The Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) (1876-2017) was a specialist horticultural organization in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

dedicated to the cultivation and appreciation of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s. Founded in 1876 as the "National Rose Society", it was the world's oldest plant society. It was a membership organisation, with members drawn from professional and amateur gardeners and horticultural businesses. Originally based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the rose society moved its headquarters to

Chiswell Green Chiswell Green is a village, to the south of St. Albans, in the parish of St Stephen and district of City of St Albans in Hertfordshire. It has a population of approximately 2,800. It is in the civil parish of St. Stephen. It is located on the ...

, near

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

in 1959, where it created the

Royal National Rose Society Gardens The Royal National Rose Society Gardens, also known as The Gardens of The Rose, were the gardens and headquarters of The Royal National Rose Society at Bone Hill, Chiswell Green, St Albans, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The Royal National ...

. In 1965, the society changed its name to the "Royal National Rose Society" (RNRS). At the height of its popularity, the RNRS had 100,000 members and its gardens contained 30,000 rose shrubs. The organisation was dissolved in May, 2017 and the gardens were closed permanently.

History

The National Rose Society

The Royal National Rose Society, originally named "The National Rose Society", was the inspiration of Rev Dr Reynolds Hole, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, author and horticulturalist. In 1858, he founded the first National Rose Show at

St James's Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, ...

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

. The show was considered a great success with 2000 attendees. By 1860, the popular rose exhibition was being held at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, with 16,000 rose enthusiasts in attendance. Because of the growing interest in roses by the general public, a meeting of leading rose enthusiasts, including Rev Hole, was held on 9 December 1876, and the "National Rose Society" was created. Rev Hole was elected the society's first President. The Rev Henry Honeywood D’Ombrain was appointed the society's first Secretary. From 1877 to 1902, D'Ombrain edited the society's yearly first publication, ''The Rosarian's Yearbook''. The organisation initially opened an office in central London. Rose exhibitions were the primary focus of the society for its first twenty-five years. It also provided advice to its members with rose related questions, such as finding a specific rose or identifying roses, as well as providing general and specific rose care advice.

The Gold Medal award

The public's growing interest in roses, specifically the new rose cultivars introduced at rose exhibitions, inspired the creation of the society's Gold Medal Award in 1883. Rose breeder and former wheat farmer, Henry Bennett, won the first and second Gold Medals awarded, with ''Rosa'' 'Her Majesty' (Hybrid Perpetual) in 1883 and ''Rosa'' 'Mrs. John Laing' (Hybrid Perpetual) in 1885. In later years, an important role of the society was to supervise trials of new rose varieties that were submitted to the society's test gardens by rose breeders from around the world. A committee of twenty judges evaluated the rose cultivars periodically throughout the season from June to September over two or three successive years. The Gold Medal was generally awarded each year to two or three roses of exceptional quality. There were several years when no roses would meet the strict guidelines for the award and no gold medal is awarded.

Royal patronage

In acknowledgement of the Society's important work,

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

established the first Royal Patronage in 1888. The society's membership grew steadily from 900 in 1888 to 16,000 in 1926. The annual journal sponsored by the society, ''The Rose Annual'' was first published in 1907, and was issued yearly until 1984. In 1925, Queen Mary was appointed Royal Patron of the society. Membership dropped to 11,500 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but increased to 15,000 by 1947. When Queen Mary died in 1953, the Princess Mary became the society's Royal patron. The society's headquarters was moved from London to its new location at Bone Hill,

, near

in 1959. The society created new rose gardens designed to accommodate the International Rose Trials at the eight acre property. The gardens were named the

. The rose gardens grew to a collection of 30,000 rose bushes and gained an international reputation. The rose society grew quickly to 100,000 members by the 1960s. In 1965, Queen Elizabeth issued a command to add the "Royal" pretext to the society's title, and the name was changed to the "Royal National Rose Society" (RNRS). After the death of Princess Mary,

the Queen Mother ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

became the RNRS patron and held the position until her death in 2002.

The golden years

The 1960s and the 1970s were the rose society's best years. In 1968, an International Rose Conference was held by the RNRS in London. A decision was made at the conference to create a coalition of national rose societies. From that meeting, the

World Federation of Rose Societies The World Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS) is an umbrella association of (as of 2015) 39-member countries' national rose societies. Although founded in 1968 in London by 8 constituent countries' rose societies, the WFRS did not have a first mee ...

was established. In 1976 The Queen Mother attended the society's centenary reception at St. James's Palace. To celebrate the occasion, ten thousand rose

boutonnière A boutonnière () or buttonhole (British English) is a floral decoration, typically a single flower or bud, worn on the lapel of a tuxedo or suit jacket. While worn frequently in the past, boutonnières are now usually reserved for special occa ...

s were distributed to the general public in

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; The Post Office in Britain issued a new commemorative set of rose stamps. In 1978, the traditional

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

rose exhibition was moved to St Albans, where it was refashioned into a different, updated rose show. Along with the rose exhibition, the two-day festival included live musical performances, craft fairs and trade stands. The show attracted 25,000 attendees and afterwards, the RNRS rose gardens were known as the Gardens of the Rose. Beginning in the 1990s, the public's interest in roses declined and membership numbers gradually fell, with fewer people attending the Gardens of the Rose. The society's Trustees made the decision to close the gardens and develop a new garden in 2005. The old garden was dismantled and a renovated garden was opened to the public in June, 2007. The new design included 20,000 rose cultivars with new companion plantings. The RNRS continued to struggle financially and finally dissolved the organization in May, 2017. The gardens were permanently closed.

References