Master My Garden Podcast
Master My Garden Podcast
- EP244 Joseph Sturrock Spencer Rose Consultant With David Austin Roses Chats About Rose Care, Breeding & Much More
What’s the secret behind the breathtaking beauty of David Austin Roses?
Join us as we uncover the captivating history, meticulous breeding process, and enduring legacy of these iconic blooms with none other than Joseph Sturrock Spencer, an esteemed rose consultant from David Austin Roses.
From the visionary passion of David Austin to the global acclaim his roses have garnered at the Chelsea Flower Show, Joseph takes us on an enchanting journey through the world of English roses. Discover the balance of aesthetic charm, disease resistance, and repeat flowering that defines each new variety.
Ever wondered how a rose can take over a decade to perfect? Joseph, alongside insights from experts like Carl Bennett and David Austin Jr., reveals the journey from pollination to market introduction. We dive into the rigorous trials and selections that ensure every David Austin rose meets the highest standards of beauty and resilience. Learn practical tips for optimal rose care, from choosing the right pot size to mastering deep watering techniques, ensuring your garden blooms with health and splendor.
Meet standout varieties like Desdemona, Olivia Rose Austin, and Tottering By Gently, each celebrated for their unique beauty and fragrance. Joseph’s deep-rooted passion for horticulture shines through as he shares his personal journey and the privilege of advising on some of the UK’s most magnificent gardens. This episode is a heartfelt tribute to the dedication and innovation that keep David Austin Roses at the forefront of gardeners' hearts worldwide. Tune in and be inspired to create your own rose-filled paradise!
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Until next week
Happy gardening
John
how's it going? Everybody, I'm welcome to episode 244, master my garden podcast. Now, this week's episode is one I'm looking forward to. It's um, it's what I've been trying to line up for a good few weeks. So, roses, we we've covered on the on the show before, but we haven't covered it from from this angle, and today I'm delighted to be joined by joseph starrick spencer, who's a rose consultant with david aston roses.
Speaker 1:Now, there isn't a gardener probably in the world who isn't familiar with david aston roses. They're synonymous with, I suppose, quality. A lot of them are highly scented and they're very much sought after high quality roses and the name, I suppose, stands for quality and that's something that, as I say, a lot of gardeners are. They recognize and they look for and seek out, especially when looking to buy something special. They're used a lot as gifting in in gardening circles and, yeah, as I say, synonymous with quality. So I'm delighted to be joined by by just iraq, who's a who's the rose consultant with them. And, joe, you're very welcome to master my garden podcast, thank you, thank you. So, yeah, david aston rose is one of the most recognizable names within gardening, I would say worldwide.
Speaker 1:You know us gardeners, of which I have a lot listening to the podcast. They they always talk about them. Obviously uk, you know, you guys are over there, it's it's it's your home. And in ireland here as well. You know, well known, well respected. So tell us about a little bit about the history of David Austin Rose. I know you're in business since 1961, so it's a lot of years of expertise built up, I guess.
Speaker 2:That's very correct. Yes, so David Austin was born in 1920, 1956, and he was very interesting at gardening from a young age. His grandmother, who has a large Queen queen house base in shropshire, um, and he he was often said that um, his grandmother gave him a bit of land when he was a very young boy to start growing his first fruit and veg. And, uh, getting you've got interest in garden from a very, very young age, um, and then his 21st birthday, his sister gave him a book on old garden roses, um, and that kind of cemented his interest in the roses in general. He was already interested in plant breeding through his father, a friend of his father's, who bred lupins, and when he had the book for his 21st birthday it really kind of cemented his passion for for roses. So, uh, just after the war he bought a, uh, his first rose, one called stanmore perpetual, which is a beautiful scottish rose, um, it has the, the beautiful kind of pink. Uh, old rose blue has the benefit of repeat flowering. Lots of the scottish roses were only flowered once. This one repeat flowered and he thought that if this it was, although it was actually crossed by chance. So he thought, if this happened by chance with nature? Why can't I cross the, the old roses, the beautiful forms and uh shape of the old roses, with the and the fragrance, of course, as well, with the repeat flowering nature and colors, um, wide color scheme of the, the roses. So this was an idea that he really wanted to push forward and his first rose, as you say, was 1961, constant Sprite, a rose that we still sell today and is still very, very well known, a rose that is only still once flowering, but was a stepping stone to start really for the um, his english roses, um, and well, like I say, one still sell today, beautiful, wonderful, glowing, cupped pink blooms with a wonderfully strong myrrh fragrance, um, and that, like I say, was a stepping stone to start off his english roses, uh. He then went forward and, uh, bred a red line, a red rose called Chianti, which the first of his red English roses, and that was introduced in 1967, along the same principles, and old rose, the old rose form, crossed with the, the repeat flowering nature for modern rose. However, again, it was once flowering and it required further crosses, moving forward, going through. But by 1970 he had a small range of repeat flowering shrub roses, um, and he was looking to market these and, uh, he chose them english roses um because, wrote, the england has always had a association with the roads. Um, he felt this name really kind of summed up what he was looking for. Um, and the actual business david austin rose started in 1970 on the family farm and it's still going today, um six years on. It's uh, it's the test of time.
Speaker 2:Initially his, his roses um weren't very popular.
Speaker 2:There was a kind of a very much of a mindset with these roses um lots of people back then in the in the late 60s, early 70s, it was very much the floral buds and hybrid teas with their bright colours, their repeat flowering nature that were very, very popular.
Speaker 2:So in the early stages the English roses actually weren't very popular really. They weren't really sought after and it was a lot of. It was down to Miss Drosten's good friend, graham Stuart Thomas, who actually sold the roses through his nursery. And then, come the mid 80s there were three roses in particular at the Chelsea Flower Show Mary Rose, graham, thomas and Heritage were the three roses in 1983 that really pushed the English roses to the front of the public mind and they became incredibly popular and they've been popular ever since. So it was a long struggle for Mr Austin, but he was very, very passionate about what he believed in and he was very conscious that these roses were worth pursuing and were something different. And now they are the most, as you say, world renowned and known throughout the world for not just the flower form, but also things like health and repeat flowering, and also fragrance as well. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:It's a long road. All right when you start something like that, it is, and you do need to have faith in what you're doing and I guess that initial thing is, you know, getting trust, as you say. And I guess a number of years later, so I suppose 10, 15 years ago, roses started to or maybe even a little bit longer, started to get the name of being troublesome in terms of disease, and I know a lot of breeders had to work really, really hard during that period to, I suppose, shed that belief that it was. It was almost impossible to grow roses in certain parts and I guess you guys would have been no difference in terms of breeding, breeding for disease resistance and and that type of thing. So that would have been a second, I guess, challenge, albeit a good bit later. So maybe tell us a little bit about that and and then we'll start to talk about the range as it is today most certainly.
