has blooms which are lightly scented creamy-mauve to pink. The buds open very full and have dense centres. The new growth is red on a very vigorous bush.
B.L. Henrietta named for Rita Anderson, a daughter of Bishop Anderson who married Roy Simpson of “Mungadal” Hay. This rose is a soft pink with beautifully perfumed blooms. Buds are onion shaped and are twigged red. It is very full and can ball in wet conditions.
B.L. Jane Isabella Linton named for the wife of Bishop Linton. Stems on this tea are quite strong and the light pink petals have deeper shading. Occasional stripes are packed in to form really old fashioned quartered blooms. It can ball in wet weather. It can grow to a moderately vigorous bush given good conditions. The original bush still lives.
B.L. Muriel Linton named for the Linton’s youngest daughter born 1886. A tea rose with dark red beautifully perfumed blooms. Recurrent flowering and red new stem and leaf growth.
B.L. Riverina Sunset a pink tea rose which is very recurrent. The edges of the petals darker creating a shade we refer to a watercolour pink and suggest the airy pink light in which the plains are bathed at the end of so many warm clear days. It has red new growth, smooth stems with few slightly curved thorns.
B.L. Speragina a very dark fragrant pink tea. In spring and autumn the blooms are full and quartered but summer blooms are generally more open and very recurrent. Most tea roses have fewer petals and often a different colour in summer heat. This rose grows in company with asparagus which were known as “Sperage” in old England, where the feather-brush sprays of wild asparagus were used to “asperge” (purify) the congregation. There is no evidence that this custom continued here.
B.L. Sulmanesque named for Sir John Sulman, architect of Bishop’s Lodge. This rose displays many of the characteristics of the building - tall, always elegant, admirably suited to the climate and offering year round pleasure. New growth is red and new buds rapidly form at leaf axils, whether old blooms are removed or not. This rose in spring has soft peachy pink very full blooms, quite different to those in the warmer months. It produces very few hips.
Turning to Hybrid Teas
B.L. Ernest Anderson named for Bishop Anderson, the second Bishop and avid collector of roses who occupied the Lodge for thirty years. It is a tall pillar rose with crimson beautifully perfumed flowers, very recurrent continuing to flower into winter.
B.L. Lady Day Rose is an intriguing variable rose. During summer the blooms are pale apricot opening wide to display light brown anthers. It is difficult to recognize this as the same rose in July when its Camellia like flowers are pale pink with a deeper reverse on the outside. In autumn it is an entirely different type of bloom which is fuller and an apricot-pink. It is most prolific in its flowering at this time from Lady Day (25 March ) onwards. Leaves have a strong texture and it forms wonderful plump round red hips if not dead headed.
B.L. Linton Boy named for the boys who boarded here while attending Hay War Memorial High School. Semi-double blooms of a lively red are very recurrent and open to reveal gold stamens. A crop of egg shaped hips are produced if spent blooms are not removed. “Red Letter Day” has been suggested as a possible true name of this rose but we have had no bushes of this variety for comparison.
B.L. Linton Gold produces recurrent blooms of gold to ochre and has a classic hybrid tea form. New growth is very red indicating tea blood. Flowers are slightly nodding and it produces hips when not dead headed.
B.L. Mary Matthews named for a daughter of Bishop Anderson. Mrs. Matthews’ early photographs of the rose garden have been most valuable in planning restoration of Bishops Anderson’s “Hidden Garden”. This rose is a very attractive shade of soft pink very recurrent, sweetly scented, particularly when used indoors. New leaf growth is red.
B.L. Molly named for Molly Simpson grand daughter of Bishop Anderson, daughter of Henrietta (Rita) and benefactor of the garden. Blooms of Molly are shamrock pink, matching the oxalis that has naturalized in the garden. A very healthy recurrent sturdy bush.
B.L. Precious Porcelain is a single five petalled lemon rose and calls to mind the fine porcelain that Bishop Anderson collected. Bushes tend to be low growing though some are 5 ft high. Buds are long and pointed. The opening buds are much brighter than the mature blooms that fade to cream in summer heat. Hips are large egg shaped and retain their long calyxes.
B.L. Roset’s Rose this rose now grows as an excellent hedge along Roset Street at the Bishop’s Lodge. Rosets were early settlers in the district. Large pink semi-double open blooms are produced plentifully throughout the seasons. A wonderful rose for difficult conditions and its simple flowers remind one of wild roses. A good picking rose.
These notes have been compiled from descriptions written by David Ruston and Brenda Weir. Photographs courtesy of Mary Lou Gardam, Beth Circuitt, Brenda McCully and David Houston.
These 18 roses are unique to Bishop’s Lodge, Hay. Plants have been propagated and are available from the Lodge, bare rooted in July and potted thereafter. Proceeds of the sale of the roses go towards the maintenance of the rose garden.
Bishop’s Lodge: Historic House and Heritage Rose Garden
Hay NSW 2711 Australia
02 6993 1727 or Fax o2 6993 4050
bishopslodge@westnet.com.au
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Val Davies Phone: 02 6993 2135
Coleen Houston Phone: 02 6993 2161