Early Influences by David Gowing

As a child I was always interested in plants (and cows, but that is another story!) I do not remember exactly what triggered my interest, but by the age of four I had been given a little corner of garden to look after. I think my father hoped I would grow carrots, but I planted […]

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Loire Valley Visit by Michael Marriott

Our first overseas tour of rose gardens since Covid was a great success, with 30 of us visiting 7 superb and very different gardens in the Loire Valley. It also included a certain amount of eating delicious food and drinking lovely local wines. It was superbly organised by Mary Hember with Anthony Baker making sure […]

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queen elizabeth II

Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II

Members of the HRG are very saddened by the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. She was a great lover of plants and gardens, and at both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace there are large numbers of roses. At Windsor her apartment looked over the huge rose garden which Prince Phillip helped to design and […]

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In Memoriam: Michael Charlesworth 1940 – 2022

It is with tremendous sadness that we inform you of the death of the Historic Roses Group’s much-loved chairman, Michael Charlesworth. As many of you may know, he had weathered serious illness in the past few years and had been undergoing dialysis for three days every week in hospital. His partner, Johnny Greechan, informed us […]

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Comtesse Cayla rose

Happy New Year!

Just in time for the New Year, the lovely China rose ‘Comtesse du Cayla’ is still blooming in member Mary’s garden. It was named in memory of Zoé Victoire, Comtesse du Cayla, friend, confidante and last favourite of the French King Louis XVIII in his final years. Charming, astute, and well connected, she became politically […]

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More historic roses now blooming in Armstrong Park

We’ve had another update from Leo Watermeier of the Friends of Armstrong Park in New Orleans about roses blooming in Armstrong Park. All photos were taken on 18 December. You can never visit Armstrong Park and see all the roses at peak bloom on the same day, but there are definite flushes, especially in the […]

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‘Queen Elizabeth’ rose rises again

Remember earlier this year, when John in Scotland moved his ancient 25-year old “stick” of his ‘Queen Elizabeth’ rose? As a result of this renewed attention, a miraculous recovery has been taking place. John reports: “My ‘Queen Elizabeth’ has five decent shoots now, and although I had only one flower from the first flush as […]

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