As the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show - the largest flower show in the world - approaches I'm beginning my series of posts about the new plants introduced at the Show. I'll be posting here every day until Sunday 12 July, when the show closes, bringing you news and pictures of all the new plants on display.
One of the highlights of the Show is the Tudor Rose Festival and, along with the announcement of the Rose of the Year for 2010, quite a range of new varieties will be launched. So to start us off, here's a taste.
The rich red ‘Josephine', new from C & K Jones, looks gorgeous. It's neat in habit, growing just 90cm-1.2m/30-36in tall and no more than 60cm/24in wide, so is ideal in small garden or even a container.
But it's the flowers which make this rose special. Unusually large in size, and almost blood red in colour, set against the bright green foliage they look especially striking. But it's not just their colour which is appealing. From the opening of the first blooms in June. ‘Josephine' will continue to bloom through the summer and into the autumn until November, unless halted by the first hard frost of the winter. Dead heading significantly enhances the display.
The rose is named for the bestselling author Josephine Cox, whose latest of thirty six novels, Born Bad, was published in February. A donation from the sale of each rose will be made to Barnardo's, the long established charity which works to support vulnerable children.
You can buy plants of ‘Josephine' at the show or order it from C & K Jones after the show.
* And by the way.... C & K Jones have a great domain name for their website. It's obvious really, but still excellent: jonestherose.co.uk