Roses, roses all the way

Press, 18 February 1989, Page 27

Roses, roses all the way

The Rose Gardens of England. By Michael Gibson. Collins, 1988. 160 pp. $49.95 (Reviewed by Thelma Strongman) Like tulips in the Netherlands and rhododendrons in the Himlayas, the rose gardens of England have a familiar ring. The fact that the English rose is a national emblem, and that roses grow so well in England,' are among the reasons which have led Michael Gibson, a past president of the Royal National Rose Society, to produce a book describing 70 gardens throughout England which can be visited by the public. These range from small private gardens to the nursery gardens of the great rose growers such as David Austin and John Mattock, and to the extensive demonstration grounds of the Royal National Rose Society. Michael Gibson describes the gardens well. From my own observation the beautiful Paul Lede is certainly the pride of the garden at Heale House, Wiltshire, and he has gauged the atmosphere at Lime Kiln Cottage in Suffolk extremely well. The St Alban’s gardens of the R.N.R.S. offers up an interesting and obscure rose-gardening term —

catenary, meaning the structure by which roses are grown along chains or loops of rope between upright poles. The gardens here have systematic collections of roses in separate beds with old-fashioned roses grouped by types; Pemberton musks and Kordes’ Freulings roses are just a few. Here miniature roses are thoughtfully displayed on terraces in a sunken garden, to save stooping. Although this book is well written and beautifully produced with excellent photographs, it is difficult to read for any length of time as the repetition even for rose lovers becomes a little tedious. It is perhaps best used as a guide book for visitors, but even so, it is difficult to remember which roses are grown in any particular garden. Except for Kiftsgate, few of the gardens are associated with a particular rose or rose type. An appendix giving a summary of which roses could be found where, might have been helpful for the enthusiast. The book contains little direct information of use to rose growers in New Zealand and it is of doubtful value unless one plans a visit to England.