Speaker 2:I mean back back then in the kind of the 60s and 70s and 80s, um, disease resistance wasn't really thought of as a major uh, a major issue really. A lot of breeders bred for novelty, they wanted the bright colors and the form, especially the hybrid teas, um, so diseases wasn't really thought of as a major issue. And obviously back then as well, you could spray pretty much anything on your roses and it wasn't really seen as a bad thing. Diseases was something that was part and parcel roses. But I think it has given a bit of a, a bit of a kind of myth really that roses are really hard to look after and they're troublesome, as you say. But they're really not. They are wonderful plants that just keep going throughout the year and there isn't really another plant I can think of really that produces the amount of flower that it does, gives you wonderful fragrance, the forms, the colours, the habits that are that much of an exceptional garden plant. Really, disease resistance is something that we do, is a key cornerstone, and we do. Our breeding programme now is between pollination and the introduction, is now a 13-year process. Wow, and that's purely because we we want to, we want to make sure the roses we introduce are the best roses and people can buy um and so. But between pollination and and introduction there was a um. There was obviously selecting for a few years and then the ones that are possibly going introduced, they are trialed for eight or nine years um to make sure. You build build up a report and basically build up a kind of a see, a character really, of how each rose can perform, and at the end of that you'll end up with one or two you introduce each year um and and the disease is one of those things that is very, very important. Um through these trials you build a picture of the roses that do really well um, and the roses that stand up, particularly with the changing climate, as it's been to um difficult weather conditions, uh, but also as well, diseases is one cornerstone, but also um flowering is very, very important um. You want to make sure the rose flowers from the early summer right the way through the season, uh, into autumn, and the english roses now a lot of them, especially the more modern ones, they almost continuous right the way through to into winter, and we've seen flowers even in december and january at the nursery before um. So that's very important um.
Speaker 2:Another key cornerstone I would say is fragrance. Um. Mr austin was very, very passionate about fragrance um. He often said that fragrance is half the rose. Um. So fragrance to him was very, very important. Is roses? Um, obviously there are. There are roses that aren't as fragrant and it frames is difficult in a single or semi-double bloom because a lot of the four of the main five fragrances come from the petals. So fragrance is very important. But for, say, shrubbers at the back of the board, for example, a larger shrub that gets five or six foot, where you're not going to be able to get to that back of the border, fragrance is not as important. But it's still nice to have fragrance there.
Speaker 2:And then, one of the most important things which miss rosten always look for, and? Um I was very lucky enough in my role, um as part of my role, to work in the breeding department for 15 years. Um, to work with miss rosten is charm. Um a lot of roses can be quite I use the term clinical um they can be kind of ones that you kind of almost like have been mass produced.
Speaker 2:But mr austin was very passionate having a natural shrub um that worked well in many, many settings, whether it be a rose border, a mixed border, pots and containers. Um, it looked at a very natural but also had to have that, that charm. And people often say about the charm of an english rose, but you can't really put your finger on it. Um, you know it's an english rose, you put it against other roses, you can tell just by how it, the way it looks, the way it holds itself. Um, and one of the best ways I've heard about the english rose is to describe is it has to look good even without flowers on, so the, the way the, where the shrub looks in the garden, even in the, even in the winter, um, when there's no leaves on it, or when this, when the growth is coming out, or in between a flush of flowers. It has to look good all stages throughout the year and that was a key, one of the key factors for an english rose.
Speaker 1:Yes, it has to have that, that charm um, it's interesting because I was going to ask you what that charm meant and I was trying to think in my head what that might mean. And it's right in what you say, because if you look at certain roses, you distinctively know that they are an old English rose and I get what you're saying about the charm when they look decent when they don't have the flower on, yeah, they look decent when they don't have the flower on, yeah, like and, and they do look well in most settings, in all settings, I would say pots, as you say, in borders and so on. So, yeah, I get it, but I could it's kind of hard to describe it right it's a question I've I even.
Speaker 2:I even got the chance to ask mr austin when I, when I got to um, when I was in the breeding department, one of my I was very lucky, in my role, to help select with him and his breeding manager, carl Bennett, who worked with Miss Froston for 30 plus years, and I've asked them both over the time when I was there how can you describe charm? And Miss Froston himself said you can't really put your finger on it. You know it's there which is one of the difficulties with selecting roses the amount of roses you you have to you select, you you're picking the. In the end, you're picking the ones that you can see in that situation, um, but also it has to be the quintessential english rose and I think, um, it's difficult to a lot of people, kind of a lot of people may think it's easy to select a rose because you're in search of things, but that added charm.
Speaker 2:It's very, very easy to breed a, a beautiful rose. It's very, very easy to breed a disease, distant rose, but adding one that has everything and that quintessential english rose charm is incredibly difficult. Um, and so the, that 13 year process between pollination and introduction is very important that because you've built you, you look, you find from the ones that the closest reduction, that they have characters almost, and you build up a picture of each one. So it's difficult but the charm is a key cornerstone of our English roses, which we still today find very, very important, and it's part of an English rose being introduced.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's really interesting. And if you look at those pillars, so color is? You know, obviously it's. It's. It's not easy to breed, obviously, but it's easy, as it during the selection process, to say this color is what we wanted and this disease resistance is of a level that we want. But how exactly do you? Because there isn't a measurement that you can measure against in charm. No, whose job does that fall to?
Speaker 2:does that fall to. It is difficult. I mean, like I say, um, carl bennett is the breeding manager. He, he selects through each stage, um, but when you're getting through to the, the 150, 200 that are closest being produced, um for each, each year, it's. It would be david junior, mr austin's son, um, he goes through um almost daily in the summer, going through, making notes on each, each variety and building it like a bit of a picture, um, and like you can't measure charm, it's not something that you can put on a scale, um, but once you look at the rose and you see it, and often they are in large numbers, and but we do, we do have some specimen plants as well, but they're often large numbers you can look at a rose and it's you can tell it's an english rose, you can by the way it looks, where it holds its blooms, um, and so it's difficult, to difficult, to judge something when you can't put a scale on it.
