2015 National Spring Rose Show results

2015 National Spring Rose Show and Convention The 2015 National Spring Rose Show and Convention was hosted by the South Canterbury Rose Society at the Caroline Bay Hall in Timaru, November 21st and 22nd 2015. The theme of the show was ‘Lest We Forget – Roses of Remembrance’ and a number of the special classes […]

Free flowering, healthy roses feature among winning roses

New rose varieties that produce lots of flowers and get less disease topped the New Zealand Rose Society International Trial Awards in Palmerston North in early December with an orange rose ‘Fireball’ coming out on top. Bred by Rob Somerfield of Glenavon Roses in Tauranga, ‘Fireball’ received the top award of the trials, the Gold […]

December – Old Master

We end 2015 by featuring a rose that was one of the first of the hand painted roses bred by Sam McGredy in the 1970’s. A novelty at the time, the blooms gave the look that one colour was splashed with another.  Today, they are still grown and a wider selection of varieties are available. […]

November – Hansa

This month as the roses start blooming across New Zealand, we feature a heritage rose which is one of the best in the rugosa classification. Rugosa roses are easy to grow untroubled by disease, can grow near the sea and have fragrant blooms often followed by colourful hips. On the downside, the thorns are quite […]

October – Eyeopener

Groundcover/Shrub roses are nothing new in the world of roses but getting a good one that is in the re shades is not easy. So when one does come along, expect it to be well used in breeding programs around the world. One such rose is ‘Eyeopener’ which has been used in breeding programs the […]

New Flower Carpet Rose Sunset

New release for New Zealand  – available from October 2015 at your nearest garden centre. Flower Carpet® Sunset is a bright tangerine coloured groundcover rose, one of the series of Flower Carpet groundcover roses first introduced in 1992 by Anthony Tesselaar International. Bred by Noack Rosen, the German hybridiser known for their early commitment to disease-resistant hybrids, […]

September – Winchester Cathedral

Every once in a while, a rose will ‘sport’ or mutate into a different colour from the parent. Some go onto become good roses in their own right such as this months rose. ‘Winchester Cathedral’ is a sport of the very popular ‘Mary Rose’, a pink David Austin variety that has been grown widely around […]

New Zealander a leader in the rose world

New Zealand has maintained its position as a leader in the rose world with several awards and appointments at the World Rose Convention held in Lyon, France. Three New Zealanders were recognised with awards for their service to the rose. Mr Peter Elliott of Palmerston North was presented with the World Federation of Rose Societies […]

August – Anniversary

While pale pink is a fairly common colour in floribunda’s, this month’s featured rose is one of the better ones in the colour range to be released in the last 20 years. ‘Anniversary’ is a seedling of the popular ‘Sexy Rexy’ and carries many of its attributes, most of all its ability to produce masses […]

2015 Spring Rose Shows

November and December is the time for rose shows and displays throughout New Zealand. Rose enthusiasts look forward to this time of the year as they show off their blooms to fellow rose lovers. There are a wide range of classes in which roses are entered from the more formal ‘one bloom per vase’ through […]