‘Mrs. Peter Blair’ 1906 seems to have some similarities with what I remember of “Stockport Yellow”. Good perfume, prickles, reddish stems, dwarf “stocky”.
I don’t have “Stockport Yellow” (more’s the pity) and I gather Margaret is on a photographic mission at the moment. But the portrait seems similar to her photo of 13 APR 09
My plant did not thrive either and eventually gave up the ghost, so I only have limited first-hand experience with "Stockport Yellow". The fresh blooms were a fairly definite clear yellow (eg buttercup yellow) and tended to open to show their stamens.
It would be nice if it were Jean Renton. However my plant and the one at Renmark, and what I remember of the parent plant at Stockport, wouldn't make a hedge unless it was a low one. I'm not sure what "vigorous" in the references for Jean Renton means.
I keep looking at the lower left, half-opened, straight-sided bud in Lina Schmidt-Michel's painting of 'Georges Schwartz' and comparing Margaret's photos of "Stockport Yellow".
'Georges Schwartz' was offered by Kemp's Nursery in 1915 and Schwartz is a local name in the Mid North and the photo does look very similar - just wish there were some more photos.
You'd have to wonder why such a floriferous rose in a colour that stands out among the Teas (if it is a late Tea) would disappear from catalogues. One reason might be the difficulty propagating it; "Stockport" won't strike from cuttings, and with my (non-) pruning regimen it's very hard to find good budwood on it at the time of year when we usually get budding done (early summer).
I had a quick look at "Stockport Yellow" at the Barossa Old Rose Repository a fortnight ago and noted in particular the rather thickish stems. On the way home I read rose catalogues (what else?) and noted that Alister Clark said in 1941 "strong but short stems" for his rose 'Jean Renton'. Pat Toolan has written (in private correspondence) that the "Stockport Yellow has "short spaces between the growth points". I think 'Jean Renton' could be considered for "Stockport Yellow" but I have put all I could find on this rose into HelpMeFind - and there is precious little.
