Rose Awareness Week highlights the simplicity and beauty of roses.
Popular TV Gardener David Domoney and Harkness Roses celebrate roses and aim to inspire people across the UK with Rose Awareness Week.
From Monday 20th June, gardeners, beauty specialists, romantics and flower lovers across the UK will be sharing their love of roses. With annual sales of roses steadily declining since the sales highs of over 65 million in the 1960s, the campaign aims to educate the population to highlight the ease of growing roses and the rewards of growing the stunning flowering displays.
Leading the charge is TV Gardener David Domoney. Domoney, well known for his ideas on how to make gardening easy and more accessible for everyone, believes that roses can be a focal point in any garden no matter the size. “Roses give so much to a garden. From lush foliage and stunning flowers, roses add structure and style. Modern breeds of roses are less susceptible disease making it easier than ever before to have this plant in your garden.”
Alongside their beauty, they’re also great to protect the home too. In common parlance we often point out that roses have thorns, however botanically these are prickles. “The prickles on roses make for an excellent security barrier too, deterring intruders from climbing into your garden. By training roses to climb across fences and walls, their prickles make it an unpleasant surface to climb over. Of course, from a design perspective, climbing roses can transform plain dull surfaces into cascading displays of beautiful flowers through spring, summer, and autumn,” Domoney adds.
Philip Harkness, Chairman of Harkness Roses, says, “We have worked closely with David Domoney for a number of years. From the launch of the ‘This Morning’ rose at Chelsea Flower Show in 2018, to the celebration of roses at this years’ 2022 Chelsea Flower Show. Our partnership on Rose Awareness Week will enable us to highlight the simple tips and techniques in order to be a blooming brilliant rose grower in your garden.”
In celebration of Rose Awareness Week, David Domoney’s social media will be a platform for Harkness Roses to give away an array of beautiful roses to lucky gardeners across the UK. Each winner will receive one of each of these following popular rose choices:
Mary Berry
Named in 2016 for Dame Mary Berry, the flowers are large with a classical shape, opening from rounded plump buds. This rose has a strong scent that can only be from a Tea Rose. With dark leathery foliage and a strong bush that supports the large flowers well, a fantastic addition to the range of scented Hybrid Tea roses. Dimensions: 120cm x 80cm.
City Livery
A competent and versatile variety. With the exception of complete shade, City Livery will suit most aspects and conditions. Plants are compact and bushy, and rapid to repeat bloom. The flawless flowers have a primrose yellow centre, surrounded by lemon shades on the outer petals. A delicate fruity scent can be enjoyed, particularly on a warm summers evening. Use in beds, borders, pots or to create a low hedge. Dimensions: 90cm x 60cm.
Jane Austen®
Launched in 2017 to mark the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. The colour is an intense and vibrant orange, with some yellow shades on the reverse of the petals. With a good perfume and a bushy habit this is an excellent variety for beds, borders, and large planters. Dimensions: 90cm x 75cm.
Perfect Match
This compact floribunda can be grown in a large container if space is limited but looks equally stunning in a bed or border. The unusual mauve and silver petals simply dazzle in the summer sun. Flowers are nicely formed, foliage is very dark green with a glossy shimmer, and the habit is dense and compact. A healthy and attractive little rose. Dimensions: 75cm x 60cm.
Wonderful World®
This climbing rose provides a mass of flowers through Summer and Autumn. Its repeat flowering red blooms dazzle with tones of orange and pink. It is arguably one of the best climbing roses ever produced and is the perfect gift rose for any occasion, or just for adding the wow factor to your garden. Dimensions: 175cm x 100cm.
To immerse himself in the beauty of roses, David is heading to the stunning Highclere Castle, perhaps better known to many of us as Downton Abbey, to film in the grounds. The home and gardens hold much history, and within this setting David will be planting roses with Lady Carnarvon, sharing his top tips on successful rose planting.
David Domoney’s Rose Tips
DEADHEAD FLOWERS
It is important to deadhead roses regularly as needed. It’ll help the plant to look neat and smart, and also ensuring the plant can concentrate its energy on repeat flowering and growing.
