Rose of the Month

June – Platinum

70 years in business is a milestone worth celebrating and in 2017, Matthews Nurseries near Wanganui does just that. This month’s featured rose is a new release Hybrid Tea rose bred by Bob Matthews to mark this occasion. ‘Platinum’ has large cupped shaped blooms of soft pink, sweetly scented on long, strong stems ideal for picking. The glossy dark green foliage compliments the blooms well and the plant grows to around 1.1 metres. A winner … [Read more...]

May – Scent by an Angel

This month we feature a new release for this winter from the world famous rose breeding family Poulsens of Denmark. Poulsen roses perform well in New Zealand conditions and other introductions have included ‘Ingrid Bergman’, ‘Hans Christian Andersen’, ‘Sparkler’ and more recent introductions like ‘Silver Anniversary’ and ‘Mum in a Million’ ‘Scent by an Angel’ is very much like ‘Mum in a Million’ in growth form, being an tall upright vigourous … [Read more...]

April – Tropical Delight

Bicolour roses are a bit of a novelty in the rose world and this month we feature one that deserves to be more widely grown. ‘Tropical Delight’ has clusters of blooms, creamy white edged raspberry red that are lightly scented and look good enough to eat! In full flower, the plant looks a picture and looks a treat in the garden. It is a medium, bushy grower with good health to about 1.3 metres. One thing it does not like is hard pruning so … [Read more...]

March – Magnifi-scent

Everyone loves fragrant roses and this month we feature a new release for winter 2017 that is bound to please the noses of everyone. 'Magnifi-scent' is a Hybrid Tea with blooms best described as ‘French Rose’. Not red, but not pink either but a great colour to mix with other roses and garden plants. Blooms usually come one to a stem and with quick repeat, the plant is never without flowers. A bushy, medium growing plant with glossy disease … [Read more...]

February – Christchurch Remembers

For this month, we feature a rose named to commemorate the victims of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and which will be widely available in New Zealand this winter. First of all, ‘Christchurch Remembers’ is red in colour - a bright scarlet red that darkens around the petal edges as they age. A floribunda, ‘Christchurch Remembers’ does have relatively large blooms for this type of rose but they are produced in clusters and last well on the … [Read more...]

January – Eye of the Tiger

We begin 2017 by featuring of the winners from the New Zealand Rose Society trials in Palmerston North last year whose novelty caught the eye of the judges. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ received the Nola Simpson Award for the most novel rose in the trials which run over two years. This variety is another of the Hulthemia or Persica roses that are characterised by a darker base to the petal giving the impression of an ‘eye’. In the case of ‘Eye of the … [Read more...]

December – Flower Carpet Red

The Flower Carpet® series of roses have been a revelation since they were first introduced to New Zealand in the early 1990’s. Since then, 10 colours have been introduced and this month, we feature Flower Carpet® Red. Flower Carpet® Red has all the other attributes of the Flower Carpet ® series – long flowering period, exceptional tolerance to disease, easy care and tolerant of a wide variety of conditions. The single blooms are a velvety … [Read more...]

November – Boscobel

David Austin Roses, also known as English roses, have always been popular with New Zealand gardeners for many years with any new releases eagerly sought out as they come on the market. This month, we feature a new variety that will be released in New Zealand in 2017. ‘Boscobel’ has well formed rich salmon rosette blooms which are strongly fragrant with a strong myrrh fragrance. With good repeat flowering and exceptional health, this variety … [Read more...]

October – Red Corsair

Red is the most popular colour among roses and gardeners everywhere are always attracted to plant red roses in their gardens. This month, we feature a newer red climbing rose that offers much promise. ‘Red Coisair’ has clusters of semi double blooms of an eye catching fire engine red – a colour that really stands out and brightens any garden. It is almost never without blooms from spring to autumn. Not much scent but for sheet flower power, … [Read more...]

September – Sugar Plum

Patio climbing roses have been around for many years with the last 20 years seeing a number of varieties released from English Rose Breeder Chris Warner. These have become popular with their smaller blooms and generally more contained growth habit making them ideal for small gardens. This month, we feature one of the best ‘Sugar Plum’ is one of the first roses to flower each season and produces small, well formed blooms of magenta purple - a … [Read more...]