2015 Rose Season In Review

It has been a busy few weeks for those in the world of roses with the main bloom season across much of the country. With the cooler spring we have experienced, blooming was slow to come out but what a display. I have had people comment to me that their roses are the best they have been so maybe the cooler conditions have done some good.

November was also the month for rose shows across much of the country and as I write, the lower South Island are holding theirs in December. This year, the National Spring Rose Show and Convention was held in Timaru, a city with a long and proud association with the rose. Exhibitors from as far away as Kaitaia had brought blooms in the hope of winning any of the major prizes at the show. There were many exquisite entries in the special classes where the theme of ‘Lest We Forget – Roses of Remembrance’ was to the fore. These classes are very popular with the public who attend as roses are mixed in arrangements with other garden flowers and foliage with props allowed in many of the classes. The overall winner in this section came from the ‘Graced with Lace’ class and was exhibited by Janice Walker from the Northland Rose Society.

In the single bloom classes, the overall champion for the large roses as a large stem of the bright pink ‘Dancing Pink’ exhibited by Sheree Gare from the Waikato Rose Society while in the miniature type roses, the overall champion was an exhibition bloom of ‘Stephanie’ exhibited by Janice Walker from the Northland Rose Society.

In the two rose trials held, there were some excellent roses that won awards. At the New Zealand Rose of the Year trials at Rogers Rose Garden in Hamilton, the big winner was the pink blend ‘Looking Good, bred by Tauranga rose breeder Rob Somerfield was voted as the overall winner, the best floribunda rose, the best New Zealand bred rose and was the Childrens Choice for best rose. Entering the gardens, the first thing that caught my eye was the group of ‘Looking Good’ at the other end – it just glowed and is a great rose named for the Look Good, Feel better cancer charity.

The winner of the best Hybrid Tea was ‘Midsummer’ from Tantau of Germany, an orange blend rose while the deep red ‘Double Fragrance’ won best Climber for Rob Somerfield. The most fragrant rose in trial was ‘Caroline Bay’, a purple red floribunda from Gisborne rose breeder Mike Athy. With the exception of ‘Looking Good’, all of these are in the garden centres.

Just this past weekend, the winners were announced at the New Zealand Rose Society Trials in Palmerston North at the Dugald Mackenzie Rose Gardens. For the past two years, a panel of expert judges have assessed yet to be released roses on their all round merit. It was a very good trial this year with a number of good roses just missing out on an award. The overall winner which receives the Gold Star of the South Pacific was ‘Fireball’ from Rob Somerfield from Tauranga. This is a very free flowering variety with clusters of orange blooms with a silver reverse, Rob also gained Certificates of Merit for the pink floribunda ‘Shangri-La’ and an un-named white floribunda. Bob Matthews from Wanganui won a Certificate of Merit for an un-named pink Hybrid Tea while Colin Dickson from Northern Ireland won a Certificate of Merit for the bronze apricot ‘Skychaser’. This rose is already on the market, the rest will be released over the next 2-3 year.

That’s it for another year, I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a rosy 2016.

In the Rose Garden for December

• Enjoy the blooms, either in the garden or bring a bunch inside. Remember take a bucket of water to the roses (not the other way around) and recut stems under water.
• Dehead, dehead, dehead. Not only does the garden tidy, it also helps to encourage more blooms to be produced.
• Water if the weather turns dry. Lack of water causes plants to get stressed and become susceptible to disease. When watering, one good deep soaking at the roots is better than a quick, light flick with the hose.
• Keep the weeds at bay.
• If you are on holiday, visit one of the many fine public rose gardens around the country and see what is looking good.

By Hayden Foulds. Read more here.