Rose expert gets prestigious honour

SMELLING SWEET: Glyn Saunders has received an award for his services to the rose. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A Masterton rose expert has been honoured with a surprise award for his years of dedication to the bloom.

Glyn Saunders, 83, was ill at home in Masterton when the T.A. Stewart memorial prize from the National Rose Societies of Australia and New Zealand was awarded to him in Sydney.

Mr Saunders said the award was kept secret until several weeks later when he was called to accept it at a rose society meeting in Palmerston North.

It was an honour not often awarded to New Zealand rose enthusiasts, Mr Saunders said.

"I was amazed and pleased and so humbled - really if you look at the last few people who have been awarded it before, it only comes this way every four or five years. I was astonished and pleased.

"It was like winning an Emmy award."

Mr Saunders received the accolade in recognition for his work judging rose competitions, as well as for the articles he has written on the subject.

Previously the president of the New Zealand Rose Society and now president emeritus, Mr Saunders emigrated from England in 1964.

For him, no other flower can compete with the rose.

"They've always been an essential part of English walled gardens, not only for their colour but for their romance. Modern-day gardens don't have romance."

He was film-maker Peter Jackson's gardener at Matahiwi for six years, and he still spends as many as 40 hours a week volunteering at Hospice Wairarapa, caring for the garden and helping out.

His passion for gardening has helped to keep him going, Mr Saunders said.

"It keeps me with it and fit and active ... why go to the gym and spend megabucks when you can push a wheelbarrow around?"