[hr]

Each autumn brings vibrant new forms of the world’s favourite garden plant, the rose. 2014 promises some beautiful and desirable specimens for gardeners to grow and enjoy, writes Jennifer Stackhouse.

[hr]

Many of the roses we grow in our gardens are now trialed and evaluated in South Australia before they are released for sale. Australia’s national rose trials began in 1996 when the National Rose Trial Garden was planted in Adelaide. The garden is adjacent to the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and is made up of garden beds planted with roses. The anonymous plants are numbered, but not named.

These trials are a joint venture between the National Rose Society of Australia, the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and rose nurseries. Independent rose experts from the Rose Society of South Australia assess the trial roses. Rose growers, breeders and introducers from across Australia provide the roses for the trial. There is a charge made for each rose variety trialed.

The idea behind the trials was to put locally and internationally bred roses not yet given commercial release in Australia through their paces under Australian growing conditions.  Results are released after two years of evaluation.

Here are some of the winners from the trials that concluded in 2013, along with other new release roses for 2014.

[hr]

The Golden Child

This much-awarded new rose for 2014 was bred by Christian Bedard at Weeks Roses, which is based at Pomona, California in the US. It is to be introduced to Australian gardeners by Swane’s Nurseries.

Finbarr O’Leary from Swane’s says this rose is a huge improvement on other well-known yellow roses as, not only is its colour long lasting, the rose is very disease resistant, which is not typical of yellow roses.

Bred from ’Julie Newmar’ and the very beautiful copper-toned ‘Julia’s Rose’, it is a Floribunda rose. In addition to a Gold Medal and the Marion de Boehme Medal for Best in Trial, it received the Rose Hills Trophy for Best Floribunda 2013.

Growing to around a compact 120cm tall and producing clusters of 15 or more flowers on a stem, ‘The Golden Child’ makes an impact in the garden and can also be grown in containers. Deadhead spent flowers regularly to keep the plant blooming for many months.

[hr]

Apache

Apache is a red shrub rose that won a Bronze award and the Irwin Award for the most pest and disease tolerant rose at the National Rose Trials. It was bred by the leading German rose breeder, Kordes, and is being released in Australia by Victorian-based Treloar Roses. Kordes of Germany was responsible for breeding what is probably the most popular and widely grown rose in the world, ‘Iceberg’.

To assess pest and disease resistance, the roses that are on trial are not treated with any pesticides during their growth. The roses with an inbred resistance, including Apache, stand out. Treloar Roses has several exciting other new releases for 2014 including the elegant cream ‘Winter Sun’ (a Hybrid Tea rose) and ‘Garden Delight’ and ‘Red Riding Hood’, which are both Floribundas. Also of interest for lovers of compact roses is a new miniature rose called ‘Dwarf Fairy’. It received Silver at the National Rose Trials and was noted for its good disease resistance. It has clusters of orange-red flowers.

[hr]

Golden Jubilee Rose

Fragrant, honey toned and celebrating the Australian Special Air Service, this new rose for 2014 has lots of appeal. It has been named to celebrate the 50th or golden anniversary of the Australian SAS. The SAS Resources Trust was formed in 1996 in response to the Blackhawk helicopter tragedy, which claimed the lives of 15 SAS men. The fund was established to help families of current and former members of the SAS who die or become permanently disabled. Forty-eight members of the regiment have died in active service for the SAS. This Australian-bred rose from Peter Nosow is to be released by Landsdale Roses and will be for sale at garden centres. Sales of the ‘Golden Jubilee Rose’ assist the fund-raising effort.

[hr]

Peter Brock Foundation Rose

A standout at the recent Australian National Rose Trials was the glorious red Peter Brock Foundation Rose, which was a clear winner of the People’s Choice award. Released in Australia by Knight’s Roses, it was bred in the UK by Harkness. It is a Hybrid Tea rose, which was also much awarded in rose trials in the UK and Europe before its debut in Australia.

Part of the proceeds from sales of the Peter Brock Foundation Rose is being donated to Variety to help children. Knight’s Roses has already donated $10,000 to Variety Australia from rose sales.

[hr]

Bright Spirit

This colourful Hybrid Tea rose is being described by the grower, Kim Syrus from Corporate Roses as having an uplifting mix of yellow and cerise pink which he says makes this a happy looking rose to grow in the garden. “Each petal-filled bloom is well scented and borne on long stems that are ideal for cutting,” he adds.

Bred by Meilland, a leading French rose breeder who also bred the popular garden roses including ‘Peace’ and the deep red ‘Papa Meilland’, Kim says it is a medium grower reaching around 1.5m high.

Also new and due for release this autumn from Meilland is ‘Brief Encounter’, a salmon pink Hybrid Tea which is a must for lovers of fragrant roses. Kim Syrus says this rose isn’t just fragrant. It has a heady scent of attar of roses.

He promises it will be a healthy garden rose with lots of dark green, glossy leaves. It also grows to around 1.5m in height.

[hr]

Availability

These new roses are available from autumn to winter as a bare rooted stock. Plants may also be available later in the year as potted plants. Order them online or through your local nursery.

[hr]

Growing Success

To get the best results from your roses, grow them in full sun and in an enriched garden soil. There’s time before the roses arrive at the nursery to prepare your planting area by clearing away weeds and grasses and digging a barrow-load of aged manure or compost into the soil. Cover it with a lucerne or sugar cane mulch to stop weed growth.

When your new rose begin to shoot, sprinkle a rose food around the plants and start watering at least once or twice a week. Watch out for pests such as aphids that may feast on the new shoots. Thrips may also attack the flowers.

As the humidity rises, all but the strongest and most disease-resistant roses are affected by black spot, a fungal disease that causes unsightly black spots all over the yellowing  eaves. There are many complete rose sprays that include a fungicide against black spot along with an insecticide.

Deadhead roses regularly to keep them blooming and apply additional rose food every six weeks until autumn. Established roses are pruned in winter with a lighter prune in mid-summer.

[hr]

Jennifer Stackhouse, Horticulturist

Jennifer Stackhouse is a horticulturist, garden writer, blogger and editor, who lives on a small property at Kurmond in NSW with her family, dogs, chooks and the neighbour’s horses. She is highly respected by gardeners around Australia and a popular speaker. She is a regular garden commentator on ABC Local Radio across Australia. Her new book, simply titled Garden, has just been released to help everyone to maintain their bit of green.

Check out Jennifer’s website www.jenniferstackhouse.com

 [hr]