Article (newspaper)  (Dec 2013)  Page(s) 2.  
 
Patricia Routley.......There is another Wedding Day’ that I will share with you. It is a rose – what else? – and came into this garden in 2003 as a cutting from Jacqui Thorpe in Bridgetown. Jacqui was a most knowledgeable gardener and her Walnut Tree Cottage garden was exquisitely planted. She had a bit to do with fine dining restaurants and morning coffee at her house included fine china and beautiful tablecloths. I loved visiting her. She had trained her ‘Wedding Day’ over a small and low gazebo and the rose completely covered the roof. This particular rose was bred from R. sinowilsonii by Sir Frederick Stern in Worthing, U.K. in 1950. (I am not sure that it was actually bred. I suspect it may have been a seedling that Stern found under his R. sinowilsonii.) It bloomed for the first time on Sir Frederick and Lady Stern’s wedding anniversary and it was the obvious name to give it. Unfortunately because of its beautiful name and the propensity of most white climbers / scramblers to self seed, many gardeners’ seedlings thereafter were dubbed Wedding Day by their owners and the resulting chaos over which was the true one, was akin to my life search for my true love. Once in New Zealand there was such debate about which was which, that someone dubbed the true rose ‘English Wedding Day’. “But that was a ridiculous name to give it”, wrote Milton Nurse to me. “We don’t call it ‘English Wedding Day’ here in England. Its given name is ‘Wedding Day’.” There is a definite signature that ‘Wedding Day’ has and that is the tiny mucronate tip to the petals. Yellow buds open to a single flower of five white petals with pronounced orange stamens. The petals develop pink spots when it rains, which sounds pretty, but it is not. It is a vigorous climbing rose, blooming in clusters in the spring only. Because there have been so many look-alikes, I will include a few more details of the rose. The pedicel is finely glandular and the stipules have tiny glands only visible under a magnifying glass. Hips are orange and obovate (almost round) in shape. It is said to have a strong citrus fragrance, but whether that is of orange peel / fruit or orange blossom, I really don’t know - I can’t seem to smell anything these days. I don’t water this rose and have asked it to climb a conifer. It has taken years for it to obey but it is now on the way up and it apparently can grow up to 20 to 30 feet.

Book  (2003)  Page(s) 28.  
 
'Wedding Day' (Stern, 1950]

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 622.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Wedding Day’/’English Wedding Day’ = Moderne – Grimpant liane – blanc, non remontant… see reference Botanica’s Rose… Stern UK 1950. Rose sinowilsonii x semis. Photos: flowers + hips.

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 29.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 623.  Includes photo(s).

Website/Catalog  (Oct 1999)  Page(s) 47.  
 
Wedding Day (Rambler) A rose with considerable climbing quality, especially into trees. Very fragrant. Single. Lemon-white sometimes flushed pink. Borne in clusters. 1950.

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 622.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa sinowilsonii was discovered in China in 1904; it is a single, white, vigorous rose. Wedding Day is an improved version with rampant growth and clear green foliage. The flowers are larger and are white with pronounced orange stamens. They come in big trusses and have a citrus scent. Zones 7-9. Stern, UK 1950. Rosa sinowilsonii x seedling.

[Photos of blooms and of rose hips.]

Website/Catalog  (23 Oct 1998)  Page(s) 31.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (1994)  Page(s) 222.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 632.  
 
Wedding Day Rambler, yellow to white flushed pink, single, 1950, R. sinowilsonii x Seedling; Stern, F.C. Description.