Specialist Growers of Roses Ancient and Modern

Judging for the 2024 Glasgow International Rose Trials Esme judging roses in Tollcross Park, Glasgow This year, I had the immense privilege to sit on the panel of Rose Judges for the Glasgow International Rose Trials. The Trials in Glasgow have been running in the city’s prestigious Tollcross Park since 1985 – the year I was born strangely enough – and the Gardens have certainly matured beautifully over the last 39 years (if only age was as kind to the rest of us!). The beds have been exquisitely designed and developed year-on-year to take on the form of a Charles Rennie Mackintosh rose (a bit more background can be found here), and each year new varieties from breeders across the world replace older roses in different beds, ready to be both judged, and enjoyed by visitors to the Gardens. Over the course of two summers, the roses are regularly inspected by the permanent panel, and assessed for their health, beauty of flower, freedom of bloom, general effect and fragrance.  Up until this summer, my experience of the Rose Trials was of my parents, Trevor and Vanessa, attending the annual judging event and celebration in Glasgow each August (an occasion that sadly never revived after the pandemic). The event saw hundreds of growers, breeders, rosarians, and people within the trade from across the world, travel to Glasgow to judge, network, and generally celebrate the magnificence of the rose. I moved up to Edinburgh for University in 2004 and never left, so for me the Trials always meant catching up with my folks. Usually rather bleary-eyed from the copious amounts of whisky consumed the night before (the Scottish hospitality always went down well), they would be absolutely buzzing from the event. It was such an important part of their year – seeing and inspecting new varieties in a garden setting, and getting an insight into which roses were making waves, was integral to their work; but it was also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and touch base with others within the trade about news and developments in the industry. Rose growing can be a rather insular profession, so a chance to share experiences and get together with other like-minds was a rare delight. The Rose Gardens in Tollcross Park After a chance encounter and friendly chat with a couple of judges on a visit to Tollcross Park at the end of last summer, I was both delighted – and more than a little anxious – to get an invite to join the panel for the next season of judging. Despite absolutely adoring roses - having worked with them since childhood - I had only recently rejoined the family business, after more than a decade working for a literary festival. If you’d asked me to read 100 books and critique each one, I’d have been in my element, but this was another ballgame – was my rose knowledge up to the task?   My [...]

Reflections on a Life in Roses by Trevor White Trevor & family budding in 2005 (son Henry, daughter Lois and nephew Sam Outing). I must have been around 20 when I took on a seasonal job with Peter Beales Roses at Intwood Nurseries in Swardeston, just outside Norwich. It was a five-mile cycle from my shared student house in the city - I remember the journey clearly because part of it was uphill, which was saying something for this neck of the woods. My first introduction to work was heeling in roses with a man who, unbeknownst to me at that time, would come to have great influence over my future life’s work: Andrew Doubleday. The first thing that struck me was his old school-tie appearance and Trilby hat - reminiscent of the clothes worn by my grandfather in an old black and white photo from his days gardening at Ham House. Despite this, the image I have in my mind of Andrew remains in true technicolour. As a life-long nurserymen, Andrew’s skills in the craft of roses were unmatched. But it was his passion, enthusiasm, respect, humour and generosity with his knowledge, that brought to life the true wonderment of roses. If I was in love with the rose before, I was now utterly bewitched. He soon put me to work alongside him, and as the saying goes, there were certainly ‘no flies on him’. After a hard day’s work, that slight Norfolk hill could well have been a Munro for all my legs knew. But despite the exhaustion I felt in my body, my head was buzzing in the knowledge that I had finally found my calling. Trevor and daughter Lois budding, 2005 That summer, while I was helping at the Harrogate show, Peter suggested I go take a look at the rose garden at the Castle Howard Estate. So, after the show I hopped in the work van and drove over. I found myself walking around this stunning garden – the scent utterly sublime – and I can clearly remember being struck by the beauty and intense perfume of the exquisite Cerise Bouquet. After a rather hectic day, the wonderful fragrance filled me with this feeling of absolute tranquillity. I walked on in something of a trance – pausing to take in and admire each rose I came across: the charm of an Adam Messerich; the beautiful soft petals and delicate hues of Honorine de Brabant... It suddenly dawned on me that the roses were getting harder and harder to see. The light had faded. The gardens were empty. And, to my alarm, the gates were locked. Thankfully, a group of gardeners finishing their shift discovered me frantically trying to find another way out. After a bit of explaining, they were very understanding and escorted me off the Estate. My relief that I didn’t need to spend the night on a garden bench was palpable. Vanessa stacking the roses and cleaning [...]