Rosa 'Happenstance' - Yellow dwarf sport of R. Mermaid (1950?)
Rosa 'Happenstance' planted in the San Marcos Growers garden.
This great shrub rose, also known as 'Baby Mermaid' is a bit of a mystery and its origins are argued about by some. The 1997 Combined Rose List by Beverly Dobson and Peter Schneider lists it as a hybrid bracteata by virtue of it being a root sport of 'Mermaid' and credits the plant as being introduced by Buss in the 1950's. Since this time it has proven itself in gardens throughout California. The attractive small leaves foil the large canary-yellow flowers that can be found in abundance from spring through fall with seemly some flowers year-round in Santa Barbara's frost free climate. It can grow as a tall and blocky shrub to 6 feet tall, climb even higher with support, or with judicial pruning kept to a mounding 3 foot shrub. Hardy to zones 5-9.
