New Zealand is home to a number of heritage rose species once thought lost to the world. Thanks to the hard graft of local rosarians, these species have flourished and are now being reintroduced abroad.
Doyenne of Roses
(b. 1898. d. 1986)
Nancy Steen was among the world authorities on old roses, and devoted much of her life to cultivating and studying different species and early cultivars.
An accomplished artist, Steen regularly exhibited her works and developed and landscaped her own garden. She was also a sought-after speaker and writer, touring the countryside sharing her extensive knowledge with other New Zealanders.
The heritage section of the Parnell Rose Gardens is named after her.
Roses arrived in New Zealand shortly after the first Christian missionaries in the early 1800s and quickly filled the gardens of Maori and British settlers with their scent and bloom. The first roses were likely to have been Slater's Crimson China (R. chinensis ’Semperflorens’), capable of growing in only a cupful of soil, and the sweet brier used for making hedges. As demand for new roses grew, a handful of nurseries became renowned for importing and distributing the latest European hybrids.
Today, the old cemeteries, hedgerows, pa sites and forgotten gardens are a haven for heritage rose species. Some of these have disappeared from the rest of the world, making New Zealand a unique home for roses.
Expert talk
Jocelen Janon President of Heritage Roses New Zealand Audio Clip (4.38)
Jocelyn talks about New Zealand heritage roses and old garden varieties.
Old Rose Stories
A growing problem
Rosa rubiginosa
The sweet brier was introduced to New Zealand by Christian missionaries in the early 19th century. During his visit to the Bay of Islands in 1835 Charles Darwin recorded “whole hedges of sweet brier” at Paihia. The rose found New Zealand conditions so favourable that by the 1860s it had spread throughout the country, suffocating some native species. From 1900 it was considered an invasive weed and continues to grow unabated.
A detective tale
Rosa “Mr Drummond’s Rose”
For decades a nameless rose was grown in the Auckland garden of Malcolm and Monica Drummond. Experts travelled from far and wide to identify Mr Drummond’s Rose, but always drew a blank. Then one day Lloyd Chapman sent a photo of the flower to rose enthusiasts in Australia, where a rose-sleuth finally unmasked its true identity. The mysterious flower turned out to be Mrs Arthur Robert Waddell, bred in 1908 by Frenchmen Joseph Pernet-Ducher.
An unsolved puzzle
Rosa “Linley’s Fat Tea”
In 1998 an unidentified tea rose was discovered in the heritage garden of Linley Wood. A rose enthusiast, Linley had taken a cutting of the flower from a South Auckland hedge and decided to call it her Fat Pink Tea. So what’s its real name? No one’s quite sure. As Linley herself said, “The puzzle remains unsolved.” Every year numerous old roses are ‘rediscovered’ and await accurate identification to reveal their story.
Rescue mission
Rosa ‘Tausendschön’
When a plan to widen the motorway between Auckland and Hamilton threatened a patch of roadside roses, a daring rescue mission took place. The historic hybrid roses, planted by Max Campbell, had been taken from the ‘The Rosery’, the much visited garden of Ken Nobbs, co-founder of Heritage Roses New Zealand. Cuttings were taken of a number of heritage species, and just in time. A motorway now stands where the roses once thrived.
A grave matter
Rosa ‘Marie Ducher’
An Auckland graveyard might seem an unlikely place to unearth a lost rose species, but that’s exactly what happened. Nancy Steen stumbled upon the ‘Marie Ducher’ rose in Grafton Cemetery. The rose is named after the wife of esteemed French rosarian and hybridiser Claude Ducher (1820–1874), who also bred a rose for each of his children: Jean, Antoine and Marie. Once lost to Europe, the ‘Marie Ducher’ rose has been reintroduced there from New Zealand.
