Abstract 

The history of gardening is the story of roses that are now extinct. The market for roses is posited on novelty. This year’s new varieties will have a short commercial life. The cultivation of plants is not just a horticultural phenomenon but an integral part of our civilisations’s cultural history. And roses, our favourite flowers, have always played a major part in this drama. The evolution of the internet has made information more available to scholars who combine the disciplines of botany and history. The emergence of phylogenetics has made it possible to determine the origins of cultivated roses and the relationships between cultivars. Too many heritage roses remain unrecognised and unnamed in gardens around the world. Today’s roses will be tomorrow’s challenge for conservationists: no cultivar should ever be allowed to lose its name or fade from cultivation. How can we do this? How can we ensure that the heritage of roses that gives us so much pleasure will survive intact for the delight of our grandchildren? We need money, energy, vision and good organisation. We need every country to play its part. And we need the World Federation of Rose Societies to lead from the front.

Biography

Charles & Brigid Quest-Ritson have worked together with roses for many years. They wrote The Encyclopedia of Roses (Dorling Kindersley, 2003) which has been translated into many languages, and Charles wrote Climbing Roses of the World (Timber Press, 2003) which describes some 1600 cultivars. Both were directors of the Royal National Rose Society of Great Britain and both have chaired the Historic Roses Group. Brigid was chairman of the Conservation & Heritage Committee of the World Federation of Rose Societies. Charles is co-editor of the heritage rose magazine BAON. Both have worked as translators. Brigid was a UK diplomat and schools inspector; Charles was a lawyer and historian, but is best known now as a journalist with the lifestyle magazine Country Life. Both have joint British and Irish nationality but they lived in France for many years. Their garden in England was open to the public; their garden in France was private, but contained some 1,500 roses.

Abstract

Rosa persica hybrids represent some of the most novel and unique roses that have been bred in recent times.  The flowers of Rosa persica exhibit a red-coloured “eye”, a characteristic and unique trait not seen in any other species of rose.  Ground-breaking breeding work in the 1960s by Jack Harkness and Alec Cocker in the UK aimed develop garden-worthy roses with this trait.  From their formative success others followed, with Ralph Moore (USA), Chris Warner (UK) and Peter Ilsink (The Netherlands) at the forefront of this work.  More recently, many other breeders have since developed their own breeding lines, with the popularity of Persica roses having taken off in the last 10 years or so.  In the UK, this popularity centres around the extremely disease resistant varieties Chris Warner has introduced, including “Eye of the Tiger”, “Bright as a Button” and “For Your Eyes Only”, which won the coveted “Rose of the Year” award in 2015.

The National Collection of Rosa persica hybrids was established in 2022 in order to conserve this unique group of roses, and currently includes 55 different hybrids.  These include some of the first hybrids from Harkness – “Tigris” and “Nigel Hawthorne” – to the latest introductions from the likes of Chris Warner with “Peter’s Persica [CHEWgoldeneye]” and Kordes Rosen with their “See You” series.  Forming a collection is as much about recording the history of the plants and their development, as it is about collecting the actual plants themselves.  This lecture will provide a whistlestop tour of the Rosa persica story and my small role in conserving them for future generations.

Biography

Mr. Daniel Myhill is the UK National Collection Holder of Rosa persica hybrids, with the status awarded by Plant Heritage. The collection comprises 55 different persica hybrids and is held in my private garden in Kenninghall, Norfolk. He is also Chairman of The Rose Society UK’s Breeders’ Group and former Treasurer of the society. He is an Associate Member of the RHS Woody Committee, a rose trials judge and member of the Moderators’ Panel for the Rochfords International Rose Trials, Hertford UK. He is also Chairman of Kenninghall Garden Club.

Abstract

Roses appeared first in North America twenty to thirty million years ago. Human beings arrived only 16 to 25 thousand years ago. The roses, which they already knew from the eastern hemisphere must have been a pleasant surprise.

Before the arrival of Europeans to California in the mid-1500s native Americans had integrated roses into their lives, explored their practical uses in daily life, and understood their emotional value. Europeans brought garden roses with them to California and planted them in enclosed gardens alongside food and medicinal plants. The trail of the Spanish missionaries north from Mexico is still today a trail of roses.

The lure of California attracted a stream of European-Americans westward to seek the mild climate and flower-strewn hillsides. It also ended the ways in which native Americans lived their lives, in peace and in close connection to the place. When gold was discovered in the Sierra foothills in 1849, a new population surged into the land, changing everything.

The waves of migrants brought with them tools for carving out a life. Those tools included rose plants, powerful symbols of settlement and well-being. and for the next 100 years roses would have a profound impact on this place.

We will explore the significant movements that shaped the role of roses in California lives—from the first shiploads of Tea roses sold to Californios in Monterey to the creation of the world’s largest industry of rose growing. And we’ll take a look at how roses have survived to teach us what place they have in our gardens today.

Biography

Mr. Gregg Lowery, founding member of the Heritage Rose Foundation,  served as Vice-President for publications from 2005 through 2015. After organizing the HRF conference on California’s Rose History in El Cerrito in 2005, Gregg and fellow editors conceived and developed the HRF journal, Rosa Mundi, and co-edited Mystery Roses Around the World.

In 2012 he handed over his historic rose collection to The Friends of Vintage Roses, a non-profit dedicated to preserving these roses for their educational, cultural, and scientific value. To preserve roses, this non-profit has worked to develop a communal mission to propagate, share and cooperate with others.

NORDIC ROSES
Nordic Roses is a project with the purpose to draw attention to healthy and garden worthy roses developed in the Nordic countries. Found roses are also included in this project. It is a cooperation between five national rose societies in Scandinavia.
and
POM – Sweden’s national programme for cultivated plant diversity
Project leader: Lars-Åke Gustavsson.

POM – Sweden’s national programme for cultivated plant diversity ensures the long-term survival and sustainable use of cultivated plant resources. The programme was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture in consultation with national authorities, organizations, the private sector, and non-profit organizations active on the issues. Among these are The Swedish Rose Society, Rose Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Open-air Museums, NordGen (the Nordic Gene Bank) and many others. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp has the responsibility to co-ordinate POM’s various activities. To be recognized by POM for further studies and conservation, a rose must have a documented history dating back before 1950. All roses of Swedish origin shall also be a part of the Swedish National Gene Bank. The main tasks for POM can be summarized under the following headings:

　　　• Inventory and documentation
　　　• Collection, evaluation and classification
　　　• Comparative cultures
　　　• DNA-studies
　　　• Studies of literature and archives
　　　• Conservation for the future in the National Gene Bank
　　　• Increasing the use of the gene bank roses, incl. propagation and breeding
　　　• Education, information and publication
　　　• Organizing and carrying out research on cultivated plants, i.e. genetic variation
　　　• International collaboration.

 Biography

Mr. Svein Osen, Norwegian born 1968, resident of Sweden since 2007
Education: Master Mariner

Exploring nature and biodiversity have been my interests and have been an amateur breeder of roses and irises since 1997.

2019-2024 President, the Swedish Rose Society

2018-2024 President, the Nordic Rose Society

2018-2025 Swedish representative WFRS Conservation & Heritage Committee

Member of the WFRS Breeders Club

Convenor WFRS Regional Convention and Heritage Roses Conference Sweden 2024

www.nordicroses2024.com

Participating in the WRC 2025 in Fukuyama is very special and honouring also on a private level being a long-term practitioner in the zen tradition.