Settle petal: Why the Jurlique rose is worth bottling
Settle petal: Why the Jurlique rose is worth bottling
By Robin Powell
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Everyone grows roses in South Australia. There are even roses instead of weeds in the roundabouts. So it stands to reason that South Australia has produced some fine rose breeders. One of them is George Thomson, who has been breeding roses since the 1960s. Thomson has worked closely with Willunga-based Ross Roses, which for the past two decades has specialised in Australian-bred roses. Thomson’s ‘Hans Heysen’, thought to be the only rose with ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ in its parentage, is a beauty, as is ‘Crown Princess Mary’. Yet his most influential rose is one that is only available to gardeners as a beauty product, not a plant.