This year, following on from the Gardens Trust’s successful 2022 series on the rose, in partnership with the Historic Roses Group, the Gardens Trust is happy to announce a new rose-related lecture series, again with the HRG, this time including an international slant.
With speakers hailing from Iceland to Australia, via England, Italy and the USA, these talks are wide-ranging. We begin with a portrait of a popular 19th century rosarian who loved riding as much as roses, knew everyone on the literary scene, was a celebrity preacher and organized the first ever National Rose Show in London. An account of a hillside rose garden in Italy which started as a collection of pots on a terrace in Rome; how to grow roses in the Arctic Circle and ‘down under’ on a working Australia farm; the intriguing stories behind the names of some romantic heritage roses; and where to find a unique UN Food and Agriculture Organization collection of the other – edible – members of the rosaceae family continue the series. We finish with practical advice about training and pruning your climbers, whether roses or wisterias, from a professional horticultural gardener, the latest in three generations of market gardeners and a shows organizer and designer whose sumptuous stands have won medals for the Historic Roses Group at the Hampton Court Flower Show.
This ticket costs £28 for the entire course of 7 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register through Eventbrite HERE or visit https://thegardenstrust.org/events-archive/page/3/
Week Four is an exploration of roses for cold, wet and windy gardens, with Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson
his presentation describes the climatic and environmental challenges facing gardening in Iceland and will explain the opportunities provided by recently successful efforts in afforestation in providing shelter that allows the cultivation of ornamental plants like roses. Only a small fraction of roses available today can be successfully grown in Iceland. We represent a marginal market to rose producers and there is no interest in breeding roses that can survive here.
The Rose Club of the Icelandic Horticultural Society (IHS) was established in 2002. Its role will be explained, with an overview of some varieties and classes of roses now grown successfully – or unsuccessfully – in Iceland, plus where they come from. Recent efforts in rose breeding by local amateurs and semi-professionals will be described, plus the main challenges that face us as a result of extreme variability of our climate, during summers more than winters – and the importance of finding the right cultivars.
Dr Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson is a chemical engineer, educated at the University of Wisconsin, USA. He was CEO of the Icelandic Research Council from 1978-2004, and is a former President of the Icelandic Horticultural Society (IHS) and past Chairman of the IHS Rose Club. His professional life was devoted to industrial development, the shaping and implementation of science and technology policy in Iceland from 1968 – 2010. As a member of the Nature Conservation Council Dr Lúðvíksson has been involved in the Icelandic conservation and afforestation movement seeking and testing biodiverse forestry varieties suitable for Icelandic conditions.
Married with two children, Vilhjálmur has spent over 60 years establishing a 17ha woodland garden on family land severely affected by centuries of overgrazing which destroyed vegetation and caused extensive soil erosion. Recently he has sought new opportunities in gardening provided by the shelter from growing forests. This includes ornamental trees and bushes, fruit trees, rhododendrons and roses.