Speaker 2:So a lot of it, I think, or part of it is also as well is it's gut instinct, I think. I think, I think that, um, you, if you have even rose in the english breeding program, you can see certain ones may are, have a certain characteristic, but they'd be healthy or or have a particular particular trait. But they just they. They kind of aren't quite there yet and it's those ones that kind of can go forward almost like building blocks onto the net to try and get that rose you're looking for. In the end it's a very, very difficult and long process and it's something that, like I say, you can't really you have to. I was very lucky enough to learn from the man himself to kind of follow in his footsteps and also following Carl's footsteps and watch what they did and how they picked out the roses and you kind of it's almost instinct you think actually, yes, I think that's got something, but it's difficult. Like I say, it's not a scale. Scale you can't judge you on a scale?
Speaker 1:yeah, it's not. It's not like yeah, there isn't a scale that you can. You can measure it off no, no yeah, it's a good instinct. It's like thinking about it from from your perspective. There's probably only a limited number of people that can know it or can understand it.
Speaker 2:So it's uh, it's like I say you're very few and and it's it, you but like it once, you, once you kind of see it and kind of, uh, like I say, david jr has, uh, will choose and um, he's, he's still got that core vision of miss justin's back from the 1960s of a of a healthy, repeat, flowering old english rose. Um, so the cut, the actual key, uh cornerstone pillars of an english rose that mr austin first set out in his vision are still very, very important even today, um, and they will always be, they will always be part of one english rose. Um, it's very, very important to us as a company to make sure that that vision that Mr Austin had just carries on his legacy, carries on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's amazing you mentioned that. I think the figure you mentioned was two to three new varieties per year. Did I hear that right?
Speaker 2:Yes, well, it varies, but I mean, this year we've had one and last year we had two, the year before we had two. So it usually tends to be one to two varieties per year. Now, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So at this stage then, what level are you up to? So you started off when the nursery officially opened in 1970. I think it was six varieties, you said. Was it at that stage or?
Speaker 2:thereabouts. So there was a small collection in 1970, but in total Mr Austin's lifetime introduced 230 English roses. So yes, he built up a wonderful collection. A lot of them now the older ones we don't stock anymore. They've kind of long been superseded by by better and more healthier and repeat flowering variety, but still very much an important part of the, the english rose history, um, and and kind of almost paved the way uh for for the, for the, for the new rose coming through, yeah, but it's now. Now it's it's one to two introductions per year.
Speaker 2:So when we pollinate roses you do roughly 30,000 hand crosses a year, which will give you an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 seeds, all of which are hand-collected, hand-counted, hand-sown. Germination rate depends on the year, but you're looking roughly for roughly 60,000 garden rose seedlings germinate and 40,000 cut rose seedlings germinate, seedlings germinate, um. So from them 60 000 garden roses, uh, the first selection, um to the first stage, will be roughly 10 000 plants um. So 50 000 will be discarded right at the very step, right at the very start. Um. And like I said, when you're first slept, in that stage you're selecting purely on flower. You can't select uh in a greenhouse for things like health or growth or um, or distance, or fragrance. So it's purely going on that the flower has something that could be a future english rose. They'll be butted outside, in, in, um, in plants, in eight plants, um, and then from those uh 10 000 you'd select a thousand of those to go on to the next stage. So each time you're whittling down the numbers to try and get the best of the best. From those thousand they'll be budded to 30 plants and from those thousands you'll whittle that down to roughly 150 to 200 plants, or 200 varieties, and those are the ones closest to introduction, um. And then that starts the process, then, of eight or nine years of trials, building a picture over those years of how they perform, um.
Speaker 2:Again looking at the flower the flowers has to kind of stand, um, kind of be an english rose flower, have that charm, uh. But then by that point you're looking for things like disease resistance. Does it stand up well, uh, is it a healthy variety? You're looking at fragrance. Fragrance is key because outside, a lot of fats can affect fragrance, um, so making sure it has a good fragrance, or the fragrance is there throughout, throughout the the bloom cycle, um, and then, like I say, the one of the most important things is is kind of the minute details, but they stay short.
Speaker 2:We're very lucky to breed roses in the UK climate. We have a different weather every single day, almost, especially in the summer. One day it's raining, one day it's sunny, hail, sleet, you name it, it's there. So one of the most important things we're finding now is does it stand up to the British weather? You don't want a flower that's going to in the rain. The petals are going to bald, not open, and the next day they're going to, they're going to rot on on the plant. So you're looking for blooms, that, and petals that stand really well to the weather and open in all weathers. Um, and over these kind of seven or eight years, seven, eight, nine years, you'll build up a picture of each, each rose, almost, almost seeing the character of the rose come alive, almost um, and at the end of that period, um, both carl and david, um, david austin jr will have, uh, will choose, um, choose the kind of the one or two that will be introduced for that for that year yes, it's an incredible process.
Speaker 1:Incredible process and variety. Wise now are you. Are you looking at how many is in the collection at the moment that you guys are actively selling?
Speaker 2:I mean in the collection. We have the bare root roses. The bare roots, we have about 380, 390, not all our varieties. We do have a lot of English roses, but we do sell a selection of flower buds and hybrid teas and also we have climbers and mammals as well. But we also have the potted roses as well. So the potted. There's roughly about 120 varieties there and the majority of those are going to be English roses. But with the English roses now, like I said, we do have a very good selection. The ones coming through now in recent years have been some of the best roses you can possibly buy there. They're incredibly, incredibly healthy.
Speaker 2:Um. They they very free flowering, wonderfully fragrant, um, and they they work in such a variety of of um situations. You can plant them in a rose board. You can have them in a mixed border. Um, you can plant them in a rose border, you can plant them in a mixed border. You can plant them in a pot or container. The climbers and ramblers that we have we have English climbers, english ramblers. They work well on a six foot wall or fence, a 10 foot fence, on an obelisk, on an arch. So there's a rose really for any location in the garden. Again, people often think that, uh, they're quite hard to grow and they have. They have a location that's very particularly tough. But roses are very, very tough things, um, and they're very resilient, um, they stand up very well to the british weather, um, and so there is a. There's a place for a rose in every garden yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:so let's just talk about, um, I suppose, the challenges that gardeners do have with roses, I suppose, understanding first what the different or how to use the different types of roses. So essentially, you have, you know your shrub rose, you have climbers, ramblers, and I know there is patio roses and so on. But maybe just talk about the sort of characteristics and the uses of the, the major types, and we'll get into it yeah, so I mean the shrub roses encompass a lot of the roses really.
