How to Judge a Rose by Esme Haigh

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 family assured me it was, and meeting the panel back in June put all my jitters to rest. Despite being the only woman in the room, and perhaps a wee bit younger than most of the esteemed veteran rose judges around me, they made me feel very welcome. It felt great to be part of a bigger community and meet some fellow rose lovers who were so passionate and committed to putting the rose back on the international platform it belongs.

After a rundown of the scoring process, some tips and hints of things to look out for, and a very pleasant cream tea, I was all set. Sharing and discussing scores was an absolute no, so it was down to me to make sure the points I awarded were sound and fair. After an intense couple of hours of scrutinising the beds, we all headed back for a spot of lunch together. It was wonderful to get insights into the history of the Trials and the Gardens in Glasgow, and eye-opening to hear about the challenges of maintaining the Gardens and Trials today. As everyone said their goodbyes, self-doubt about my scoring crept in. Had I marked the roses I’d seen at the end, in the same vein as the ones I’d seen first?? Once everyone left, I headed back out to the beds to cross-reference my scores. If a sudden evening downpour hadn’t soaked my papers and made further marking impossible, I probably would have missed the last train home.

Among the roses

After four subsequent visits, I can safely say my confidence and knowledge has grown massively. Tollcross Park now feels like a home from home, and I get a real sense of anticipation approaching the beds – the Glasgow climate certainly puts the roses to the test, and you never know how each variety will have fared since your last trip. Roses with showstopping blooms that scored highly in June, could be balled for the rest of the season; the healthiest looking rose on your last visit may now be covered in powdery mildew; the sorry-looking thing you marked poorly in the first round might now be bursting with blooms and filling out nicely. It can be quite a roller-coaster, and I’m not ashamed to say, a bit emotional! You want the roses to do well, so it can be disappointing when first-time favourites, fail at the final hurdle – equally elating when something you saw no hope in finally begins to shine. All I can say is, if a rose does well in Glasgow, it is a very fine rose indeed!