The ‘hand painted’ roses first appeared with much excitement in the 1970’s, a result of breeding work by Sam McGredy. In recent years, there has been a renaissance in the hand painted area with several newer hand painted roses appearing on the market and we feature one of the best this month.
‘Picotee’ is a patio rose with blooms of pink edged white blooms with a white reverse. It is very free flowering with blooms produced in clusters covering the plant making for a very colourful display in the garden. It’s quick to repeat flower and unlike some other hand painted roses, the blooms keep the white edge in the summer heat. Very healthy, the plant is compact and bushy making it a great plant for the garden and is also great grown as a short standard.
Bred by Rob Somerfield here in New Zealand, ‘Picotee’ is bred from Flower Carpet seedling x Old Master. In 2009, it won a Certificate of Merit at the NZRS Rose Trials in Palmerston North in 2009 and was selected as the Children’s Choice Award at the New Zealand Rose of the Year trials in Hamilton. A rose well worth growing if you are after some colour in your garden.
