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The English Garden June 2006
GATHER YE ROSEBUDS
The fields at Josselyns Farm on the Essex/Suffolk border are heady with the summer scents of thousands of old fashioned blooms.
Celebrated in art and poetry, roses always evoke a powerful emotional response. For Danaë Brook, creator of Country Roses, a flourishing family business in the tranquil Dedham Vale, bordering Suffolk and Essex, their paradoxical character increases their appeal. ‘Roses are vigorous and sturdy, able to withstand wind and rain, yet they produce blooms of such delicacy and splendour.’ The special selling point of their ravishing range of more than 40 old fashioned English roses is fragrance. Fresh cut flowers are available from mid-May to late October, and are much sought after by fashionable florists and designers, and their nostalgic and romantic symbolism makes them perfect for weddings.
Six years ago, journalist and writer Danaë Brook and her husband, art market analyst Robin Duthy, embarked on an experiment to establish old fashioned roses at Josselyns Farm. Robin grew up in the valley, and the elegant French pavilion style house, designed by Raymond Erith and Quinlan Terry, had been built for his parents to take advantage of the views that inspired Constable and Gainsborough.
Childhood gardening with an aunt had awakened Danaë’s interest in nature, and when Cants, the local leading rose grower, declared their soil and location perfect, they ploughed, rotavated and manured the soil and planted 500 roses on a small, chemical-free paddock. ‘Our soil is an ideal mix of clay and loam,’ says Danaë, ‘and our microclimate combines an optimum ratio of sunlight and rain.’
When the couple took the first roses to London, they were enthusiastically received by fashionable florists, such as Wild at Heart and Paula Pryke, both for their seductive scents and for their voluptuous form and superb colours. English roses, first bred in the 1970s, combine the charm and fragrance of the old roses with the wide colour range and repeat flowering qualities of modern hybrids. ‘These are working roses,’ says Danaë, standing among the roses of a further 6,000 shrubs now planted on the lower, south facing field below the house. ‘They have to perform well, and have long stems and good disease resistance.’
To achieve the perfection her customers expect requires a regime of autumn and spring pruning, spraying, feeding, mulching and weeding, supervised by her knowledgeable gardeners. In the season, a team of pickers harvest, prepare and pack the delicate blooms. ‘We deliver about 800 fresh roses twice a week to London, plus thousands more for weddings and events,’ says Danaë. ‘People love the fresh and dried rose petal confetti and our pot pourri sachets and hand tied bouquets are popular gifts.’
Danaë’s motivation is ‘to give something back to the land’ and to change the balance between her demanding journalistic life and the practical concerns of a country enterprise. ‘The life of a writer is so cerebral,’ she says. ‘I am writing a book called A Passion for Roses, but have always needed to get my hands into the earth. Working with roses, literally, makes me feel more grounded.’
It must be gratifying to give such pleasure to people. ‘We are offering something special,’ agrees Danaë. ‘Our roses are sumptuous and sensual, like the finest possible silk or the most exquisite perfume.’ Who could resist them?