Looking Back at 2025

A highlight of the year was the arrival of Penelope Lively, a rose named for the much-loved British novelist whose writing often celebrates gardens, memory and the passage of time. With its warm apricot-pink tones and deeply cupped blooms, this rose brought a quiet radiance to borders and quickly found its place in American landscapes.

Gardeners across the country embraced it from the moment it became available, planting it in spots where they could enjoy its fragrance and mellow glow at close range. It is a rose that settles in with gentle confidence, offering beauty that feels enduring and sincere.

Across many regions, roses bloomed ahead of schedule in 2025. Early warmth coaxed buds open sooner than expected, and gardens filled with color weeks earlier than usual. Shades of blush, cream, apricot and soft gold moved through borders with remarkable generosity.

In our own display plantings, the year felt almost exuberant. Visitors spoke of the brightness and energy of the gardens, and the roses met the season with a steadiness that was a joy to witness.

Later in the year, another moment of celebration arrived as Gertrude Jekyll^® (Ausbord) was voted the World’s Favourite Rose by the World Federation of Rose Societies. Loved for its perfectly formed deep pink blooms and exceptional fragrance, this much-admired rose has long held a special place in gardens around the world. The award recognised not only its beauty, but its reliability and enduring appeal, reaffirming Gertrude Jekyll^® as one of the most cherished English Roses ever bred.

While summer provided spectacle, the year’s true beginning came in January, when bare root season invited gardeners back into the rhythm of planting. There is something deeply hopeful in receiving a rose at this stage, when it is all potential: roots ready to anchor into new soil, stems pared back to essentials, every part of the plant poised for growth.

In the United States, January remains the heart of bare root planting, a moment when gardeners look ahead to spring with a sense of possibility. Planting a bare root rose feels both practical and poetic. It marks a fresh start, a gesture toward the year to come.

Reflecting on 2025 feels like walking through a garden of early mornings, quiet discoveries and moments that stay with you. It was a year shaped by new introductions, flourishing landscapes and a renewed appreciation for how English Roses enrich American gardens.

Now the roses rest and gather strength beneath the soil. As the season pauses, we hold the memories of the year close and look forward to the next chapter. Each bud that forms in 2026 will carry a hint of this past year and remind us that every season brings its own kind of beauty.