Biltmore International Rose Trials – 2014 Results

{ PLEASE NOTE THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED SINCE ORIGINAL PUBLISH DATE TO REFLECT TWO ADDITIONAL WINNERS AS WELL AS A NAME CORRECTION. ]

Hooray for a fantastic season end to the Biltmore International Rose Trials held last weekend at Biltmore Estate. It was a gorgeous weekend here in Asheville with brilliant sunshine and bluebird skies. Esteemed rosarians from all over the country arrived to judge the roses and find out which rose(s), if any, from the 2014 group would receive an award.

The rose garden in early spring, 2016

For those of you who aren’t quite familiar with the judging process, here’s a short breakdown: Permanent jurors, myself included, visit the rose garden several times throughout the year to evaluate each group of trial roses. Each rose is simply designated by a number so they remain anonymous. We do this in spring, summer, fall and winter in order to get a broader picture of each rose and look for things like disease resistance, fragrance, overall impression, etc. During the reception and awards weekend, which in the past was in spring but this year was in fall, the rest of the jurors travel into town and judge the roses, too, with an award ceremony to follow.

Trial rose in 2015 group. Photo taken autumn 2015.

Since each trial bed runs for 2 years before the final analysis, and permanent jurors get a chance to peek at them even during the winter months, you can get a pretty solid picture of their overall performance. And on that note, a rose must exceed a minimum overall score in order to qualify for an award. So, it’s possible that not many or even any roses may win something at the end of a trial.

Trial rose in 2013 group. Photo taken in May, 2015.

As a whole, the 2014 roses, which were up for their final review this weekend, did not wow me. There were a couple I really liked for their graceful flower, but they lacked disease resistance. There were a few that had clean foliage but the flower was not very outstanding. And so forth, and so on. However, I think the 2015 roses are going to be in some tight competition so next year should be interesting!

Here are the 2014 winners:

1428	Gilded Age Award for Best Climber	Honeymoon™ Arborose®	KORhemtra	Newflora	Kordes
1428	Lord Burleigh Award for Most Disease Resistant	Honeymoon™ Arborose®	KORhemtra	Newflora	Kordes

1413

Pauline Merrell Award for Best Hybrid Tea

P9511T

LIM10

Ping Lim

Ping Lim

1406	Edith Wharton Award for Best Floribunda	Polar Express™ Sunbelt®	KORblixmu	Newflora	Kordes
1406	George & Edith Vanderbilt Award for Most Outstanding Rose Of The Trials	Polar Express™ Sunbelt®	KORblixmu	Newflora	Kordes
1406	William Cecil Award for Best Growth Habit	Polar Express™ Sunbelt®	KORblixmu	Newflora	Kordes

1423

Chauncey Beadle Award for Best Shrub

The Lark Ascending

Ausursula

David Austin

David Austin

It was definitely a different garden having the awards in September versus last year in May (when the photo of ‘Proud Land’ at the top was taken.) It was wild looking and some of the roses looked a bit tired after the hot, dry weather we’ve been having. I love an overgrown garden, though, and it felt decadent sipping wine at dusk surrounded by billowing perennials, nodding flowers and droning bees.

During Friday night’s reception, we all gathered around the plaque presented by Jolene Adams of the World Federation of Roses for an “Award of Garden Excellence” to Biltmore. This is a huge, huge honor and well-deserved. Hats off to the horticulture team that manages the garden including the lovely Emily Wilson, head rosarian.

Jesse and I couldn’t resist a couple of selfies Friday and Saturday. The calendar says autumn, but the temps were near to 90* both days so we were all pretty much wilting the entire weekend, can you tell? Everyone seemed to be having a great time in spite of the heat, though, which further proves my theory that rose people are happy people.

Being such a newbie, I tried to just take it all in and sponge up as much information as I could. For example, Jim Wilson, former president of the Asheville Blue Ridge Rose Society chatted a few of us up about the ‘La France’ beds. (Jim is very knowledgeable and I could listen to him talk roses all the live-long-day.) At some point in the history of this bed, one of the ‘La France’ roses needed to be replaced and it soon became obvious it was different from the others. Jim believes, and after his convincing argument I agree, that this single ‘La France’ is actually the correct one while the rest are imposters. Take a look at the above photos. The buds and blooms on the left are that of the “real” ‘La France’. See the difference? Additionally, and this is the kicker, the fragrance of the rose on the left will knock your socks off while the others are sort of meh. I promise you, in person, you can really see and smell the difference. Jim has a ‘La France’ in his own garden which he purchased from Heirloom Roses way back when–prior to them being sold–and he believes he also has the real deal. Isn’t this interesting?

Saturday morning was blocked off for one final evaluation of the ’14, ’15 & ’16 rose beds which flank the garden on 3 sides. The total scores for the 2014 group was then tallied and made ready for the afternoon luncheon and awards.

In between events we got a guided tour from Parker Andes, Biltmore’s Director of Horticulture. Parker is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and can instantly recall so many details and facts about the plants growing at Biltmore. It was an honor to get this short tour and hear more about the history of the gardens.

The luncheon and awards ceremony was held in the Lioncrest which is a converted dairy barn with a gorgeous, exposed beam ceiling. Our table had an interesting discussion about what kinds of roses the average home gardener is looking for today and it was so neat to get the opinions of hybridizer Dr. Keith Zary and Bradd Yoder, Director of Sales for Star Roses. It would seem that the average consumer is looking for disease resistant, fragrant roses with, large, full blooms. The color of the rose is not as important as these traits. The overall size and growth habit was up for debate which led to a discussion about how many of the newer cultivars have low, rounded shapes, giving the effect of polka dots in the garden.

Trial rose in 2014 group. Photo taken summer 2015.

I mentioned to the group that in the course of blogging and my interactions on IG, I often hear new gardeners expressing an interest in container grown roses. It’s a question I get asked about as frequently as how I grow roses without using fungicides & insecticides. Personally, I believe color is a key factor for those dipping their toes in rose gardening as I often see huge response to photos of roses in shades of champagne, blush and apricot. I’m sure the image-driven social networking world plays a roll in this. However, I have a feeling that roses in shades of crimson to wine are going to see a surge in popularity in coming seasons as sort of a knee-jerk to these paler tones which are currently so popular. What do you think? What kinds of traits do you think the average home gardener is looking for in a rose?

We were both exhausted by the end of the weekend but in such high spirits after experiencing such a magical event. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the more I learn about roses, the more I realize I don’t know. Being surrounded by experts with decades of experience and a vast wealth of knowledge was exciting and humbling. It was, and is, an honor to be included.

Have a great week!