Rose News From Around The World

INDIA

Rose Festival. 40th Year and still going strong.

Rose Festival, Chandigarh is held in the famous Rose Garden at Chandigarh. This is largest Rose Show in the country. This festival is celebrated in the Rose Garden every year in the end of the month of February or during the first few days of March. The festival is organized to encourage the people to enjoy the bloom of different type of roses here

As Chandigarh’s Rose Festival this week enters its 40th year, residents throng in large numbers.

The star attractions are the millions of roses themselves, but there is also a host of activities, including competitions and cultural shows, at the festival being held at Rose Garden in upscale Sector 16 here from Feb 24 to 26.

Children would be crowned “Rose Prince” and “Rose Princess” and there will be painting and flower contests. Commercial and food stalls will be set up in the adjoining Leisure Valley in Sector 10.

In recent years, the footfall at the festival has crossed over 300,000, officials here said.

The Rose Garden has nearly 40,000 rose plants of over 800 rose species from all over the world.

The garden was set up in 1967 and was essentially the brainchild of Chandigarh’s first chief commissioner and keen horticulturist M.S. Randhawa – a man credited for giving the city millions of trees and a number of gardens and green belts.

The authorities here claim the Rose Garden, spread over nearly 30 acres, is the largest in Asia. Along with the roses, the garden also hosts trees of medicinal value.

“The Rose Festival is an important event for Chandigarh. Though the city itself is young, different generations of families have been coming in the last four decades to be part of it,” former councillor Chander Mukhi Sharma said .

The Rose Garden has been divided into 10 sections. These sections are not only for roses but also for a children’s play area, scrubs, medicinal plants, a hillock and musical fountains.

Some of the roses at the garden have been named after international and other personalities – from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and former US president John F. Kennedy to former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and M.S. Randhawa.

Some of the unusual names given to the rose varieties are: Only You, Dulhan, King’s Ransom, Hippie Girl, Love Me Tender, Careless Love, Lover’s Meeting, Delhi Prince, Oklahoma, American Heritage, Louisiana, Canadian Centenary, City of Belfast, Wild Plum and Dorothy Peach.

“We have to take care of the roses so that they are in full bloom when the festival comes. This year the winters have been excessively cold,” said Subhash, a gardener.

For a few years the name of the festival was changed to Festival of Gardens by the local administration. However, for common people, it has always remained the Rose Festival.

Hundreds of people from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh visit the city for the annual festival. They come here packed in buses, trucks and even tractor-trolleys. The festival also attracts people from other parts of the country and foreigners.

Chandigarh, which was planned and designed by French architect Le Corbusier and his team in the 1950s-60s as a symbol of a resurgent, independent India, has a total population of over one million.

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

 

ROSE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

USA

THE FUTURE DOES NOT LOOK ROSY

PRINCESS OF WALES

Future generations may never know the beauty of Diana, Princess of Wales; sniff Catalina in the sunshine; or fall for Beloved.
For a century, devoted gardeners have appreciated the marvels of delicate and finicky hybrid roses and referred to them by name, like pets or family. The product of generations of breeding, the queen of flowers could act like a spoiled princess because its delicate blooms offered a special reward.
In recent years, though, time-strapped homeowners have traded their big teas for compact shrub roses—utilitarian soldiers in the landscape that could cover ground without fuss.
Our desire for the carefree—no-iron shirts, no-wax floors, and now low-maintenance yards—has brought the rose industry to a crossroads.
“At some point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Landscape) roses will be all you have; the beautiful, unique hybrid teas will be gone,” said Charlie Anderson, president of Weeks Roses, the only major company still creating new varieties of full-size roses.
The flagging economy has compounded the rose industry’s troubles.
Two years ago, rose giant Jackson & Perkins, which had annually shipped 10 million bushes countrywide, filed for bankruptcy protection. Many of the hybrid roses the company created—such as Diana, Catalina and Beloved—may soon disappear from the mass market as the supply of those bushes dries up.
“Roses are viewed as an extravagance and they’re still trying to shed that stigma,” said Seth Taylor of Capital Nursery.
“People have a very specific thing in mind when they think of a rose—it’s full and lush and romantic. That’s your traditional rose, what people love,” Taylor said. “The single-petaled shrub roses are gaining a foothold with the public, but when my customers look at those flowers, they say ‘That’s not a rose.’ “
While gardeners may have visions of old-fashioned roses plucked from cottage gardens, their interest in growing them has waned, said Jolene Adams, incoming national president of the American Rose Society.
“Many homeowners have had some experience—usually in their mother’s or grandmother’s gardens—so they’ll try growing roses,” she said. “But without sufficient knowledge (on how to care for them), the roses languish and do not grow to their full, beautiful potential. And they’re not replaced if they die.”
Most of the United States’ rose bushes originate in California’s Central Valley. But unlike wheat or tomatoes, it takes several years to produce a single crop of rose bushes.
Hybridizers typically will test 400,000 seedlings to find one or two new varieties. Once selected, a new hybrid will be developed for seven to 10 years before it’s released into the market. When ready for sale, field-grown bushes are 2 years old.
Winter is prime rose-planting time. Valentine’s Day also spurs sales. But this month, local gardeners are finding limited selections at nurseries and home centers.
“I observed dramatically fewer roses in the nurseries this year,” said T.J. David, co-founder of the World Peace Rose Garden in Sacramento’s Capitol Park.
“The financial ills of the rose growers will cause a slowdown in the number of new varieties of roses that are available for sale,” he said. “Since growers make plans years in advance, it may take a year or two to see the full impact.”
The annual wholesale value of California’s rose crop dropped 55 percent from a high of $61.05 million in 2003 to $27.20 million in 2010, according to nursery industry expert Hoy Carman, a retired University of California-Davis professor.
“The whole nursery industry is down,” Carman said. “In 2008, sales just plummeted.”
Said Adams of the Rose Society: “Roses are not the first thing homeowners think of when they want to plant a garden. Competition with other choice plants is fierce. … The industry is going to have to change—and supply roses that the customers can use in the landscape.”
Most major rose growers have gone bankrupt or consolidated with other wholesale nurseries.
Weeks Roses, in Wasco near Bakersfield, Calif., survived its bankruptcy and is now owned by Indiana-based Gardens Alive. On 1,000 leased acres, Weeks will harvest about 3 million bushes this year. During grafting and harvest season, it employs almost 400 people.
Jackson & Perkins, acquired by South Carolina-based J&P Park Acquisitions, no longer develops and grows new roses. Before bankruptcy, the company farmed 5,000 acres in Wasco with 20,000 bushes per acre. Without buyers, many of those bushes were burned.
Once a breeder goes bankrupt, its roses usually disappear with it. Rose patents—good for 18 to 20 years—may be sold, but budwood and mother plants are lost. Many Jackson & Perkins roses are now on the endangered list.
“Some will be preserved,” Anderson said. “But a lot of varieties were lost; there was no budwood to collect (to create new hybrid bushes). Most will just disappear into the ether.”

