Grand champion rose named Marilyn Monroe
TOOWOOMBA man Leo Cooper's love of roses came from his mother.
"My mum had a rose garden," he said.
"I took her to a show and got hooked."
Mr Cooper is the president of the Darling Downs Rose Society Incorporated and helped judge the winning roses at this year's Darling Downs Spring Championship Rose Show.
Mr Cooper said when judging the flowers, judges looked for form and shape in exhibition flowers and freshness in the other categories.
The grand champion of the show was the rose "Marilyn Monroe" by Gold Coast grower Ted Hayes.
Mr Hayes also won the reserve champion for his rose "Tinike".
The show had about 500 entries from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba and the surrounding areas.
Roses entered in the competition included hybrid-tea roses, miniature roses, mini flora roses, climbing roses and heritage roses.
TIPS FOR GROWING ROSES
- grow the right variety for the area or competition
- make sure they get about two buckets of water each week
- make sure it is fertilised two to three times a year with good rose fertiliser
- spray the plant regularly with fungicides and insecticides - about every two weeks
