New Zealand rose breeder Bob Matthews has taken out the top award at the New Zealand Rose Society International Rose Trial Grounds in Palmerston North in late November.
Mr Matthews variety, named ‘Allison Scott’ for a prominent rosarian won the Gold Star of the South Pacific for the highest scoring rose on trial. The success of the orange flowering variety caps off a year of celebrations for the Matthews family as they celebrate 75 years of growing roses commercially at their nursery near Whanganui.
The Silver Star of the City of Palmerston North for the best New Zealand amateur bred rose was awarded to Palmerston North rose breeder John Ford with the apricot variety ‘Autumn Glow’
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Tauranga rose breeder Rob Somerfield for the pale pink ‘Smitten’ and yellow ‘Spellbound’ while Rosen Tantau of Germany received a Certificate of Merit for the yellow ‘Lampion’
All these varieties will be introduced onto the New Zealand market in the next few years.
The New Zealand Rose Society trials are now into their 52nd year and test new varieties from New Zealand and international rose breeders and are judged over a period of two years by a panel of 20 judges. They assess the roses in areas such as freedom of flowering, health, plant quality, flower quality and fragrance.
At the conclusion of each trial, those roses which have gained an average of 70% are recognised with awards and reflect the consistently high performance that they have achieved during trial.
The New Zealand Rose Society trials are one of 40 such trials located around the world, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere and reflects on Palmerston North as an internationally recognised rose growing area.
