Trevor White, Old Fashioned Roses

Lollabelle tending some beautiful old roses on location in France a few days before joining Trevor for the budding season.

She doesn’t have such a happy face, it’s back breaking work which takes all of June, July and sometimes into August. Budding is a skill which takes many years to master. Trevor thinks Lolabelle is the best budder in the world.

Trevor fences the field every year but still hungry intruders  manage to jump over.
Here is a little deer caught feasting on the roses. The rabbits and hares favourite variety is the Iceburg rose. It must have a similar taste to the lettuce!

The Planting Gang

Ness with Lauren,Hen,Son in law Rob and Carl.We enjoyed the time with a few memorable sing songs. It take a few days with some cold starts and lovely sunny weather to keep us warm.The trays are filled with the rose stocks and as the tractor moves slowly on we feed the turning wheel one rose at a time.Each of these rows in the field takes about 2000 plants.Trevor always drives the tractor as there is quite a skill in getting nice straight line.Take a look at the blog this summer and see how they grow.Look out for the odd Hare or Deer amongst the roses.

The launching of  our new variety ‘Our Rose’
To commemorate our daughter  Esme’s engagement and forthcoming wedding in 2010 we are proud to introduce a wonderful new variety which we have named ‘Our Rose‘. It is being offered at the special introductory price of £5. It can only be ordered in conjunction with another rose purchase from our website before the end of March 2010.For full description see Modern Shrub Roses. Photo December 2009.

Boule de Neige (Snow Ball ) .

Please note as from 16/12/09 all orders received will not be despatched until the New Year. All our stockists should have  their roses by now so please contact one if you require a plant before Christmas.

We would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Recipe for Rose Hip Syrup

2lbs(1Kg) Rose Hips

6pints (3 litres ) Water

1lb (500g ) Sugar

Wash hips and remove stalks and calyces, mince in a blender. Add to 4 pints of boiling water. Bring back to the boil and remove from heat.

Leave for 15 mins then strain through a jelly bag extracting as much juice as possible.

Return the pulp to the pan with a further 2pints of boiling water. Bring back to the boil, remove and leave for 10 mins. Strain.

Mix the two strainings  and boil  until reduced to 2 pints.

Add the sugar, stirring until disolved, bring back to the boil  and keep boiling for 5 mins. Pour into small clean warm bottles (sterilized in oven at 180C for 10 mins). Seal .

Keep in fridge . Keeps for 6-8 weeks.

Lois White ( BSc Hons) a registered nutritionist says ‘Rose hips have been found to be extremely high in phenolics and ascorbic acid ( vit C ) which work as anti-oxidants in our bodies. They are able to scavenge free radicals which cause many diseases including some cancers.’