A Whanganui-bred rose has claimed one of the top prizes at this year’s New Zealand Rose of the Year Trials in Hamilton. Lilac Temptation, grown by Bob Matthews of Matthews Roses, was voted the best climbing rose.
Assistant manager Samantha Matthews said the plant grew to a nice height and had “a lovely show of flowers”. “It’s a really lovely shade of purple, it doesn’t have many thorns, and it’s really fragrant.
“I think that might have helped get us over the line this year.” Matthews was the only nursery in the country growing Lilac Temptation, she said. It was the family’s first victory at the Hamilton trials in 15 years.
A second climbing rose bred by Bob Matthews - Infinity - won a certificate of merit at last weekend’s Palmerston North International Rose Trials. “It is a white climber - a vigorous, healthy plant with a unique petal shape,” Samantha Matthews said.
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