The World's Largest Rosebush

I was like a lot of other tourist passing through Arizona. I was going to Tombstone, The Town Too Tough to Die.

The last thing in the world I expected to find in Tombstone would be The World's Largest Rosebush, but find it, I did.

As the legend goes, a lady by the name of Mary Gee came to Tombstone from Scotland in 1885. She was the bride of a local miner, and she stayed at the Cochise House while her home was being constructed. She was horrendously homesick, and her family sent her some reminders of home to make her feel better. One of those things was a root to her favorite plant, Lady Banks' Rosebush. She was friendly with the owner of the hotel, and the bush was planted on the grounds. The rest of the story is history.

Today the bush is in the same spot, but the Cochise House is now called the Rose Tree Inn Museum and Gift Shop. It blooms white roses every April, and their is a parade and festival to celebrate the blooming.  The rosebush is at the corner of 4h Street and Toughnut.

Its canopy covers 8,500 (!) square feet. The trunk  has a circumference of 12 feet. It is, and has been, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The trellis to hold this bush up has changed through the years

A man who is originally from Greece prunes the rosebush

http://theepitaph.com/culture/516-master-pruner-keeps-bloom-on-the-rose

There are steps to climb so you can look down on the top of the rosebush.

If you're in the mood for travel this spring

Rose Tree Festival - April 05, 06, 07, 2013

 This year's event celebrates the 128th blooming of the World's Largest Rose Tree.
See the "Softer Side of Tombstone's History".
There will be the crowning of the Rose Queen and her court under the 9,000 square foot Rose Tree. Other activities include a Pancake breakfast, Lunch Box auction, Parade, Mariachi and Folklorico dancers and a round table discussion with long-time Tombstone residents on Saturday.
The tour guide told me about the “Rose Parade” in Tombstone, and remarked that the other Rose Parade, somewhere, perhaps Pasadena copied their name.

and there are chairs to relax a spell