When deadheading it’s only necessary to remove the flowerhead. However, if the stems are weak, damaged, or diseased, these stems can be pruned back slightly too.
FEED WHAT THEY NEED
Feeding roses with a suitable fertiliser like Miracle-Gro® Rose & Shrub Food that contains potash and magnesium will help to boost blooms. You should apply the feed in spring, and then again after the first flowers have bloomed, around mid-summer.
Take care of the foliage by watering at the base of the plants, this will reduce the likelihood of causing and spreading diseases. Also, mulch the roses in spring and autumn using organic matter like well-rotted manure or compost.
DOWN WITH DISEASE
When choosing the rose, it’s wise to opt for a variety that is disease resistant, bred specifically to prevent mildew, blackspot, and other diseases prone in roses.
To keep on top of disease control, be sure to rake up and remove fallen leaves to prevent the spread of any infections or fungus. Catch diseased foliage early by picking off any leaves that are showing signs of disease. Prune so there’s plenty of air movement because thinning out the structure will reduce the risk of fungal attack.
SUPER SUPPORT
Depending on the type, many roses will appreciate some support with poles and ties. Shrub roses, rambling roses and climbers can be trained and secured onto structures like pergolas, obelisks, or arches.
PRIME POSITION
Another top tip is to not grow roses in the same place that a rose has been before. Instead, choose a different sunny spot to plant. This is because diseases can build up in the soil.
Also, roses having a specific hunger for minerals, so planting in the same spot could mean there is a lack of the correct nutrients.
PERFECT PRUNING
A general rule is to cut out any dead, diseased, or damaged branches. Always cut just above a healthy, full-sized leaf. This is because that’s where the hormones concentrate, so the plant is able to produce a new flowering shoot quickly. Prune to an outward facing bud, cutting so the slope of the cut is angled away from the bud.
Rose Awareness Week runs from 20th June to 26th June. Take part by sharing your blooms and reasons why you love the rose on social media using the hashtag #RoseAwarenessWeek to get involved.
-ENDS-
About Harkness Roses UK
The Harkness nursery had its origins in 1879 in Yorkshire, soon becoming well-known as a grower of top-quality roses. It was 80 years later that Jack Harkness began breeding new varieties in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, determined to create new and ever-more beautiful roses. Today, Harkness Roses are known and grown worldwide; celebrated for their astounding beauty, delightful fragrance and repeat flowering blooms.
The new Harkness Rose Masterpiece Collection® is a harmonious blend of modern and traditional roses that showcases the very best of British rose breeding. Founded upon 140 years heritage, the collection encompasses more than 200 varieties of the finest roses from the dedicated Harkness breeding programme. With reliability, disease resistance and flowering performance that is second to none, Harkness Roses are world renowned for producing reliable cultivars, as well as classic old roses, that will flourish in any garden.
Twitter – @harknessroseco
Instagram – @theharknessrosecompany
Facebook – @theharknessrosecompany
About David Domoney C Hort. FCI Hort
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist and seasoned gardening television broadcaster and currently presents on ITV’s ‘Love Your Garden’, ITV’s ‘Love Your Weekend’ and is also the gardening presenter for ITV’s ‘This Morning’. He is a winner of over 30 RHS Medals with two Best in Show category trophies and the Prince Edward Award for Excellence in Horticulture. He’s a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, a Fellow of the London Colleges of Horticulture and a Fellow of the Warwickshire Group of Colleges. David is also known for pioneering campaigns Cultivation Street as well as Illumination Street, brightening up Britain’s streets at Christmas. David also writes a gardening column for Grow Your Own magazine.
Twitter – @daviddomoney
Instagram – @daviddomoney
Facebook – David Domoney
Pinterest – David Domoney
YouTube – David Domoney
Website – www.daviddomoney.com
For more information please contact:
Adele Holdsworth
Mobile: 07930 371873
adele@domoney.tv
Notes to Editors:
{Pictures available on request}
