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...]
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...]
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. One of the earliest varieties and one still grown today is ‘Old Master’ which attracts attention in the garden or on the show bench with its crimson red … [Read more...]
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 of blooms. The porcelain pink blooms come in small and large clusters throughout the season. At times, it is hard to see the dark green glossy … [Read more...]
April – White Romance
It’s been a while since we featured a white rose so for this month, we feature one of the best new white roses of the last 10 years to come onto the market in New Zealand. Some say it’s destined to be the best white floribunda grown in New Zealand, already ranking 4th among the top favourite floribundas as voted by rose society members for 2014. ‘White Romance’ is a wonderful rose both in the garden and on the show bench, producing a great … [Read more...]
March – Eyepaint
Every so often, a rose comes along that is completely different to anything else around and this month, we feature one such rose that has stood the test of time. ‘Eyepaint’ is a very free flowering shrub rose that can also be grown in some situations as pillar or climbing rose up 1.5 metres high and wide. It’s main attribute are the masses of single scarlet blooms with a distinctive eye that changes from yellow to silver as it ages. In full … [Read more...]
NZRS Trial winners 2014
The awards for Trial 44 (2012 - 14) at the New Zealand Rose Society International Trials were presented on December 7th in Palmerston North. A panel of 20 judges have assessed around 30 entries from New Zealand and overseas rose breeders (via their New Zealand agents) over a range of categories including freedom of flowering, health, plant quality, flower quality and fragrance. Certificates of Merit are awarded to those entries which score over … [Read more...]
October – Class Act
Single type roses are not always popular with rose lovers as their simple charms are often overlooked by rose lovers. This month we are featuring one of the best of the modern ‘singles’ that is instantly recognised wherever it is grown. ‘Class Act’ is well named as a good all round performer in the garden. Large semi-double blooms of creamy lemon cover the plant. At times when in full bloom, there is almost no foliage to be seen under the … [Read more...]
May – Sexy Rexy
30 years ago, a rose was released that caused a bit of a stir in the world of roses because of its name. This month we feature it as one of the best floribunda roses of all time and one that even those with a passing knowledge of roses even know about! “How could they name a rose like that” was commonly heard at the time. We can only be talking about ‘Sexy Rexy’, one of the most popular floribunda roses and still widely grown around the world … [Read more...]
June – Millennium
There have been a number of scarlet red roses released in recent years and for this month, we feature one of the best to come onto the market in the last 10 years. … [Read more...]