Garden roses are highly regarded especially in the floral industry. Their charming nostalgic appeal and exquisite fragrance is irresistible making it a popular choice for wedding floral designs. Due to the high demand and lengthy production process, garden roses are expensive and considered a luxury flower.

There are many misconceptions about the true characteristics of a garden rose. Not every variety is fragrant, cup-shaped or wavy. What truly defines a garden rose? Any rose plant that can survive a winter frost. Garden roses are very delicate and must be handled with care. They have plenty of small, sharp thorns. Depending on the variety, garden roses can last an average of 7 to 10 days.

Virgin Farms Garden Roses

David Austin History
Back in the 1960s, David Austin began crossing roses. He wanted to achieve the fragrance of the old roses with the appearance and color variations of the modern roses. At first, they were bred as shrubs and climbing roses for garden enthusiasts. It was not until the year 2000 that the company began to produce garden roses for the cut flower industry. In 2008, the first roses were introduced into the market. The company began distributing in small quantities, and eventually grew to offering 150,000 stems per week all over the world.

Breeding New Varieties
The David Austin company has a team of hybridizers that focus on crossing roses to create new varieties. Each flower is monitored and tested to meet specific characteristics.

Cut Rose Standards:
Must remain beautiful at all stages
Fragrant
Purity of color
Perfection of form

The odds of a successful breed for mass market distribution is 100,000 to 1. It takes years to create a new variety. Out of 200 plants grown in the trial fields, only five or six are selected.

Our partner growers, Alexandra Farms, located in Colombia, is licensed to grow David Austin varieties. All garden roses are hand-cut and hand-graded. Virgin Farms is proud to be a wholesale distributor of high-quality varieties.

Suggest varieties for Flower Fact Friday! Leave a comment below, and include the name of the flower you would like to learn about.