Rose of the Month

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...]

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...]