In This Issue
Dobbies Christmas trading up by 44%
Wow – Christmas product sales break all records
Best year on record for garden centre volume sales
New name for Bord na Mona retail in UK
Bird food company fined £50k over accident that led to finger amputations
Ex-Wyevale GCs ops chief joins digital commerce specialist JGOO to help promote UK goods to Chinese
Mr Fothergill's trial ground awarded Fleuroselect status
Gardman Crest - Investing for the future and ready for business in the new year
Dobbies to close its smallest centre near Dunfermline
Thetford GC plans crazy golf to attract families
Notcutts adds 300-seater restaurant at Ditchling
Reimagine Green Retail at TREx 2020 in Holland
Students offered prospect of 'dream internship' in North America
10 plants to vie for aded-value award at IPM Essen
2020 New Varieties from David Austin
Squire's invites customers to chatter and natter
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Gardening, horticultural and pet industries pay tribute to much-loved Theresa Swann
First upturn for garden product sales since 2014
Chris Schofield joins Infinity Christmas Trees
Fewer plant sales despite more ‘normal’ weather
Records broken for core growing activity
2019 was great year for Veg-2-Gro sales
Wyevale GC HQ moves from Syon Park
Dobbies to drop peat by 2021
Wild Bird Care sales show signs of recovery
Houseplants, gifts and Christmas showed strong growth in November says HTA
The best of last week's
2019 ends 4.2% up on 2018 - A new record year for GTN Bestsellers Volume sales analysis
Gardman Crest ready to deliver you growth in 2020
New General Manager at garden centre
AMES UK report a record pre-season
Wentworth Garden Centre blown away by WinRetail system
Out with the old and in with the new at LOFA
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Garden Centre Photo Tours
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
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2020 New Varieties from David Austin
Literary collection blooms with arrival of celebrated classics in 2020

David Austin Roses is delighted to announce the introduction of two wonderful new characters to its collection of fine, British grown English Roses.

 

Celebrating the distinguished works of George Eliot, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861) and James Woodforde’s The Diary of a Country Parson (1758-1802), the new arrivals offer visually stunning and beautifully fragrant additions to the world-leading breeder’s collection of twenty literature-inspired roses. Joining such classics as The Mill on the Floss, Eustacia Vye, Lady of Shalott, Emily Bronté and The Pilgrim, to name just a few, this year’s varieties continue in the literary theme so close to David Austin Sr’s heart, himself a poet and author.

 

Named for the unassuming, reclusive yet kindhearted hero of Eliot’s classic novel, Silas Marner (Ausraveloe) is an unfussy rose of soft mid pink, bearing petals which are pale on the reverse and fade at the edges, creating a gentle quality. Held on red stems, the medium-sized cupped blooms have relaxed, almost ruffled petals set around an attractive button eye. Flanked by glossy, dark green foliage, the rose is enhanced by a sumptuous medium-strong Old Rose fragrance, exuding accents of fruity lemon, green banana and apricot. A very healthy, abundant variety with good repeat flowering, Silas Marner forms a medium-sized shrub of arching growth. Shade tolerant, its fresh pink blooms will sing out in shadier spots, or why not combine with grey toned foliage in a bed or border.

 

Paying tribute to Woodforde’s acclaimed narrative – an informal yet richly insightful account of the daily life of a late 18th century English clergyman - The Country Parson (Ausclergy) is a pretty yet feisty rose of Scottish decent, bearing fully open, medium-large, almost flat rosettes of pure yellow. Appearing gracefully translucent towards the outer edges of each bloom, the petals create a ‘halo’ effect. Featuring greyish green leaves and a covering of modest spiny thorns, this tough little rose is softened by a medium-strong fragrance; a deliciously fruity blend of sweet apricot, green apple and honey, which on a warm day exudes the richness of its apricot notes. A robust and healthy variety, it forms a rounded small to medium sized shrub, giving continuous, plentiful blooms from June through to the first frosts. The Country Parson will work well planted in a pot on patios which may only get a few hours of sun. Alternatively, when planted en-masse as a hedge or as a group of three in a border, the glowing blooms will give an illuminating effect.

 

Richard Austin, Head of Marketing commented:
“We are excited and proud to introduce Silas Marner and The Country Parson to the collection in 2020, both of which will be available from the end of February along with the new 2020 Handbook of Roses. We also very much look forward to showing the new varieties in bloom for the first time at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May. Creating a rose is not dissimilar to writing a literary classic; both take patience, dedication and an innate understanding of the subject. It takes around 10 years to develop a new variety and the rose-breeding process is still lovingly undertaken by hand in our Shropshire greenhouses, just as it was 60 years ago. As with the wonderful literary classics we are inspired by, we hope our roses will stand the test of time and continue to bring joy to people in their homes and gardens for years to come.”

 

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