The New Zealand Rose Society

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Rose of the Month

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...]

Pixy® Lauren

This one we feature something different, a modern Polyantha rose that can be described as a violet blue version of ‘The Fairy’ Bred by Kim Rupert of the United States, ‘Pixy® Lauren’ features masses of small mauve – violet blooms in large clusters all summer long. The blooms have a medium sweet apple scent. Very easy to grow with great health, the rounded shrub grows to 90cm tall. Available from Amore Roses Photos courtesy Amore Roses … [Read more...]

Valerie Webster

For the first month of 2021, we feature one of the winners from the NZRS International Rose Trials in Palmerston North which were announced at the end of November. Clusters of pure yellow blooms, lightly scented feature on a very healthy, medium growing plant with glossy green foliage. Named in celebration of Zonta International’s Centennial year in 2019 and for their beloved past Governor Valerie Webster. Presented with a Certificate of Merit … [Read more...]

Mary Ann

This month we feature a newer release with an old-fashioned look that seems to be one of the trends in rose breeding at the moment. ‘Mary Ann’ is a compact growing bush rose with clusters of large, cupped shaped quartered blooms of orange to apricot depending on the weather. Moderately scented, the blooms are also good for picking. A compact, medium growing plant with dark green ribbed foliage, it also has good health. Bred by Tantau of … [Read more...]

Showpiece Berry

This month we feature one of a new series of roses from the same breeder as the popular Flower Carpet® roses which are being introduced to New Zealand this month. ‘Showpiece Berry’ is one of the Showpiece™  series from Werner and Reinhardt Noack of Germany and features purplish/pink blooms, other colours being introduced at the same time are ‘Blush’ (light pink) and ‘Lipstick’ (red/pink)with more in the pipeline. All the Showpiece … [Read more...]

Green with Envy

Green is not a colour you associate very often with roses so this month’s featured rose is a very welcome new addition to this colour range. Aptly named ‘Green with Envy’ is a new release for spring 2020 from Rob Somerfield. It is the culmination of 29 years of breeding by Rob to get a green rose good enough to release onto the market. The blooms are lime green in colour and are produced in large clusters. The colour intensifies with age, … [Read more...]