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

 

Roses In Poetry

A PERFECT ROSE
Richard Netherland Cook

So deep and pure, the one I chose
From this earthly garden. a perfect rose,
Fragile, yet it only bends,
In times of rain and days of winds.

Close to my heart, this rose I hold,
Its’ beauty to me like solid gold,
A perfect rose that means so much,
That I am thrilled by a single touch.

A perfect rose it has been said,
Is the symbol of love, a long stem red,
No others can or will compete
For my perfect rose so soft and sweet.

My love for the rose, a beauty still,
Has not faded and never will,
This rose I hold, the one I chose,
My loving wife, a perfect rose.

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

Rose Facts And Trivia

St Valentine’s Day Roses 

Roses are the traditional gift given on Valentines Day, but they’re certain to be well-received any time of year. But before you buy roses, know what message you’re sending.

The color of a rose can have a very different meaning from what you intend. To ensure that your love understands what the roses you bestow mean, check this guide to rose colors and their meanings:

Red Roses

Red roses proclaim “I love you.” They are the ultimate symbol of romantic love and enduring passion. Florists can’t keep up with Valentines Day demand for red roses, which makes them especially expensive in February.

Yellow Roses
Yellow roses indicate friendship and freedom — so don’t send them if your intentions are romantic and long-lasting. Yellow roses are also appropriate for sending congratulations to newlyweds, and new mothers.

Pale Pink Roses
Pale pink roses connote grace, gentleness, and gratitude.

Light Pink Roses
A joy to behold, light pink roses express fun and happiness.

Deep Pink Roses
Deep pink roses say “Thank you.” They have also come to be associated with the fight against breast cancer.

Lilac Roses
Lilac roses indicate the sender has fallen in love at first sight with the recipient and is enchanted.

White Roses
Pure white roses symbolize truth and innocence. They also send other messages: “I miss you” and “You’re heavenly.”

Peach Roses
Peach roses speak of appreciation and gratitude.

Coral Roses
Coral roses express one thing with their passionate colour: Desire.

Orange Roses
Orange roses communicate enthusiasm and desire on the part of the sender’.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

ROSE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

UK

TRENANCE ROSE GARDENS CORNWALL

TRENANCE Rose Garden in Newquay is to undergo a month-long facelift as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations – at a cost of £62,000.

Cornwall Council’s neighbourhood services team will lead the overhaul, installing a new drainage system and steel gazebo at the site.

The team will also remove compacted and diseased soil, and rotten timber edges, before planting new roses.

Work is due to begin on Monday next week when the rose garden will be closed to the public.

Andy Cook, the council’s environment engineer, said: “The existing rose garden is now of an age where the raised beds are becoming dilapidated and mixed roses and other planting has reached the end of their most attractive life. This is compounded by the poor soil which has become compacted in some places and is also sodden due to the proximity of the Trenance stream.

“The existing plants have been assessed and we aim to retain as many as possible.

Any plants which are not required for the new planting scheme will be given to the Newquay in Bloom Partnership.”

Councillor Julian German, the council’s portfolio holder for historic environment, added: “The council is committed to the provision of quality public open spaces and being able to use monies from developer contributions to support this project has been invaluable.

“Trenance Gardens have, for a long time, been an important public space for Newquay. The enhancement of the rose garden along with Trenance Cottages means that this area will be a focus for the community for a long time to come.”

Councillor George Edwards, Cornwall councillor for Newquay Treloggan, said: “On behalf of the people of Newquay I would like thank our portfolio holder Julian German who met me on a site visit with senior officers.

“I was delighted when they informed me on the site visit that we had funding to spend on the gardens. I am sure that with this money we can put a splendid show on in the gardens for everyone to enjoy.”

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk