Harkness Roses (a trading name of R. Harkness & Co. Ltd) are

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

breeders based at

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. The nursery was founded in 1879 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

by brothers, John and Robert Harkness. Early varieties include 'Mrs. Harkness', 'Frensham' and 'Ena Harkness'. Jack Harkness, grandson of original co-founder, John Harkness, established the first rose hybridization program at the company in 1962, developing vigorous, healthy roses by hybridizing from wild rose species. His most successful new rose cultivars include: 'Amber Queen', 'Belmonte' and 'Anne Harkness'.

History

Harkness Roses was established in 1879 in

Bedale Bedale ( ), is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Bedale Beck is a tributary of the River Swale, which forms one of the Yorkshire Dales. The dale has a predominant agriculture sector and its related small traditional t ...

by brothers, John Harkness (1857-1933) and Robert Harkness (1851-1920). In 1882, John and Robert began to grow and exhibit roses. Their new rose business was a great success;

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

purchased her roses from Harkness & Sons in the 1890s. John and Robert soon realized that Yorkshire's climate was too cold for an expanding rose growing business. In 1892, they decided to established a branch of the firm in a location with a warmer climate. Neither brother wanted to leave Yorkshire, so it was decided by a coin toss that Robert would move to

to establish the new branch of Harkness and Sons. In 1901, John and Robert decided to dissolve the company and create two separate nurseries. Robert established R. Harkness & Co, today known as Harkness Roses. Early varieties of Harkness Roses include a

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

of hybrid perpetual, 'Heinrich Schultheis', introduced in 1893 as 'Mrs. Harkness'. In the 1950s, Harkness popularized 'Frensham' and 'Ena Harkness', both introduced in 1946 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Jack Harkness (1918-1994) was the grandson of the original co-founder John Harkness. He established the first rose hybridization program at the company in 1962, developing vigorous, healthy roses by hybridizing from wild rose species. Early successes were with hybrid teas, and then later with floribundas. In the 1970s he began breeding with Rosa persica, an unusual rose species with simple leaves. During his career, Harkness developed many successful rose cultivars, including 'Alexander', 'Mountbatten' and 'Amber Queen'. He is best known for his floribundas and

hybrid tea rose Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous Garden roses#Hybrid perpetual, hybrid perpetuals with ...

s. Robert Harkness, son of Jack Harkness (1951-2012), bred more than seventy rose varieties during his career. Among his best known varieties are: Rosa 'Belmonte' and 'Princess of Wales'. Philip Harkness, Jack's son and Robert's brother continues today as co-owner of Harkness Roses. Today Harkness Roses is run by Philip Harkness (Chairman) and David White (Managing Director) alongside their small team of horticulturists. Philip, David and their team have recently released a number of extremely popular new cultivars including ‘The Captain Tom’ rose, the ‘John Ystumllyn Rose’, ‘The Duke of Edinburgh Rose’ and ‘The Queen Elizabeth II Rose’ as well as winning a Gold Medal at Chelsea Flower Show in 2021. Poet,

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

, worked at the nursery during the summer of 1955: "The job is following round the expert as he grafts expensive rose-buds onto common bushes, and doing all the trimming and tying-up-with-raffia—a back-breaking job apparently, but outside, and with roses, and with good employers."(p.29, Letters of Ted Hughes ed. Christopher Reid, pub. 2007)

Selected roses

* 'Mrs. Harkness' (1893) * 'Frensham' (1946) * 'Ena Harkness' (1946) * 'Alexander' (1972) * 'Compassion' (1972) * 'Yesterday' (1974) * 'Margaret Merril' (1978) * 'Anne Harkness' (1979) * 'Amber Queen' (

AARS Aars or Års, () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 8,708 (1 January 2025)'Bill Slim' (1987) * 'Savoy Hotel' (1989) * 'Princess of Wales' (1997) * 'Pride of England' (1998) * 'Bridge of Sighs' (2000) * 'Rosa Belmonte' (2007) * 'Duke of Edinburgh' (2021)

References

External links

Harkness Roses homepageInterview with rose grower Philip Harkness
{{commons, Roses by Harkness Horticultural companies of the United Kingdom Rose breeders Organizations established in 1879 Plant nurseries