Speaker 2:I mean it doesn't just encompass the english shrub rose but, like you say, there are small roses which are patios and miniatures. Um, you've got the kind of your medium shrub roses which are kind of what you'd often see in a garden situation. Then you've got your kind of larger ones which useful for, um, for kind of the back of the board, for example, um, so the english shrub roses generally they they range from between kind of three to, uh, three foot three and a half foot um, and some of the large ones you can go to kind of five or six foot uh, for the largest ones, um, the shrub roses uh are fantastic, like, say, for the variety of garden locations you're going to have. So, um, with the mixed borders, rose borders, um, the a lot of people will say blocky rose board was kind of a very big uh number of years ago, but now a lot of people looking for kind of mixed borders as well. The beauty of the english roses they work in in all settings with a variety of other companion plants as well as working with each other. The good thing as well the English roses is they do work in pots and containers really well.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people are kind of very nervous about planting roses in pots and containers again because they don't think they'll do well, although they won't look very much for a lot of the year. But the English roses, because of their natural shrubby habits, will often fill out a pot or container. Just one plant and because of, as I mentioned, they look good even without flowers on it. They provide they all look good all year round. The most important thing really for planting pots and containers is making sure the size of the pot is correct. A lot of people kind of underestimate how much of a bigger pot they'll need. But if they're given the right size um and they're kept well watered, they're absolutely flourishing in a pot or container, yeah, and do really really well um, like I say, some we do have kind of larger shrub roses as well, um, which kind of get to five or six foot um, and whilst they're probably going to be too big for a pot or container, they're wonderful for a middle or back of a border, which people, I think, often forget about um, because you don't tend to go to the back of the border but they wouldn't make and often make wonderful kind of um kind of structural uh pieces for the garden.
Speaker 2:Uh, one plans, for example, of something like the lark ascending, which is an english shrub rose, or hide hall um, both kind of get to kind of five, five and a half, six foot. They're wonderful arching structural plants which again sit well with other roses that are in front of them, but also as well with companion planting uh planted around them as well. Um, that you've got. But we also have climbers and ramblers. So we have the english climbers um, which are uh bred from the english shrub roses. So, uh, lots of people kind of don't realize that the english shrub roses and, I'm sorry, the english climbers, um, they all came from the shrub roses and we found over the course of many years that um, these, these shrub roses produce kind of long, quite arching stems which are ideal for being trained onto a wall, a fence, an arch um, and so they can get to a good height of kind of 10, 12 foot um. So, again, wonderful in a variety of situations, uh, not just a wall or fence, but you can be trained on an arch. You can put an obelisk in the center of your bed as a focal point? Um, train a short english, climb up that.
Speaker 2:Um, the ramblers uh, they tend to be. Often a lot of people think of the Ramblers as being huge, monstrous things or smother sheds and garages and go through trees, and quite a number of them are. But there are shorter varieties which are useful again for more, smaller spaces. The other thing as well with the Ramblers is a lot of people believe they're to be once flowering, so I don't think they're as popular as, say, the climbing roses and a lot of the big varieties rambling rector, wedding day, bobby, james, portie, millen, musk they are once flying varieties and they will monster, become a monster and go right through and cover, cover a variety of things.
Speaker 2:But some of the smaller ones that are, um, useful for, kind of again, walls, fences or arches, things like the Lady of the Lake, which is a beautiful kind of 12 foot rambler bred by David Austin, the Albrighton Rambler, which is one of my personal favourites because of the beautiful sprays of old rose blooms, and Malvern Hills, again, which are beautiful yellow um rambler. And the other benefit of these ones as well, um, is they do repeat flower very reliably. So that this, this myth that ramblers only repeat only a once flowering is uh. It's not truly the ones um bred by david austin. There are some more, more modern ones coming through now as well. They repeat flower very reliably right from the start of uh early summer through uh into the autumn, into the winter and up to the first frosts. Well, and more manageable as well, so very easy to kind of keep in check on these yeah some good, good varieties there.
Speaker 1:Um, when it comes to the disease resistance, obviously a big thing then is is building in this disease resistant in the modern breeding? So, in terms of care at home, what? What do you guys need to spray anymore? Or has it gone to a point where you're pretty much disease resistant on all your varieties, or what's the?
Speaker 2:as I said, disease resistance is very important. Uh, we are a no-spray nursery so we do everything in the nursery with environmental factors in mind. Roses, again there's this myth that roses are kind of hard to look after and get disease at the earliest possible point. But that isn't true. Roses will get, or can get, disease. But the um, especially the more modern uh english roses are incredibly resistant uh to disease and that's part of the process of having that long period of time to build up a record is that we only want to induce the the most high resistant roses possible.
Speaker 2:Um, the most kid, the most um well known of them is probably black spot. Black spot is a is a is a is a an issue for all roses. Um, but uh, and it's, it's off. It's often caused by the leaves staying very wet and we found, with the climate it's been the past two or three years that, uh, with the leaves staying wet, is that black spot is often something that happens earlier in the year now, really, or seems to appear earlier in the year. Um, a number of years ago we were kind of advising customers to kind of look around kind of late may in the uk, so kind of early to early to mid-may in the uk for black spots on the leaves, but now, because of the climate, you're probably best looking really kind of late march to kind of get on top of the black spot. As it is um roses are, like I said, very resilient um and the best kind of course of action really is to kind of keep on top of it and take off any affected leaves when they're, when they first appear um to try and prevent it going forward. But also as well kind of making sure they're kept well watered um feeding them as well, help keep them healthy. And also as well um looking after, looking after them in the winter, try and prevent it going forward. So when we come to advice to prune roses in the winter, we always want to take the old foliage off from that year, making sure it's completely clear on the base of the rose, free from any any disease leaves, and putting those in the green waste bin. It's important that people don't put it back into the compost because obviously the spores can reinfect the leaves. So put the leaves into the green waste bin. Um. And then one thing I was advised is to supply a layer of mulch um just after the first feed, because what that does? It helps a number of factors, um, obviously helps add nutrients, helps to keep, retain moisture, but also as well it does help to smother any remaining spores that may be in the soil. So again, further helps to kind of prevent disease coming coming forward.
Speaker 2:Um, but the english ray, I mean I was the most important thing really, which I've kind of found is the most important thing to start off with is to have a have a healthy variety in the start. What people often find is a lot of the the older varieties, um, of things like hybrid teas and some of the older floribundas which people love and have had in their garden for many, many years. We do hear people say it's getting disease and no matter how much if I spray it or look after it, um, it gets disease. But the thing is is if it's a variety that's always susceptible to disease, it's always going to get disease. Really, no matter how much you do or how much you care for it, it's always going to be more prone.
