As Baby Boomers age, allergies are increasing tremendously, far worse than with any other generation we have records of. I submit it likely has a great deal to do with the smog and other pollution in the environment they (we) grew up in. Yes, what your neighbor sprays or dumps greatly affects you, too. I completely understand the necessity of spraying roses in environments where most won't grow without it. If I had to live where extreme winter protection or frequent, regular use of sprays were required, I honestly doubt I would grow roses. My hat is off to you who do it as it just seems too much work from my point of view. Ingrid made a great point about the found roses from the area. A plant which has survived, even flourished, for decades without our intervention seems a perfect choice to enjoy. Many OGRs and earlier modern roses have survived in old gardens and cemeteries in the Deep South and California's Gold Country and they frequently make excellent landscape plants. It is truly a case of climatic suitability, what is happy where you garden. I'm very glad you brought up that point, Ingrid, thank you. Perhaps they aren't exactly the flower you might be looking for, but using a variety of those which are successful where you are then filling in the premium spot with the desired flower on a plant specifically selected because of its performance in your climate should provide you a beautiful personal environment with less effort, time, energy expense and exposure. Working with Nature instead of trying to bend it to our will requires a whole lot less of everything. Kim

Trace the stem down to the ground and pull it out. All the rose needs is some regular watering and a bit of food. I recommend using Rose-tone or Plant-Tone (follow directions) available at placed like Home Depot or Lowes or online. I assume the rose is planted where it receives 6 or more hours of sun a day? If not, you might think about transplanting it to a better location. Pull up the weeds around the base of the rose. Putting 1-2 inches of mulch there would be nice. Sorry--I have no idea what rose that is. Good luck, Kate

Very difficult to id with only a few photos. Could be Golden Showers, but seems to have too many petals and be a bit too bright yellow in my own experience. Golden Showers also shatters very quickly, a day or two in my experience, so if the blooms last longer, then perhaps you can rule GS out. But then we will all be just guessing and roses vary depending on climate, location, and many other things. My personal first impression is that it resembles 'Lichtkönigin Lucia' a wonderful Kordes rose from the mid 60's that was widely grown. But there are many other possibilities. Trying to identify a mystery rose is not an exact, or simple process. Good luck, but an exact ID is unlikely. Cheers, Rick

An update in May 2019. Really taking off this year.....we had a graduation celebration in the family and these blooms corresponded to it.......I think Granny was there with us. She always loved the family together. Really happy this one cutting made it, and it has been slowly increasing in size. I am still curious of the cultivar, though that is less important than the sentimental value.