WFRS REGIONAL ROSE CONVENTION
10 Oct 2012
ROSES DOWN UNDER
The Kiwi Experience
22 November to 27 November 2013
The New Zealand Rose Society is hosting a WFRS Regional Rose Convention, 22-27 November, 2013 in Palmerston North. They are also organising a great pre-convention tour of the North Island, starting 13th November in Auckland, and a post-convention tour of the South Island, 28 November - 3 December, 2013. These promise to be fantastic events, so note it in your diaries. (www.nzroses.org.nz and enquiries to Peter Elliott, gizmo@inspire.net.nz ).
Next International Heritage Rose Conference
25 Jul 2012
The 2013 International Heritage Rose Conference will be held in Germany at the Europa Rosarium at Sangerhausen on June 19-24. www.europa-rosarium.de.
Contact person Thomas.Hawel@stadt.sangerhausen.de
Sangerhausen, in an industrial area of the former East Germany, has the largest collection of rose cultivars in the world. The collection was begun in the early 20th century by the German Friends of the Rose, including the eminent breeder Peter Lambert. It has survived two world wars, and so (like any other public garden) it has some mis-labels, but it is an extraordinary repository of rarities - including some Australian-bred roses which have been lost in their homeland. The spectrum of roses which do well there is different from what most of us are used to, as its climate is harsh in winter.
Visiting Sangerhausen is an opportunity not to be missed.
BOOK NOW FOR THE 2013 EUROPEAN ROSE TOUR
You are invited to join the group tour of Switzerland and Germany which includes the WFRS International Heritage Rose Convention to be held in Sangerhausen, Germany, 19th - 23rd June, 2013. The Rosarium in Sangerhausen was founded in 1903 and now comprises more than 8000 different rose-cultivars and species - one of the largest and most significant rose collections in the world.
If you ever wanted to go to Europe and look at great gardens like Mainau, Baden-Baden and Sangerhausen, please consider this 14 day tour with Kelvin Trimper, (Past President, RSSA), 14th - 30th June, 2013. Visit amazing gardens, historic cities and famous locations as well as two world famous rose breeders Kordes and Tantau in Germany. You're sure to have a great time with other rose lovers on this affordable, rosy group tour.
Please contact our Travel Agent (Tania Allen or Kristina Turner at Oliver Travel, Adelaide, Ph. ( 08)-8232-0111 or 1300 856956) or Kelvin Trimper (Mobile 0418 818 167).
Last-minute stay of execution for the Robinson-Lowery Collection
3 Jan 2012
In early December 2011, Gregg Lowery was given 17 days' notice of foreclosure auction of the land on which he and Phillip Lowery had amassed what must be the most significant collection of heritage roses in a private garden, anywhere in the world. Many of their roses are not obtainable from other sources.
The financial situation in the US had reduced rose sales from Vintage Gardens so much, that the collection could not be maintained adequately. However, assistance from donors and a helpful lawyer persuaded the bank to call off the auction, the day before it was due to happen. Two friends of the Garden have subsequently bought the property. It is not yet clear whether Vintage Gardens can continue as a nursery.
Now donors are being sought for a not-for-profit organisation to preserve the Robinson-Lowery (or Lowery-Robinson) collection, both in the current garden and via replicating 2300-2500 roses into tubs to allow transfer to other sites.
The Heritage Rose Foundation is collecting funds: see http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=suzm4ocab&v=001qSI1yol4mYt9NA-uInmOYPbY_UgBD-a-nYoWF2FLNuYHyEMZ-Fu_Cz8BSyRRi95b9AfjxEzQao6vR_o9Dqg7NvFmsJYLBe7au9MBgV7PpMI5FlSsXFBKAw%3D%3D or http://www.heritagerosefoundation.org/onlinecommerce/onlinecommerce.htm#FoVR or www.vintagegardens.com if you want to assist.
Gregg & Phillip were keynote speakers at the HRIAI Conference in Busselton, WA in 2006.
Myrtle Rust
27 Dec 2011
Myrtle Rust is a recently-described fungus affecting Myrtaceae, which includes Eucalypts and Callistemons. It is present in SE Queensland and extending down the NSW seaboard. There is no known means of eradicating it at present. It produces bright-yellow lumps on plants, and is spread by spores. Its impact is potentially devastating to the Bush.
As a result, quarantine restrictions on travel of plant material and soil have been tightened (and rightly so - green snails, fire ants and cane toads haven't been stopped in their spread).
Please check with AQIS before you consider sending or transporting any plant material .
Source and More Information - http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/plant/myrtle-rust
29/11/2012: please note that the statement in the winter 2012 Journal, that Myrtle Rust kills koalas feeding on affected trees, is incorrect.
Wallcliffe House, WA, gutted by bushfire
29 Nov 2011
Our thoughts are with those affected by recent fires or flood. Those who were at the Busselton conference will be sad to hear that Wallcliffe House, visited during the conference, was gutted by the Margaret River fires.
You may remember that a large and lovely single flame-coloured rose in its garden provoked considerable discussion about a possible ID.
Sydney Morning Herald
The heritage-listed homestead of leading Australian businessman, Michael Chaney, was among 30 homes destroyed in the Margaret River fire.
Chaney is the chairman of the National Australia Bank and Woodside, he is also the son of Menzies government minister Fred Chaney.
Historic Wallcliffe House, which stood on the banks of the Margaret River, was gutted by fire after flames escaped from a prescribed burn on Wednesday.
Wallcliffe House was an important example of early colonial architecture and home to one of WA's finest collections of antique furniture said Chaney. "It's completely devastated," he said.
It is rumoured that Chaney paid about $4 million for the property in 2001. Since then he and his wife have spent a substantial amount of time and money restoring the home.
The two-storey limestone homestead in Prevelly, Western Australia, is now little more than crumbled walls and rubble reported the Sun Shine Coast Daily.
Ms Hutchinson, whose great, great, great grandfather Alfred Bussell built Wallcliffe House, spoke to the Sun Shine Coast Daily. She said that "the loss of Wallcliffe is devastating for our family obviously, but an enormous loss for Australia too".
Hutchinson said that Wallcliffe had provided her with an idyllic childhood. She told the Sun Shine Coast Daily that she didn't think that the property could ever be rebuilt in a way that could do justice to its long history.
The homestead was originally built by Bussell, one of WA's pioneer, between 1855 and 1865 and was designed in the Victorian Georgian style.
The house was built from limestone, quarried on the property and incoporated shingle and corrugated iron, as well as pit-sawn jarrah.
The property was the home of heroic Grace Bussell. In 1876, the 16 year-old famously rode her horse into surf at the nearby Prevelly Beach and helped save the lives of around 50 people as the SS Georgette sunk off nearby Calgardup Bay.
The Heritage Council of Western Australia described Wallcliffe House, before its destruction, as "an excellent and well-crafted example of a Victorian Georgian homestead.
Its design represents the aspiration of many early colonists to emulate a British country gentleman's residence. It is rare as a two-storey residence of this type constructed in stone".