Visitors at last weekends Te Awamutu's 58th Rose Show. Photo / Kate Durie
Visitors at last weekends Te Awamutu's 58th Rose Show. Photo / Kate Durie
Te Awamutu Rose Society presented its 58th Annual Rose Show, held at Te Awamutu Baptist Church.
The show ran from 1pm to 6pm Friday and from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday, November 26 and was judged strictly by the official New Zealand Rose Society rules for judging.
After the rosesociety closed down in 2014 and after living away and moving back to Te Awamutu, Diana Jones thought to herself “well we are meant to be the rose town of New Zealand, so we have got to have a rose society here.”
That is when Diana started it up again.
This is their first show for the new society and members of the community were requested to bring the best rose from their garden along in order to win a prize, as well as have the opportunity to vote for their favourite rose from the best community rose, best children’s rose and best perfumed rose.
The Te Awamutu Rose Society president, Diana says, “The team were all pleased with how the event went, despite all the bad weather. The entries were certainly down as the weather has absolutely destroyed a lot of roses, but the show was lovely.”
She says there was quite a bit of work behind the scenes but says “it was certainly worthwhile, that’s for sure”.
Community involvement will remain within the Te Awamutu Rose Show as it is what the shows are all about, and “planting roses in the hearts and gardens of the people”.
The Public Competition with roses from their garden. Photo / Kate Durie
“It would have been nicer to have more children enter into the competition, however, there was a number of the public that put a rose into the community competition,” adds Diana.
Diana says there needs to be a lot more shown within the town that we are the rose town.
“We are doing our part, the best that we can. The council needs to get on board to place stuff around the town to promote it as the rose town.”
The Te Awamutu rose shows are normally held on the first weekend of November, and Diana says it will return to that schedule next year.
In March 2023, there will be a Rose Ranfurly Day held down by the information centre at the Burchil Pavilion. The Rose Ranfurly Day is a competition held between six different rose societies that will be competing for a shield donated by legendary New Zealand rose breeder Dr Sam McGredy. In the afternoon the public is welcome to view the roses once the competition is over.
The Competition: Count The Rose Bushes In The Council Rose Gardens is still under way. People can choose any garden or all of them. More entries give you more of a chance of winning.
Entries close on Sunday, December 4, at 9pm. All entries go into a draw for a night for two, dinner, bed and breakfast at Amberfields Bed and Breakfast, valued at $500, subject to availability. This prize is valid until May 2023.
