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...]
Rose Trial winners 2016
The awards for Trial 46 (2014 - 16) at the New Zealand Rose Society International Trials were presented on December 4th at the Dugald Mackenzie Rose Gardens in Palmerston North. A panel of 20 judges have assessed around 40 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 … [Read more...]
Win – Christchurch Remembers
Win - we have three plants of the 2016 New Zealand Rose of the Year winner to three lucky winners. There are only very limited plants available this summer but will be widely available in winter 2017 from Mitre 10 and Palmers stores. This floribunda rose has blooms of medium red, darkening on the edges. Medium growing with mid green foliage. Bred by Rob Somerfield of Glenavon Roses, Tauranga, this rose is his tribute to the people of … [Read more...]
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 Star of the South Pacific. “It’s a great variety with lots of flowers and a very healthy plant” said Mr Somerfield … [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...]
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...]
2013 NZRS Trial winners
New roses from New Zealand and overseas breeders lead the way with awards at the New Zealand International Rose Trials in Palmerston North in late November 2013. The trials, which are operated as a partnership between the New Zealand Rose Society (Inc) and the Palmerston North City Council, aim to trial un-released rose varieties from leading New Zealand and International rose breeders with the view to their possible release onto the local … [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...]
March – Taffeta
As summer fade into autumn, it is time to take note of how our roses have performed over the summer months. … [Read more...]
November – Pacific Glory
November is upon us which means only one thing – plenty of roses starting to bloom all around New Zealand. … [Read more...]