{{short description|Yellow shrub rose}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Rosa'' 'Graham Thomas'}} {{Infobox cultivar | name = ''Rosa'' 'Graham Thomas' | image = Rosa 'Graham Thomas' J1.JPG | genus = ''Rosa'' hybrid | hybrid = Rosa 'Charles Austin' × ('Iceberg' x 'Unnamed Seedling') | group = Modern shrub / English rose | cultivar = 'Graham Thomas' | marketing_names = Ausmas, 'Lemon Parody' | origin = David C.H. Austin, 1983 }}
'''Graham Thomas''' (aka '''AUSmas''') is a deep yellow shrub rose bred by British rose breeder, David C.H. Austin, and introduced into the United Kingdom by David Austin Roses Limited (UK) in 1983. The cultivar was named for legendary rose horticulturalist Graham Thomas. The rose was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993 and inducted into the Rose Hall of Fame in 2009 as "World's Favourite Rose".
==Description== 'Graham Thomas' is an upright yellow shrub rose, {{convert|4|to(-)|10|ft|abbr=on}} in height, with a {{convert|3|to(-)|5|ft|abbr=on}} spread. The large {{convert|4|in|abbr=on}} flowers have a full, cupped bloom form and are borne mostly solitary or in large, long-stemmed clusters of 3 to 9 flowers.<ref name="Help me find roses">{{cite web |title=Rosa 'Graham Thomas' |url=https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.1839.1 |website=Help me find roses |access-date=3 September 2021}}</ref> The color has been described variously as "rich deep yellow", "golden yellow", "amber" and "ochre yellow", and fades to a pale lemon as the bloom ages. The plant blooms in flushes throughout the season.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulbardenroses.com/austins/thomas.html|title=Graham Thomas|last=|first=|date=|website=Paul Barden Roses|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531175036/http://www.paulbardenroses.com/austins/thomas.html|archive-date=31 May 2018|access-date=18 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Modern Garden Roses|last=Harkness|first=Peter|last2=Page|first2=Vincent|publisher=The Globe Pequot Press|year=1988|isbn=0871067447|location=|pages=[https://archive.org/details/moderngardenrose00hark/page/40 40]|url=https://archive.org/details/moderngardenrose00hark/page/40}}</ref> It has a strong "tea" fragrance and is very disease resistant.<ref name=":0" /> Flowers are short-lived, so they do not make good cut flowers. Leaves are large and vary in colour from bright to pale green. The plant can reach {{convert|10|ft|abbr=on}} in hot climates, but is difficult to train as a climber because of its rigid stems and upright habit.{{sfn|Quest-Ritson|Quest-Ritson|2003|p=178}} {{Quote box |width =15em |border = 2px |align = right |bgcolor = #FFFACD |fontsize = 85% |title_bg = |title_fnt = |title = |quote = "'This is an iconic rose. Not only is it the biggest and best yellow of all David Austin English Roses, but its name commemorates the man who did more than anyone in the 20th century to reintroduce old roses to popularity." |salign = right |source=— ''Quest-Ritson'', 2003{{sfn|Quest-Ritson|Quest-Ritson|2003|p=178}}}}
==History== ===David Austin roses=== David C. H. Austin (1926 – 2018) was an award-winning rose breeder, nursery owner and writer from Shropshire, England. He began breeding roses in the 1950s with the goal of creating new shrub rose varieties that would possess the best qualities of old-fashioned roses while incorporating the long flowering characteristics of hybrid tea roses and floribundas. His first commercially successful rose cultivar was 'Constance Spry', which he introduced in 1961. He created a new, informal class of roses in the 1960s, which he named "English Roses".<ref name="Phillips">{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Roger|last2=Rix|first2=Martin|title=Quest for the Rose: A Historical Guide to Roses |year=1993|publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0679435730}}</ref> Austin's roses are generally known today as "David Austin Roses". Austin attained international commercial success with his new rose varieties. Some of his most popular roses include 'Wife of Bath' (1969), 'Graham Thomas' (1983), 'Abraham Darby' (1985), and 'A Shropshire Lad'.<ref name="Gardenia net">{{cite web |title=''Rosa'' 'Constance Spry' |url=https://www.gardenia.net/plant/rose-constance-spry-ausfirst |website=Gardenia |access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="Help me find roses David Austin">{{cite web |title=Austin (1926-2018) David C.H. |url=https://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=7.5940&tab=21 |website=Help me find roses David Austin |access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref>
==='Graham Thomas'=== Austin developed 'Graham Thomas' by crossing the white floribunda, 'Iceberg', and an 'Unnamed seedling' with the shrub rose, 'Charles Austin'. The new cultivar was named for legendary horticulturalist and restorer of old roses Graham Thomas. David Austin Roses Limited (UK) introduced 'Graham Thomas' into the UK in 1983. Austin used 'Graham Thomas' extensively in further breeding. Over 20 child plants of 'Graham Thomas' have been developed by Austin and other rose-breeders. Selected child plants include, 'Anne Boleyn' (1991), 'Evelyn' (1992), 'The Pilgrim' (1991), 'Versigny' (1992), 'Charlotte' (1994), 'Molineux' (1994), and 'Charity' (1998).<ref name="NGA">{{cite web |title=Child plants of Rosa 'Graham Thomas' |url=https://garden.org/plants/parentage/119/ |website=National Gardening Association |access-date=3 September 2021}}</ref>
'Graham Thomas' has been described as "the most popular" of Austin's creations and has won numerous horticultural awards. It was the first Austin rose to win the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit at the Chelsea Flower show ten years after its introduction in 1993.<ref name ="Twin cities">{{Cite web|url=https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/29/blundering-gardener-the-gardening-world-lost-a-friend-to-roses-this-month/|title=Blundering Gardener: The gardening world lost a friend of roses in December|last=Blodgett|first=Bonnie|date=29 December 2018|website=Twin Cities|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 April 2019}}</ref> It was named The World's Favourite Rose, entering the Rose Society Hall of Fame in 2009.<ref name ="World Roses>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldrose.org/hall-of-fame.html|title=WFRS Hall of Fame|last=|first=|date=|website=Worldrose.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=20 April 2019}}</ref>
== Notes == {{reflist}} ==Sources== *{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Roger|title=Quest for the Rose: A Historical Guide to Roses |year=1993|publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0679435730 }} * {{cite book|last1=Quest-Ritson|first1=Brigid|last2=Quest-Ritson|first2=Charles|title=Encyclopedia of Roses|year=2003|publisher=DK Publishing|isbn=978-0756688684}}
Graham Thomas Category:1983 introductions Category:Garden plants