Manawatū Rose Society to hold free show in Palmerston North

Put the petal to the metal this Saturday for Manawatū Rose Society's annual show. Photo / 123RF

Hayden Foulds’ first memory of roses is not a positive one but that thorny experience has not held him back.

Foulds is the president of the Manawatū Rose Society and the New Zealand Rose Society.

Foulds got into growing roses while at school in Ashhurst although his first memory of roses is being dragged along to a rose show by an uncle and aunt several years earlier.

He remembers the quality and colour of the blooms on show. Even though the shows are smaller today, the quality and colour of the blooms remains as good as ever, he says.

The Manawatū Rose Society’s annual show is on Saturday at Caccia Birch House, from noon till 4pm.

Foulds encourages rose growers to bring their blooms along before 10am on Saturday. There will be people to help stage the flowers, just make sure you cut the stem as long as you can and leave as much foliage on as you can.

Despite being perceived as hard to grow, roses are easy to grow, Foulds says. To get the best out of your roses, they need feeding and deheading (removal of spent blooms) during the growing season and a good prune and clean-up in winter.

Entry to the show is free.