Saturday, April 18, 2009

Yellow Rose of Texas

There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her, it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, when we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, and not to leave her so.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, that we sung so long ago
We'll play the bango gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the yellow rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

Here are the lyrics of the song. As for an actual "Yellow Rose of Texas" I have not heard that one has been designated as the rose. I read a news paper report that Grandma's Yellow received the honor, but nothing on the Aggie Horticulture website backed up that claim. If y'all have heard something I haven't please let me know.

As legend may have it, the yellow rose was a mixed raced woman who distracted Santa Anna allowing his army to be taken by surprise at Battle of San Jacinto on April 4, 1836.

6 comments:

  1. Hmmm. I thought there was an official "Yellow Rose of Texas," maybe Rosa banksiae var. lutea {sp.?!]. But hey, I live in Pennsylvania, what do I know! Looking forward to hearing from those who might actually know...

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  2. Well, I live in Texas and I don't know either, but now I'm dying to find out! Keep us posted, Debbi! (And you'd think Aggie Hort would surely know if there were one.)

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  3. Love the poem! I hope your weather is nice this weekend- happy gardening!

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  4. I will look at the tag on mine tomorrow but I'm pretty sure it's a Lady Banks Rosa banksiae. I heard a story about it taking over a town in Texas. I watched a special on it. They think the rose tapped in to an underground spring according to the report. But you know they were talking to us NCers and we don't know nothing about Texas.

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  5. OFB, Just like everything in Texas we are going to make a big production about it before we give it a title.

    Diana, That's where I got the information for the follow up post.

    You too Tessa.

    Anna, As I was looking there were lots of claims to the "real" deal. Nice use of the double negative. Drop the g and you've got Texas speak nailed:)

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  6. I read somewhere this week that the Yellow Rose of Texas was Kerria japonica. I thought it a bit strange at the time - must see if I can find the link again, but you know how it is when you're surfing the net...

    Loved your Blue Bonnet trail post BTW. Looks like you and Nola had a great time.

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