The New Zealand Rose Society

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Rose of the Month

August – Picotee

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 … [Read more...]

July – Glorious

Yellow is always a colour that brightens up any garden and for the middle of winter, our featured rose is one of the best new roses to come onto the market in recent years in New Zealand. ‘Glorious’ is well named with large, well formed blooms of clear yellow produced on strong stems. They last well and are good for picking. There is some fragrance to enjoy from the blooms. Medium growing in the garden, glossy large foliage compliments the … [Read more...]

June – Kiwi

The brown or chocolate shades have always been a novel colour in roses and this month we feature one of the best to be released in this colour range in recent years. While New Zealand breeders like Nola Simpson and Sam McGredy have made significant contributions to roses in these shades, our featured rose comes from across the Pacific from breeder Tom Carruth, now retired from Weeks Roses in California. ‘Kiwi’ is well named with clusters of … [Read more...]

English Rose: Munstead Wood

David Austin or English roses have always been popular with New Zealand gardeners with their old fashioned blooms and fantastic  fragrance. This month, we feature one of the newer varieties to be introduced to New Zealand and a welcome addition to Austin roses in this colour range. English rose, ‘Munstead Wood’ features very deep velvety crimson cupped blooms with lighter outer petals and a strong old rose scent. A bushy, spreading grower, it … [Read more...]

April – Flower Carpet® White

The Flower Carpet ® series of roses have become the biggest selling rose in recent times around the world. For this month, we feature the most popular colour of the series here in New Zealand. Flower Carpet®  White was the second of the series to be released in this country in the mid 1990’s and since then, has gone onto become the best selling colour. White has always been a colour that sells well and this rose makes its mark in gardens all … [Read more...]

March – Sky Tower

This month, we featured one of the best climbers to have come on the market in recent years and a rose that lights up the garden when in bloom. ‘Sky Tower’ is aptly named for New Zealand’s tallest man made structure in Auckland and forms clusters of hot pink blooms in clusters, forming a great display. The clusters of blooms are great to pick and bring inside to a vase. ‘Sky Tower’ has also become a popular exhibition rose and is often seen at … [Read more...]

February – Beehive Gold

This month we feature a bright  yellow, non-fading patio rose, something not commonly found in the world of roses. Since its release in 2000, it has become a popular addition to the range of patio roses grown in New Zealand. ‘Beehive Gold’ has clusters of bright yellow, double blooms all summer long. It is an eye catching addition to any garden or container and is also good grown as a standard. It is easy to grow with dark green foliage, good … [Read more...]

January – Loving Memory

We start 2016 by featuring one of the most popular red roses grown in New Zealand today. 'Loving Memory' is a good garden rose and one often found exhibited at rose shows. The name also  makes it a sought after rose to give when there is bereavement. ‘Loving Memory’ has large well formed lightly scented blooms of cherry red on long stems which make it great for cutting or exhibition. A tall upright growing plant, ‘Loving Memory’ does need a … [Read more...]

December – Old Master

We end 2015 by featuring a rose that was one of the first of the hand painted roses bred by Sam McGredy in the 1970’s. A novelty at the time, the blooms gave the look that one colour was splashed with another.  Today, they are still grown and a wider selection of varieties are available. One of the earliest varieties and one still grown today is ‘Old Master’ which attracts attention in the garden or on the show bench with its crimson red … [Read more...]

November – Hansa

This month as the roses start blooming across New Zealand, we feature a heritage rose which is one of the best in the rugosa classification. Rugosa roses are easy to grow untroubled by disease, can grow near the sea and have fragrant blooms often followed by colourful hips. On the downside, the thorns are quite vicious ‘Hansa’ is a taller growing rugosa with double blooms of purple red with golden stamens in the centre. The blooms come in … [Read more...]