All you need to know about Northern Ireland’s centenary rose

Dickson Roses was founded in 1836 and is now run by Colin Dickson, the sixth generation of his family to take on the business.

Sadly, Colin is to be the last, but it’s a fitting farewell that the Newtownards company’s roses are to mark Northern Ireland’s centenary and be planted at Hillsborough Castle, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

Colin, who made the decision to stop breeding roses in 2018, was approached by the NI Office to see if he could offer them a rose to mark the 100th anniversary of the formation of the country.

Like many breeders Dickson Roses offers people the opportunity to name roses.

Colin, 64, said: “We had about three or four roses they could chose from. They were also looking at other breeders who offer a naming service.

“They confirmed in February that our roses had been chosen to be planted at Hillsborough Castle. I said, ‘you’d better get them planted now if you want them flowering by early summer’. It was getting borderline.”

Colin said every rose is unique and to give an idea of the complexity of the centenary rose he explained its lineage: “It was crossed in 2013 using a seedling which didn’t see the light of day. It was crossed with Spice Of Life, which is one of mine, with Light Fantastic, and the pollen parent was Moment In Time. That created a red floribunda which was then crossed with Story Teller, which got the gold medal in Belfast last summer.

“This centenary rose was pollinated in 2013 – it’s only ready now. It has to be thoroughly tested, it takes a long time and there’s quite a bit of thought goes into it.”

Downing Street and Buckingham Palace will receive their plants in late autumn as all the available bushes have already been planted at Hillsborough Castle.

Colin said: “It makes me feel very proud and honoured to have one of my roses chosen for this. Hopefully it’s a rose that all parts of the community can enjoy. It’s a rose for everybody.”

Colin explained why he took the decision stop breeding and therefore start the winding down of the business in 2018: “I’m not getting any younger and my kids are in other professions – they’re not interested in taking over the business.

“I’m willing to carry on growing and licensing for a while yet, but with the breeding stopped the business will eventually wind down. It takes eight to 10 years to breed a rose so we’ve probably another seven or eight years left.”

“It will be sad when it winds down, but I want to enjoy a bit of travel with my wife. I’ve been at this a long time.”

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