Speaker 2:And this goes back to what I was saying at the start, in that back then a lot of these older varieties were diseases and was an important factor. Yeah, so, but and obviously you could spray a hell of a lot more back in those days and keep on top of it. But these days, being more, very much more environmentally minded, um, they compared to say, on more modern english roses, they just wouldn't stand up um to disease wise because, like I say, time has moved on. Time it's moved on. Um, it's definitely changed. The spores black spot itself has kind of the spores have kind of mutated and got more resistant to things like spray, so they found a way of almost kind of keeping going and the old roses just don't stand up to it yeah, for sure, and keeping, keeping roses healthy and well, keeping any plant.
Speaker 1:So if you have any plant that is any way susceptible to any type of disease, keeping them healthy, keeping them vigorous, strengthening the plant is a really good starting point and sometimes people forget about that.
Speaker 1:They yeah they, you know, a little bit like humans. They head to the chemist when there's something wrong, instead of taking that step back first and making sure the base is healthy, that you know the the plant has strong health generally, and then that tends to help a lot in terms of disease control. And seaweed seaweed is something that I would always recommend. It's a. I don't know if you guys use it, but it's something that's phenomenal for plant health generally we do.
Speaker 2:The seaweed is is one of those things that, again, not all people know, but it's a wonderful thing, and we have a product called maxi crop um which we which we stock through us um, and it's a seaweed fertilizer and it it's fantastic. You can use it every kind of two weeks and it really helps to kind of give a boost to the root system. Um, it's what people often think of as well regarding kind of disease. Keep plants healthy um. Young plants obviously um are probably going to be a bit more susceptible than established plants. If you think you get a plant, they arise. It's got a relatively small root system um, and that's got to in the early, especially in the first year. It's got to make sure to keep the plant hydrated, produce a lot of new foliage, produce new flowers, try to fight off disease, and it's a lot for a new rose after it's been planted. So I always tell people not to worry with newly planted roses in the first year or two. The roses can only have any time to establish yourself and build a good root system um and that will in turn help the rose, once it's mature, to really be resistant and fight off any disease. Um, seaweed is a fantastic way of doing that. So we've really just helped to boost the um, boost the root system, give it a really good start uh. We also advise the mycorrhizal fungi as well when you plant the rose. That helps to build up the root system from an early stage and give it a really good start as well.
Speaker 2:Feeding your rose is very important. A lot of people kind of forget to or don't do it, but it really does help to kind of give the rose everything it needs throughout the year, and what people do as well is they apply liquid feed uh as well throughout the year to really kind of top it up um, especially during the times of the year when it's very busy doing producing flower, producing a lot more foliage, uh, the most, one of the most important things that to do, though, and is simply keep it well watered. Um. Roses again, like you say, like humans, um, if they, they are living things um, and so, with a lack of water, it's going to be rows are going to suffer, and one of the first things they'll do is they'll drop their leaves um, or drop their buds. A lot of people do kind of ask um have my buds have dropped and uh leaves going yellow. It's probably a fact.
Speaker 2:There's underwater, um, underwatering of the rose. It's difficult because obviously the client we're having we're finding, especially in the uk, that um, the summers are incredibly, although we have a very wet start to the uh, to the spring, which is very good to get the roots on the roses down, we often find the first flush is fantastic because the roots have a lot of water going to the ground, really helped to kind of give the rose a boost. The summers are very, very warm and often you can go for long periods without water and it's very important in these times to keep the rose hydrated because it's got so much to do. It's often so tiring with all this work it's got to do. If it dries out, it's going to try and reduce moisture loss as best it can and that will end up really with a reduction um, the leaves dropping and the buds dropping. So, although feeding is very important and like, say, seaweed is a fantastic uh use on your rows as well, um, one of the key beneficiaries is to keep it very well hydrated and and also as well watering directly the roots.
Speaker 2:A lot of people do water on top or water spring, spring down across the leaves. Um, and people often say as well, I haven't, I haven't, uh, water as much because it's been a lot of rain. But people often forget that that canopy the leaf, especially in full summer when the rose has got all its leaves out, is that canopy, stopping a lot of the water getting directly to the roots? Yes, so it's very important to make sure to keep an eye on the water, even after it's rained, to make sure the soil at the base of the rose is damp, but also as well not to water overhead onto the leaves, because the leaves will stay wet, especially if watering in the evening, the leaves will stay wet and that will bring on black spot and further disease. Um, but when they are watering, to aim it direct the base of the rose, because that will go directly into the soil.
Speaker 2:Um and um, keep the plant hydrated. And the one thing as well I will say is is that, just especially for pots, um, people often forget about again pots and go on holiday for a week or two in the summer, forget to keep their pots watered, and I often say the soil in the pot, that is the whole, that's everything the rose has in there in the ground. Once they're mature, it can go. The roots can go down and find moisture In the pot. It can't, yeah, so roses in pots need that extra bit of care, uh, and especially in the sun's, kept really well watered to make sure they don't dry out um, because it can't go and find other water. What you give it is what it's going to have, basically, um, so it's in and just there's key kind of cornerstones, of kind of keeping it well watered. Feeding um just gives means the rose will perform a lot, lot better really, um for you yeah, for sure it's funny.
Speaker 1:What watering is is a strange one, because here in ireland and I'm sure you guys have been no different, I think in the last 12 months we've had like six of the 12 months were the wettest on record, and yet still. And this spring was no different. It was wet and cold and yet still. When we come into summer, everywhere got very dry very quick and has stayed that way, even though we've had some rain. And it is confusing people or it is tricking people into thinking that it's after being so wet that there's no way we need to water roses or any other plants for that matter. But actually the top of the ground is really dry. In a lot of places it's. It's a strange kind of a, and it seems to be the case for the last couple of years.
Speaker 2:It's really strange and the one thing I say it's I always, I always advise to go to make sure people check, even after rain, to make sure the ground has enough moisture in it. Um, but one thing I will say is this that with watering is that deep soakings is the best way to go for roses. Some people are often kind of quite shocked by when you say a full watering can will be, you know, five litres for a shrub rose, 10 litres for a clime or rambler. But that is really what's needed, because if you favour deep soakings, the roots then are encouraged to go down into the soil and really search for the moisture. A lot of kind of frequent little watering or sprinklings of water will mean that the roots will kind of stay near the top and you'll often find that in periods of drought or periods where there's very little water, the root system hasn't established anywhere near enough to go and find water.
