Rochfords International Rose Trials
Nestled in the heart of the countryside near Hertford is Rochfords, a wholesale nursery run by 5th generation nurseryman Paul Rochford. The nursery operates over 40 acres of container production and has been constructed over time to be as environmentally friendly as possible, with three reservoirs and two boreholes to fulfil their water needs, heating from a biomass boiler, and the plastic pots used for production are all kerbside recyclable.
An exciting part of the nursery set up is the Rochford International Rose Trials. Welcoming both professional and amateur growers alike, the free-to-enter trials accept new seedling roses from all over the world, and currently have 98 varieties on trial from over 25 breeders. The fact that the RIRT are the only free of charge trials for rose breeders in the UK is particularly important for amateur breeders as it gives them the opportunity to be judge against professional standard plants.
Over the course of the three year trial, the roses are judged for their overall garden merit. During the trials the roses are treated in much the same way as customers would treat their roses at home. They are pruned and mulched at the appropriate times, given a slow release feed (recognising that the everyday gardener wouldn’t usually spend the time feeding their roses on a regular basis), and mycorrhizomes to encourage root growth. No pesticides or fungicides are used and as a result, during judging the roses may be marked down for disease but they won’t be marked down for insect damage.
The star of the show at Rochfords is Head Gardener Kerry who is a rosarian through and through. Her passion for roses is contagious. Alongside her work at Rochfords, Kerry also works with the RHS to, as she puts it, “refresh the world of roses”. As soon as the winners of gold at Rochfords trials are commercially available in the UK, they are automatically added to the AGM (award of garden merit) meaning that they will not need a second trial to be eligible for AGM status. This is great news for rose breeders and growers.
Another part of the work to refresh the world of roses includes constantly reviewing the current AGM list and seeing which roses should still be on the list, as well as which should be removed. This tenacity to keep the list a record of the best of the best of the rose world instills a great faith in me that roses awarded the AGM really are the cream of the crop.
It may surprise you to know that Rochfords International Rose Trials invite anyone with a passion for roses to become a judge (with sufficient training provided of course!). The panel is currently 28 strong ranging from rose enthusiasts to horticulturalists. I was lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of what the judging is like one sunny day in June when I was invited there as part of a trip organised by the Garden Media Guild. Clipboard in hand I headed down to the rose beds ready to assess these plants across four categories: health, flower, overall effect (aka value for money) and fragrance. As someone who is very much swayed by the scent of a rose, this judging process really gave me a new appreciation for the form and novelty of some of the less scented varieties. I can see myself adding some of the scentless, but visually striking, varieties in amongst my fragrant favourites. My one frustration came from the fact that I picked out at least five varieties that I was desperate to add to my garden to then be reminded that they weren’t commercially available yet! My beds will just have to wait to be graced by the beauty of rose F507…
