By Kay Bazzard

Long ago in remote corners of New Zealand the missionaries and early settlers
created gardens, primarily to feed themselves but also to beautify the
bush-cleared land where they settled with their families.  Among the precious
cargoes they brought with them were rose cuttings, which were carefully
nursed until they could be slipped into the soil of their new land.

As the European society grew, more plants from ‘home’ were shipped into
the country and from there, cuttings were shared between neighbours and
friends to fill the spaces with beautiful flowering plants which reminded
them of home.

It is with these intriguing thoughts in mind that members of the local
Heritage Rose Society are seeking out the remnants or survivors of any old
roses (more than 40 years old), which may still grow in the region or beyond.
The Hawkes Bay rose hunters will make expeditions to wherever they are told
of a rose with an obscure history but which has been growing there
‘forever’.

Georgina and friends are excited that this research could well throw up some
very early rose varieties which have fallen out of fashion and are not
commonly grown today.  And of course, they are also excited about having some
great jaunts into the old gardens, marae, beach communities and graveyards of
Hawke’s Bay.

So where are those old roses now? Have they all been dug up and burned as
progress dictated, lost because of housing development and as fashions in
garden planting changed? Perhaps there may still be old clumps of some simple
old rose in the corner of one of our country homestead gardens, or on a site
with a derelict home on it.

If there is, the Heritage Rose group wants to hear about it.  “Please ask
your readers to contact us on our Facebook page,” says Georgina, “and
tell us the stories of the old roses growing in and around your garden.
We’ll make an expedition to visit you to check it out and hopefully,
we’ll try to identify and propagate from it.”

Georgina believes there was a tradition of growing roses on marae, roadsides
and in old graveyards and is hopeful these may be likely sources for their
research.  “At Waimarama we are aware of roses planted by Maori owners over
50 years ago, so the place of roses in Maori gardening is of particular
interest and significance for our region largely because many coastal
settlements were predominantly Maori,” she says.

Beach communities such as Mahia or Waimarama to Porangahau and Akitio, all
could be possible locations where the group might find examples of
interesting old rose plants.  The group will start with the areas with the
greatest response or that appeal most to their sense of adventure.  These
intrepid rose-hunters will go with their packed lunches, shared transport and
perhaps their sleeping bags for an overnight trip to seek them out wherever
they may be.

They expect to find clusters of the same rose within particular areas where
cuttings have been passed from garden to garden, reflecting patterns of
sharing in the establishment of domestic flower gardens.  Propagation from
cuttings was the traditional method of acquiring plants before retail garden
centres became the norm 30-40 years ago when the boom in the English-garden
style began.

The Hawke’s Bay Heritage Rose Society won a Pratt Family Trust Scholarship
which will help fund some of its members’ travel expenses for this research
project.

Contact the Hawke’s Bay Rose Hunters on Facebook or Georgina Campbell on
phone (06) 8709905 or [email protected] and visits will be
arranged to coincide with the flowering season.  They also welcome new
members to their group.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hawkes-Bay-Rose-Hunters/712629865439939