Articles about Roses

Outstanding roses bred by Lens In 2021 we were pleased to introduce an exquisite range of roses from world-renowned Belgium rose breeder Lens Roses. About Lens Roses Founded in 1870 by Louis Lens senior, the tree and rose nursery has always had a strong influence within the rose breeding family. Originally located in Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver Belgium the company remained within the Lens family for three generations, with second-generation Victor Lens spearheading the hybridizing program, introducing an array of roses, including the famous ‘Pascali’ a beautiful creamy white Hybrid Tea. Victor’s son Louis carried on the family tradition introducing such beauties as ‘Guirlande d’Amour’ and ‘Rosalita’.In 1991, the nursery was taken over by rose lovers Rudy Velle and his wife Ann Boudolf, the nursery then moved to Oudenburg near Ostende where the couple carried on with the company’s established breeding traditions, introducing some outstanding varieties such as ‘Jean

Spectacular roses bred by Delbard We are delighted to be able to offer a selection of sensational roses bred by world-renowned French rose breeders Delbard. About Delbard Roses In 1935 George Delbard opened his first store on the banks of the River Seine and it wasn’t long before the name and reputation of Delbard quickly spread across the globe. By 1958 the first Delbard research laboratory was opened with scientists and breeders working to understand the mysteries of rose culture. Stronger flowers, greater scent, and just as importantly disease resistance.Over the years the family business grew and in 1972 Henri Delbard became Managing Director, overseeing the development of over fifty garden centres across France, also opening one of the most advanced research and breeding facilities in Europe. 2012 saw Arnaud Delbard, Henri’s son take responsibility for the name of Delbard, carrying on his family’s legacy of bringing the joy of roses to the world. Since

Sensational roses bred by Kordes Famous around the world for their exceptional disease resistance and beauty, we are proud to be able to offer our customers a selection of exceptional roses bred by German rose breeders Kordes. About Kordes Roses In 1887 Wilhelm Kordes I, founded the first W. Kordes’ Söhne nursery in a small town called Elmshorn, just north of Hamburg in Germany. At the age of 22 years, he could not have foreseen that his passionate interest in roses and breeding would influence the life of his descendants over many generations to come. Over the years the company grew and in 1919 relocated to Klein Offenseth-Sparrieshoop where the company still trades from today. Wilhelm’s two sons began working for the company adding their flair and talent. Wilhelm II dedicated his life to breeding, whilst Hermann I concentrated on building the business. The introduction of ‘Crimson Glory’ in 1935 was one of the early successes from the breeding program.

Normally by now the Roses would have returned from the RHS Chelsea flower show and if they hadn’t already had the Chelsea Chop, then they would be trimmed over the next few weeks. “What is the Chelsea Chop?” I hear you all ask. When we break our stand down at the end of the Chelsea Flower Show most of the shrubs and some climbers will be cut down very heavily for ease of transporting them home. Although the big flower shows have been cancelled this year, I have still been doing something similar to invigorate the plants into new growth. This helps to form bushier and hopefully more compact shrub plants. While we aim for more manageable shrubs, this hard prune should also encourage climbers and ramblers into producing lots of long straight stems. Some of the ramblers have already put on nearly 7 ft of new growth!   

On our show plant and hybridising nursery, which is separate and isolated from our main nursery, we are down to a skeleton crew. Just me. So without the major spring flower shows to look forward to it seems very quiet here at the moment, but the plants keep some kind of normality to life. The seedlings are now growing lovely and hybridising has started. Bringing us full circle. Did you know some roses like Rosa banksiae can only be produced from cutting? These cuttings were moved from modular cells to small pots in late February and will shortly need repotting again.

Yes with the warmer weather the rose seed from our hybridizing programme is germinating quickly and this is always a very thrilling period. Each group of seed created by crossing different rose varieties germinates at varying rates and some will not germinate at all. Certain roses only produce sterile seed and once a pattern is noticeable those varieties will be withdrawn from the hybridizing programme. Although sometimes it is only a particular cross that is sterile and when these roses are crossed with a different variety the seed can have a great germination rate. Currently I am also using an old seed bed to stand container roses on and even after 3 years there is still the odd seed germinating! Although these will normally turn out to be weak seedlings that never make a plant. This delayed germination

It’s a hard life being a pampered show plant with no show to go to. It’s been a challenging couple of weeks, with things changing almost daily. Things started off very relaxed as most of the roses were coming back into growth evenly and in good shape. Many were also showing very early signs of bud initiation. This can vary and some years plants will come back into growth very unevenly and may have a large percentage of blind shoots that start to grow. Blind shoots are stems that produce no flowering buds, but instead end in a leaf. This is usually due to harsh winter weather, or the age of the plant. Normally a light pruning will kick start the plant back into growth and isn’t an issue for our show roses, provided we get our timings right! Well, it was

When growing show plants, hygiene and air movement are vitally important. Even at this time of year. So, before the roses are housed, all glasshouses and equipment are fully cleaned. There are also some roses that never fully drop all their leaves and leaf stalks during the winter. As well as the odd hip and old flower stem which may still be left after the winter pruning. These are all places where pests and diseases could overwinter. Therefore, since starting to house the roses, we have been checking each plant to remove any old leaves, hips and unwanted wood. Good air movement is also very important, as damp stagnant air is the quickest way for fungal attacks to start. Watering is kept to mornings, often using watering cans for spot watering rather than hoses, so less water

It may be the start of metrological spring, but we have actually been fooling our show plants that it’s been spring for a while now. Currently we have around 2,000 roses under glass in preparation for the RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace Flower Shows. At the beginning of the year we carefully bring the roses into the glasshouses in 4 large groups. The first batch is brought in during the first few days of January (some of this batch will be used at the Hampton

 Over the past few years our gardens have been dramatically expanded and improved, with many new structures and features being added. One of the recent developments was the addition of our wildlife garden, which was opened in May 2016 and is a fabulous addition to our gardens here in Attleborough, Norfolk. The wildlife garden is managed in an entirely different way to our main rose gardens, with our gardeners demonstrating a more relaxed and natural approach to maintaining and developing the area. This new section of garden features two ponds, a wildflower meadow, areas to sit and view birds at several feeding stations, beds of rare and unusual species roses, a woodland walk and a children’s play area.