ROSES ON DISPLAY
A MUST-SEE WORLDRANKED ROSE GARDEN IN OUR GARDEN CITY
Last weekend I visited the Darling Downs Rose Society’s 2021 Spring Championship Rose Show in the aptly named Rose Cottage at Newtown Park in Toowoomba.
The show ran over two days and showcased the stunning variety of roses that can be grown in and around our region.
We really do take for granted the breadth and depth of plant species we can grow in Toowoomba and the surrounding districts.
While the show had a dazzling range of hybrid tea, floribunda, shrub and miniature roses on display (congratulations to the winners), a few steps away outside was one of the biggest and best rose gardens you’ll see in this country.
Now, I had planned that this article would have been my first attempt at discussing roses and rose growing in our region, but simply had to make readers aware of this jewel while the roses were at their peak (October).
I’ll get stuck into the nitty gritty of rose growing next week.
The Queensland State Rose Garden was conceived in 1999 with the first 500 roses planted in 2001.
There are now around 2200 roses incorporating approximately 350 varieties in the garden, with more beds being planned each year.
Within the garden there are a number of special collections, as well as trial growing beds.
The Frank Reithmuller Collection is quite a special one.
Frank, born at Glenvale, now a Toowoomba suburb, was renowned for breeding 26 hardy, scented and floriferous rose varieties.
Of the original 26 varieties, many have been lost, with only 10 remaining in cultivation, all being grown in the Queensland State Rose Garden.
Another outstanding planting of Australian Heritage roses is the Ruston Collection, around 100 cultivars from David Ruston’s South Australian collection of over 3000 varieties.
David passed away in 2019, with four copies of his collection being sent to only four locations worldwide, with the Queensland State Rose Garden being chosen as one of them.
The collection comprises mostly Old Tea, China, Noisette, Early Hybrid Tea, Pernetiana and Polyantha roses.
There’s also a special area set aside for Heritage roses, regarded as those developed and introduced at least 75 years before the current date.
Roses in the Heritage Rose collection in the State Rose Garden have all been introduced before the year 1900.
Rose varieties consist of Bourbon, China, Polyantha, Portland, Regosa and Hybrid Perpetual.
The majority of Heritage roses have exquisite fragrance.
They are often vigorous growers, continuing to thrive on decades of neglect, and can be found in old homestead gardens and even old cemeteries.
The Newtown Park State Rose Garden is the only Australian rose garden outside of Adelaide that also has dedicated trial beds.
These beds are planted with newly bred varieties submitted by Australian growers for evaluation of hardiness, pest and disease resistance, and flowering.
Three plants of each new variety are evaluated over two years of growth.
A panel of six assessors evaluate each variety 12 times over the two years, the best performers awarded a gold award and moved to the Rod Hultgren Australian Bred Rose Garden, named in honour of Rod Hultgren, a wonderful ambassador for rose growing over many decades in Toowoomba.
Silver and bronze are also awarded.
It can take up to 10 years for a rose to be evaluated and ready for commercial sale.
In 2018, the Queensland State Rose Garden received the “Garden Excellence” award by the World Federation of Rose Societies, an accolade given to less than 70 rose gardens worldwide.
It’s heartening to know that Toowoomba now has a rose garden that ranks with some of the best in the world, including the Rosedal de Palermo in Buenos Aires, Montreal Botanical Garden in Canada, the David Austin Rose Garden in London, and the Gardens of the American Rose Society in Louisiana, USA.
Since the gardens were established, the roses have been tended by both the Friends of the Queensland State Rose Garden, a dedicated group of volunteers who love roses, and the skilful horticulturists of the Toowoomba Regional Council.
GARDEN CUTTINGS
For those who are interested in growing roses in the region, contact the Darling Downs Rose Society by the following means:
Mail: Darling Downs Rose Society Inc, PO Box 7330, Toowoomba Plaza, Ruthven Street, Toowoomba 4350.
Phone 4633 1975 or email leocoo57@bigpond.net.au.