PERSIAN YELLOW A double form of Rosa foetida, good strong yellow flowers. An ancient eastern garden rose, brought to England from Persia in 1837 by Sir Henry Willock. This rose brought the strong yellows into modern roses, and at the same time the numerous spines and susceptibility to blackspot often associated with the older yellow roses. ‘Harison’s Yellow’ is a hybrid between persiana and Rosa pimpinellifolia, with loosely double yellow flowers, raised in New York in the early 19th century; it was taken westwards across America by the pioneers, and planted wherever they set up a homestead. Zone 5. This is the rose that was used by Antoin Ducher to make the first breakthrough with breeding the colour yellow into the Hybrid Perpetuals with his rose ‘Soleil d’Or’. Zone 5, will survive down to –25°C.