English Roses and the Like

For our September meeting on Thursday 19th we were pleased to welcome as our speaker, Brian Schofield, a real rose expert. Brian is a judge and exhibitor with the Royal National Rose Society and has also bred some of his own roses. He explained some of the history and development of the roses that we regard as "English". Brian mentioned breeders that we might not have come across, such as Henry Bennett (1823-1890). Bennett was one of the first people to systematically breed roses using selected, known parents. He developed what became known as Hybrid Teas. Brian also told us about Cants of Colchester who are the oldest firm of commercial rose growers in the UK. I think we had all heard of David Austin, who has bred so many English roses. Brian's talk was illustrated with many photographs of roses and was very enjoyable.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Pauline Ranson, fittingly, with a beautiful miniature rose called "Fairy".