Speaker 2:So, even as a young plant, we favour deep soakings to really get that root system deep down, buried down into the ground and even, like I say, even more so in a pot, because it's going to need to use all that soil in that, in that pot or container to keep that rose going and for 10 liters for a climber or rambler is completely normal, um, because again it's, it's. You've got a small root system and even when the rose established you've got a relatively small root system. For a climber rambler it's going to be 20, 30, 40 foot of top growth and it's got to keep all that hydrated, all the, all the the stems hydrated, but then produce, have enough um moisture to produce flowers and in some cases go on to produce hips as well. So watering I think often people are underwater or too scared of watering um, but it's, it's. One of the most key factors in rose growing is to make sure that rose doesn't dry out.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure um, I gotta start asking a couple of questions which I know, I know you get probably regularly and it's going to be very difficult to answer. So, within, within, like you have 300 odd roses now within the bare roots and I think you said, uh, 150 or 200 in in potted roses there must be some star performers, or let's call them best sellers, uh, for want of a better word.
Speaker 2:So, within each each of the categories, maybe name some of those, describe some of those, those really really special ones that you know sort of it is a difficult question, um, and it's a question if everyone goes, what's your favourite rose? And, being in the role I have, it's incredibly difficult. I know Mr Austin was often that and he never liked that question because it was like asking you know which of his children was the?
Speaker 1:favourite? Yeah, which of their children.
Speaker 2:So, but I mean there are roses that are incredibly popular. I mean I'm very lucky in my role to kind of see the variety of English roses and I've seen a lot of the newer ones come in and the new varieties coming in the past five or six years have been at the absolute top forefront of of the breeding. Um, they encompass everything you could possibly want in an English rose. Um, I mean one of my, one of the ones that always stands out that people's proper is Desdemona. Um, so Desdemona is a beautiful English shrub rose with kind of chalice-cupped white blooms, the slight pinkish hues. It's very, very delicate, almost like china. It makes a very wonderful kind of rounded, bushy shrub, about three and a half foot tall and wide. It's incredibly healthy. It's very, very free-flowering and it's got a wonderful strong old rose fragrance. Um, and you I say because of the habits you've got, it works well in every possible part of the garden the pop matina and a mixed border in a rose border. Um, it's, it's a wonderful variety and it's one that I always do tend to recommend. Uh, to go for um other ones which I mentioned, I mean, um, livieros austin is an incredible variety. Um, it was named after's austin, is an incredible variety. Um, it was named after mr austin's granddaughter, so it had to be um the best of the best, really. Um, it is a beautiful kind of large, uh cupped rosette of mid pink um gets around the same size as desmona, three and a half by three and a half foot tall and wide. It is incredibly free flowering um it is. It just keeps on going um and it starts quite early, looking probably um kind of early. Well, this year in the gardens it was late may, but you're looking probably early, early to mid-june, and it'll just keep going through in flushes um right through the summer and autumn and up to the first frosts.
Speaker 2:Um a wonderful variety and one of the healthiest roses we've bred. Um. One of my personal favorites, um, I have to say, is emily bronte. Um, I think it's a beautiful variety and it's quite you quite unusual. It's um, I call it antique coloring. It's a lovely soft apricot pink, but it's almost like, uh, it's come out of a victorian, straight out of a victorian garden. It's beautiful and it actually fades to to cream as the flowers age. Um, it's it's what? Again, one of the healthiest, healthiest roses we've bred. It's um wonderfully free flowering um, and it's got a wonderful strong tea and old rose fragrance um, wonderful rosette blooms of pure old, pure old rose rosette blooms. Um gets about four foot tall and wide, um, and we are actually trying it in the gardens here as a short climber on a pillar and we are we are having success with that. So, um, it could make a really wonderful, uh, short climber as well. Um, I have to mention some of the more modern ones, because I think they are like I say, they are absolutely fantastic in the forefront of the breeding.
Speaker 2:So, uh, one of the ones that I would always recommend is one called elizabeth uh, which was introduced back in 2022, um, and it was named after the, the late queen elizabeth ii. Um, and it's again we in the gardens here we've been looking at this week and it's absolutely wonderful. It makes a wonderfully bushy, large shrub You're looking four and a half foot tall and wide, but it does it very, very quickly. It's incredibly free flowering. There's flowers, but there's buds behind those and there's buds behind those. It makes a wonderfully bushy shrub, large bushy shrub, so you can use it almost like a single plant, make a wonderful specimen plant. It's got a wonderful, strong, sweet old rose fragrance, um, and, like I say, one of the healthiest roses we've ever introduced. Uh, elizabeth, um, so it's wonderful.
Speaker 2:And then, um, I have one of my absolute favorites, um is um, this year at Chelsea Flower Show, and it was, I think a lot of people thought it was just another pink rose, but really when you see it up close it is the most wonderful, and I use the word kaleidoscope of colour and it is. It starts off with a cherry, tomato red bud, it goes opens to kind of a coral apricot pink with hints of yellow in there as well, and that's kind of intensifies. But as the flower ages it goes to this wonderful kind of mauve lilac, mauve pink colour and that's on. The whole plant is to get these different colour changes. Absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2:And it fits the name really well because there's a wonderful Emerald Bridgewater mug we released at the same time and you could tell the actual rose on the mug fitted that bloom absolutely perfectly. It's also got wonderful kind of matte old rose foliage as well which sets off the colours of those absolutely just perfectly. It gets about four foot tall, four foot wide. It repeat flowers very well and it's got this wonderful kind of tea and fruity fragrance which, again, some people find quite light, but we found it's actually kind of quite, can be kind of medium or even quite strong, so it's a wonderful new addition to the collection. The collection um I've I should also mention as well, because they're again, they're part of my favorites as well um, I could go on for hours on my on my other roads.
Speaker 2:I love but um two of my, two of my favorites, which is slightly different in the flower form, um, one which is called tottering by gently, which I think the name is very popular because of the name alone. Yeah, and it's a beautiful single yellow, five-petal bloom. It gets about four foot tall, four foot wide. It's upright in its growth. It's incredibly healthy. Again, I keep going about the health, but these roses we're introducing now, health-wise is absolutely astounding and it's wonderfully healthy. It repeats flowers very well indeed as well, incredibly free-flowering. I was lucky enough in my old role in the breeding department to see this rose, 200 plants of this covered in bloom. It was like thousands of butterflies had landed on this plant. It was absolutely incredible. It's incredibly free-flowering, incredibly healthy, almost continuous, I would say, in its flowering. Incredibly healthy, almost continuous, I would say, in its flowering. And also, as well, it's one of the roses that, if you don't deadhead um, it does produce a wonderful crop of hips in the autumn, um which is wonderful for autumnal interest. Um, so people saying, obviously, roses only short period of the year or not, you have got that wonderful winter interest as well. So, from from almost um kind of early early june through to um, through to the kind of christmas, and in january, february, before when you're pruning, you've got that beautiful color in the when, the, when the dark days are kind of cold and dark, it's lovely to see those orange little jewels on the plant. Another one as well is cube gardens, which, um, I know is quite, very well known. Something a little different again, it's a single bloom but they're held in very large heads a bit like a hydrangea. Um, it's very, very free flowering, again, almost continuous. Um, it's incredibly healthy. Um, both the, the Toshimba gently, and the um the Q Gardens actually have quite kind of light to medium fragrances, um, and again it's it's, but they work so well with other garden plants, uh, and other roses as well, that you're going to get fragrance in your border, in your in your in from from nearby as well. So the like, the kind of light fragrance, is nothing I wouldn't worry about. Um, but Kew Gardens uh, looks absolutely wonderful, makes a wonderful hedge and also as well, it's almost thornless as well. So if you're looking for a variety that's not too many thorns, because, again, roses, people seem to like them without their thorns, they're a bit easier to kind of handle. Kew Gardens is absolutely wonderful, it's fantastic, and, like I say, something a little different with the flower form.
