The New Zealand Rose Society

Join the New Zealand Rose Society to attend local rose meetings, rose shows, pruning demonstrations, rose trials, publications, rose of the month and more...

Rose of the Month

Flower Carpet® Mini Cherry

The Flower Carpet® series of groundcover roses have been very popular in New Zealand since the first one was released nearly 30 years ago. This month we feature the latest in the series which has just been released in New Zealand. Flower Carpet® Mini Cherry has masses of small cherry red blooms covering the plant. A smaller grower than others in the series, it reaches 50cm high by 60cm wide making it ideal for  edging, hedging or in a … [Read more...]

Pride of Palmy

November is the month when roses are at their best across much of New Zealand as they come into flower and is also the month when many rose shows occur (Covid permitting) and also trial results are announced from the New Zealand Rose Society International Trials in Palmerston North. ‘Pride of Palmy’ has been named to celebrate 50 years of the Palmerston North Rose Trials by its breeder Rob Somerfield of Glenavon Roses. The deep … [Read more...]

Pink Ribbon

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and what better rose to feature than the newly released rose ‘Pink Ribbon’ ‘Pink Ribbon’ is a stunning free flowering rose with masses of soft pink cupped blooms covering the compact, bushy growing plant. An ideal rose for a pot or to grow in the garden. It looks especially stunning planted in large groups and is also good as a standard. Bred by Bob Matthews of Matthews Nurseries, $2 from the sale of … [Read more...]

Showpiece Lipstick

This month we feature another of the Showpiece series that are from the same breeder as the popular Flower Carpet® roses which were introduced in New Zealand last year.   ‘Showpiece Lipstick’ is one of the Showpiece™ series from Werner and Reinhardt Noack of Germany and features large reddish pink scented blooms. Other colours available are ‘Blush’ (light pink) and ‘Berry’ (purple/pink) with more in the pipeline.  All the … [Read more...]

Newsflash

Orange is a very warm colour in the garden and this month we feature a new climbing rose which will light up any garden. ‘Newsflash’ covers itself in vibrant orange blooms all summer long creating an eye-catching display in your garden. Quick to repeat bloom, the vigorous growing plant is very healthy with mid-green foliage clothing. Bred in Ireland by David Kenny, this is a welcome addition to the range of orange-toned climbing … [Read more...]

Truly Special

This month we feature a special rose that is great to give as a gift as well as to grow in your own garden. ‘Truly Special’ was presented by rose breeder Rob Somerfield to his parents on the occasion of his parents 60th wedding anniversary.  The blooms have an old fashioned form and are rose pink with a slight warm glow to the centre of the blooms.  A strong scent adds to the appeal of this variety. A small growing rose to 80cam … [Read more...]

Floranza® Modern Twist

This month we feature a rose that is not pink but not orange either – one of those colours that is hard to describe but will light up any garden Floranza® Modern Twist comes to us from Colin Dickson of Northern Ireland and features clusters of semi-double blooms , lightly scented that smother the plant. A medium to tall growing plant, the dark green glossy foliage compliments the blooms well. Available from Amore Roses Photo credit: Amore … [Read more...]

Rebel Spirit

With winter just around the corner, it is time to feature some of the exciting new roses to be released onto the New Zealand market this year. Our first featured variety is ‘Rebel Sprit’, a stunning shrub rose bred by Kordes Rosen of Germany who are international leaders in the creation of super healthy shrub roses.  ‘Rebel Spirit’ has masses of single red blooms opening to reveal golden yellow stamens that attract the bees.  An … [Read more...]

Desdemona

We feature a recently released David Austin rose that month which will be available in great numbers this winter. But get your order in quick as there is strong demand for roses ‘Desdemona’ has beautiful pure white buds which open from soft peachy pink buds.  There is a strong fruity old rose scent to enjoy from the flowers so one that will defiantly appeal to those who love fragrant roses.  It is a free flowering variety and one that stands … [Read more...]

Ladies Night

An award winning rose features as the Rose of the Month for March. ‘Ladies Night’ topped the NZRS trials in 2018 and was recognised with the presentation of the Gold Star of the South Pacific award to its breeder Rob Somerfield. .  Red buds open to lightly scented blooms of red with a pink centre. With long stems, it is a good picking rose to enjoy in a vase. A medium to tall upright growing plant, it has very good health. Available … [Read more...]