GardenBanter.co.uk - Is this E. Veyrat Hermanos?

"Cass" wrote in message
...
I slammed on the brakes and cut off a bloom of a spectacular climbing
tea growing in the soil around the P G & E meter of a local video
store. The button eye is very distinct.

Is this E. Veyrat Hermanos? If so, I want many:

Hello Cass dear,

Not if the one we have (which I grew before and it has the
same characteristics is the real one) that around this part
of the world is some times called Pillar of Gold (?).

The stems are more reddish-purplish, the foliage is shiny
and dark green, and the color is too pale if compared
with EVH. The color in EVH is buff, almost dark yellow
and the reverse of the petals is pink, and I do mean pink.
It could very well be that depending on the zone and the
sun exposure it may be lighter there, but I don't see the
amount of petals closing into the eye as the one did here.
Also the fragrance is very, very strong and it has a note
of sweetness at the beginning that turns into a "darker"
or more intense smell, almost devoid of sweetness after
the first impression.

Mine should bloom this year but then again...Pat Henry
who sold it to me said they were 1 year old plants so we
will see. It is gorgeous whatever it turns out to be and
I agree with you, "we" need many. Would the people
who do the landscape for the place know what
they planted there? Somebody may, in Portland EVH can
easily reach between 12 and 14 feet so down there it
may be even taller. But the pink edges are nothing like
our old EVH. I am sure you already checked this out
however here is a poor but accurate shot as far as color and
shape

http://www.country-lane.com/yr/veyrat.htm

notice the leaves and also the fact that the color is truly a
buff yellow ochre pastel peach apricot soft gold with a solid
pink reverse- How is that for an accurate description?

Now, your bloom for some reason I cannot explain because
it is not a tea but a wichurana rambler, it reminds me of a very
young Rene Andre which I also used to grow and I have now in
the east side bed hopefully getting on with the business of
expansion. This is some gorgeous bloom from a very nice
lady in Canada, but she has magic fingers so I will never
expect my Rene to look anything like this, but your bloom
looks a bit like my old RA so, again time, space, sunlight
and so forth...who knows?

http://www.helpmefind.com/sites/rrr/pl.php?n=5188

EVH color and fragrance plus the stems are dead giveaways.
Whatever you have there is worth a trip to the place to do
some snooping. Or request with a big smile after renting some
videos permission to take some cuttings. Try asking Alice, she
has a knack to recognize the old ones. I am still an amateur...

Allegra