Hi Sheila, I'm hoping so, but if not, that's OK too. The property was purchased from the estate of a 98 year old who had owned it since built in 1962. There was evidence throughout the yard and old greenhouses that at one time there had existed many roses here, but this was the only one still living by the time I came to own this desert property, probably because it was near a rain gutter. I'm not convinced I want to put the effort into it because it seems to get thrips damage every single flower every single time. But the bees adore it. If I find out what it is I can make a more educated decision about whether to keep or SP, clearly it's very drought tolerant. It flowers heavily IMO with hardly any rest between flushes and is growing in poor lean soil and I've never fertilized it. Earlier today I took a cutting to see if it will root just for the experiment. It's kind of like being a rose rustler in my own backyard. :)

Seil - I’d be very surprised if it turned out to be Oklahoma. These blooms are a little smaller and, I agree with you, much pinker than I’ve seen on mine. The form before it opens is much more globular than Oklahoma too. On top of that, it’s survived 5b winters with no protection at all. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

Hi Sarah, It is actually quite difficult to ID a rose just from a photo of the bloom. My suggestion would be to ask your friend what varieties these are -- if they came from their garden it is likely that they know. That would be the most reliable way to determine ID. If your friend does not know then things like the bush habit, how often it blooms, what the thorns look like and how thorny it is, the leaves of the plant, the buds, and the backs of the blooms where they attach to the stem are all things that can help with an identification. Given the wide commercial availability of David Austin roses, my guess is that at least one of these is a David Austin rose. The last one might be Bolero (Meilland) but with slightly fewer petals than normal. This can happen if the weather is hot or if the rose is having a rough week for some reason.

Funnily enough, back in the 1970s when I was living in rural Devon (SW England) I posted a box full of wild flowers picked from the Devon hedgerows to a friend (ex-Devonian, temporarily in exile in New York City) for his birthday. From what I can remember, I filled out the customs form honestly, just putting 'flowers' as the contents, monetary value 'nil', I suppose! (Though of course priceless, in reality.) I was thrilled to hear it had passed through customs with no problem, and the flowers had arrived still fresh in their damp moss and smelling of the English countryside. I'm guessing things have tightened up a lot since those days, unless I was just lucky. Here In Oz, they really are FIERCE about protecting our native wildlife and agriculture and you absolutely wouldn't want to mess with them. They even used to spray you (people) with some ghastly smelling substance before they'd let you off the 'plane, to extinguish all possible microscopic life forms that might be attached to your person.