Rose of the Year

Aptly named ‘Little Miss Perfect’ won the Pacific Rose Bowl Festival at Hamilton Gardens.

The annual event’s winning entries.

The winner is…

1 ‘ Little Miss Perfect’, bred by Te Puna's Rob Somerfield, was named the overall New Zealand Rose of the Year and took out the Best Floribunda prize too. This crowd-pleaser produces an abundance of coral pink flowers from mid-October until May on a compact plant.

Category winners

2 ‘Rhapsody In Blue’, bred by Frank Cowlishaw in England, was named the Best Shrub Rose at the annual Pacific Rose Bowl Festival held at Rogers Rose Garden at Hamilton Gardens late last year.

3 ‘Strawberry Blonde’, also bred by Rob Somerfield, picked up the Best New Zealand Raised Rose and was the favourite of the hundreds of local schoolchildren who voted over the four-day festival, making it the Children's Choice winner.

4 ‘Hi Ho Silver’, bred by Gisborne's Mike Athy won Best Hybrid Tea and also the award for the Most Fragrant Rose.

5 ‘Lady Of Shallot’, a David Austin variety is tagged as a shrub rose in the UK, but grows as a vigorous climber under New Zealand conditions. It took out the prize for the Best Climber at this year's event.