Speaker 2:But Mr Austin was also keen in his English roses to have variation. He didn't want to go into a rose garden and see hundreds of the same flower form, which is why we have single semi doubles. We have cupped blooms. We have rosettes, we have recurved rosettes. We have quartered blooms cupped blooms, we have rosettes. We have recurved rosettes. We have quartered blooms, cupped rosettes. We'd like to have variation in english roses. Um, and I think that combination working in this in a garden situation is absolutely wonderful gives them all, I say, that natural cottage garden feel, which is what you would have back in the victorian period. You'd have different flower forms with the old roses as well. So it it's uh, it's again a key part of the.
Speaker 1:The rose is having that variation yeah, very good, as we, as we start to round off here, just curious on your, your day-to-day job now. So rose consultant, and you've previously worked in the in the breeding department, which obviously would be very exciting. So day-to-day now, rose consultant, what does that involve?
Speaker 2:so, yes, so I'm very lucky in the sense I've kind of I've worked in a lot of departments in David Austin, rose in my time. People ask where I kind of did I have a cultural kind of education. I came basically from school and I came into the nursery and I started the customer service. But I spoke to Mr Austin early on and he invited, I kind of asked if I could do a bit of weekend work in the breeding department, and I was very lucky that he asked me to go over there and kind of almost kind of follow him and learn from what he's doing. So my education I had the best education you could possibly get. Horticulture I learned from the man himself. But my knowledge in the breeding department has really helped. Uh, before I found roses a fascinating subject and now I'm. I went back into customer service for a while, um, just uh, after covid um, but I'm now I'm in the wonderful job role of rose consultant. So, um, there's myself. There's my colleague, uh, liam um, who's um and who's been in the company starting the export department and now in this department. And there's my colleague, richard, who's uh, he's been in the company over 30 years, um, and he's designed uh gardens. Uh, he's designed a couple of gardens at the nursery, but also he's worked, mr austin, and he's also designed gardens right throughout the uk and across the world. So I'm I'm very, very lucky in my role um to work with two, two people, two mentors um in this role, liam and richard, who you know, who are fantastic and incredibly knowledgeable in their job and our.
Speaker 2:Our role, uh, we deal with the basically is to deal with the garden designers and the trade um. So garden designers, landscapers um, but also councils and uh amenity services with uh public facing gardens. So, um, we, we go and we go visit uh and advise um. Last year um liam richard, uh, between liam richard and I, we visited 146 gardens um, and that goes from up in scotland we went down to cornwall um went to wales, went east, northeast, southwest uh, even going into the channel islands as well uh, and so we get, we go and visit the gardens uh, we go and advise on on the rose plantings there um, we go and, you know, make sure the rose looking absolutely fantastic um, but also, as well it's we're there as well um for um kind of just to make sure about discontinued varieties.
Speaker 2:As you may or may not know that some of the varieties are discontinued. We had, uh, discontinued and it's not something that we we like doing. It's never, we never take that decision lightly. Uh, some of these varieties, some of them were varieties that were very, very, very well known um, things like munstead wood, yeah, darcy bustle dude, the obscure lady emma hamilton, um, and a lot of people ask why we did that, and really it's because we put a million years I'm sorry, a million pounds now into the breeding program, a year, um, and so our goal is to skip to, to sell or, sorry, to make sure the roses we're we're offering are the best rows you can possibly buy.
Speaker 2:Um, and so we feel that if you put one of the older varieties have been discontinued, it's more modern ones, it'll be like chalk and cheese. The newer variety would outclass it really. Obviously, the form and the flower is beautiful and the frames is wonderful, but you'd find that the older variety, disease pressure-wise, just wouldn't stand up to our high standards today, with the climate changing, you'd find, although 30 years ago, when they were introduced, they may have done well, nowadays you'd probably find they'd probably be full of disease by mid-summer. So it's never a decision we like to take lightly, and what we do is we go and advise in these public-facing gardens, any spaces that do have these discontinued varieties, and we advise on varieties that are going to perform better just because there are roses, but also perform better for them. These public facing gardens are places where often get thousands upon thousands, sometimes even a couple of million visitors a year, yeah, and so we want to make sure that the roses they're, they're showcasing um are the are the best and they're always going to look good.
Speaker 2:So it's it's an absolutely wonderful role, um, and to get this and, like I say, I'm very, very lucky indeed. I often say I have the best job in the world um to go and visit rose gardens and talk and be um passionate about something I'm passionate about, but also work with my two colleagues who are incredibly knowledgeable um, we also as well um do uh design uh gardens as well as part of our role. So if customers do do um uh do have one, like, say, a rose or rose border or a password, uh, they're gone once for roses, we do offer that um as well, we can kind of advise and kind of cover design for as well. So it's a wonderful role to have to be able to talk and advise on a subject that all three of us are incredibly passionate about, but also, as well, to go and see them in the actual world. It's not just behind a desk, we're also going and seeing these in situ as well, in some beautiful locations. So, yes, it's's a truly, truly wonderful role.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sounds it and your passion and knowledge definitely shine. True. So and funny. You mentioned earlier in an interview about spending x amount of time. I think it was in the breeding department and I was looking and thinking I didn't want to ask, but you look very young for that, so and and then you said you came in, uh, straight from school, so that that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Now that's very kind to say yeah so I'm, I'm, I'm 35 now, so I've been at the company now nearly 17 years.
Speaker 2:So I came straight from school, um and um it was.
Speaker 2:I've always had a kind of a passion for, for gardening from my, from my, my dad and my granddad, who often grew fruit and vegetables and um, so that passion's always been there, gardening and and I was like I was just I was very lucky to to be able to see mr austin kind of ask him to go in in, uh, work there and uh, when he offered me I was, I was kind of a bit taken aback, but my, my colleague rishira worked with. I asked him and he said that mr austin doesn't ask that question that many times, so if he actually you've got to go. So I was very lucky to have that time in the breeding department. Like I say, it's been an education that you money can't buy um and it's it's working with him and being able to um, speak with him and be able to kind of learn from him is something I will always, always remember. It was incredible. I learned so much just from hands on experience and I say it's something that you couldn't get anywhere else.
Speaker 1:So it's absolutely wonderful and I was very, very lucky yeah for sure, as I said at the start, david, david Austin Roses are, you know, synonymous with quality and and you know they're they're they're top class and what has what has come true during the interview is something that I guess listeners would have asked previously.
Speaker 1:David Austin Roses command a higher price than typical roses in your garden center and I've often been asked what's the reason for that? And, and understanding horticulture, I can understand why that would be the case. But to be honest with you, anyone listening today, when you see and listen to you guys, the passion, the, the development, the striving for excellence, even when you mentioned the discontinuing of certain favorites because they've been superseded by something a little bit better, I think that just shows exactly and explains to people exactly why you are. You're commanding a slightly higher price, but totally justifiable, um but. But I do think you know it's important that people understand that because it it there is a reason for it and there's a very good reason for it, and you know the the price differential over over a lifetime of a rose is minuscule.
Speaker 2:So you know he doesn't say that, like I say, I think that we're, at the end of the day, we are, we do want our roses. Are we want? We want to have the best rose you could possibly get, and so, with the amount of work that goes into it, it may be slightly more than, say, a rose from garden center but behind that is, I think you've got the, the knowledge that it's going to be one of the best rows you can possibly get.
Speaker 2:And also, as well, we do have a five-year guarantee on our rows as well, which no other nursery does. We're that confident that our rows are going to stand up to everything that we have that five-year guarantee in place. But it all comes back really to kind of. What I was saying is that, at the end of the day, although we are wanting to have, we are striving to to give our customers the best possibility possibly be, with resistance and and and and flowering and fragrance at the cornerstone we are, the most important thing for us is to keep that vision that mistrusting first had in an english rose, as part of our core principle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, he was, he wanted a rose that was fragrant, healthy, repeat flowers, but had the old rose charm, and so that is the most important thing for us is to make sure that his, his legacy, lives on in the roses are introducing now, but also go moving forward that that vision is always there in the roses. Um, and I think it's important because, like I say, you can, you can get, sometimes maybe get, forget that and oh, it's like I say, it's easy to breed diseases and he's breed um a fragrant, he's, he's to breed um a row, you know, just a, a rose without the charm, but our roses, and have to have everything um in that um. So you, every rose we send out, behind it is is 12, 13 years of of trials and making sure it's the best rose possibly be for the customer.
Speaker 1:Um, with with mr austin's vision obviously there as well, that that kind of goal of an english rose, uh, at the core and that vision definitely sound, sounds alive and well and will be alive and well going into the future, by the sounds of yourself, joseph, and what you're saying about the rest of the team and the work that goes on behind the scenes. So so, yeah, they are a special rose. They are, you know, they really are the best that's available. And yeah, it's been a fascinating chat. As we said at the start, we were going to go conversational. It went down some avenues that I didn't expect. But, david Aston, rose, they're not hard to find, but maybe tell people about your website. I know there's a garden centre finder or a nursery finder on there as well, so if you want to direct people there and that can be their starting point when looking for them, yes, certainly, so the roses can be, because we have our David Austin website, so wwwdavidoffstanrosescouk uh, if you go on there, it's got our um, our god, obviously, the english rose.
Speaker 2:That rose will, uh, sell where it's bare root or potted um. But we also have information there about, about the nursery, about us, about our, our principles. So, uh, it's got a history there of mr aust Senior and how he started and how the roses came about as well. We do have, we do send out roses in Europe as well. So if you're in Ireland or Europe, you can order roses through that website as well. There is a little kind of box there with country and if you click on that it brings up, uh, some options. One of them is europe, so you can order roses uh through us as well, um, by there. And also we do have a us office based in tyler, texas, um, and so we do have a uh, if you go on wwwdavid austin rosescom uh, that's our us website as well, um, so you can place orders through there as well.
Speaker 2:Find all information not just about roses but also about rose care, so all guides on planting, guides on how to look after your roses, inspiration, how to use it with companion planting, different ways roses can be used, but also, as well, information about David Austin Roses, a company, as well. So there's everything you could possibly need on the basis of growing roses, but also as well on all aspects of how to look after them, how to you know which, even how to you can narrow it down by different factors. So if you're looking for a certain rose for a certain location, you can. There's a rose finder on there you can whittle down your choices to. It's a very extensive choice, difficult choice often, so the rose finder is very useful for kind of narrowing down your search.
Speaker 2:If you have a specific location, whether it be a pot, or I need a rose for growing up a six foot fence, but I want it to be this certain color the rose finder on there is fantastic for kind of helping to narrow down choices and also, as well, narrow down choices, um, and also, as well, we do have a wonderful customer service team, uh, so anybody needs any kind of advice, uh, as well, as we also have a team in the us as well. So we've got a team for anybody who, uh, any advice you may need to want to speak to somebody. We're here at the end of the phone, um. We're more happy to help with any questions, any, any, uh, any queries you may have about the roses, whether it be rose choice or even advice on how to look after the rose. We have a wonderful customer service team, both here in the uk and the us um, which will be more than happy to uh more happy to help for sure, joseph.
Speaker 1:It's been a really, really interesting chat. Uh, loads of information there. Lovely to hear the story and, I suppose, the ethos behind the company and and get a understanding of of why why did they. You know why the roses are so good and the work that goes in behind the scenes and development and so on. So it's been really interesting chat and thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:It's been absolutely wonderful. Thank you for inviting me for a chat.
Speaker 1:So that's been this week's episode. A huge thanks to Joss for coming on. Really interesting chat and, as I if you know, if you wanted to understand the what goes on behind the scenes in plant breeding, I think that was a really good explanation on it and they're very, very, very special rose. There's a reason why over the last couple of years when we do our christmas gifts for gardeners, it appears on it every year and you know, anyone that comes on as a guest during that episode recommends it as a as a as a gift for gardeners, and sometimes gardeners don't like getting plants, but I don't think it's ever been a case that a gardener wouldn't want to get a david aston rose. So, yeah, there's a reason for that and it's great to hear that coming true. You know, while listening to joseph, and that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening and, and until the next time, happy gardening, thank you.