Dorchester Town Council is calling on anyone inspired by great literature and a love of nature to suggest a name for the new Writers’ Rose Garden in Dorchester Borough Gardens.
The flower beds have been planted with David Austin English roses from the celebrated Literary Collection. The award-winning roses are renowned for their fragrance, bloom, and resistance to disease. David Austin was a keen writer and poet and spent many an hour among his beautiful roses with a good book. His love of literature and the English countryside is reflected in the names he chose for his beloved roses.
The roses in the Writer’s rose garden have been selected for their colour, fragrance, and suitability to local growing conditions. Many of them are named after Thomas Hardy characters and great British classics, such as:
Bathsheba • Dame Judi Dench • Desdemona • Emily Bronte • Eustacia Vye • Gabriel Oak • Gentle Hermione • Gertrude Jekyll • Jude the Obscure • Lady of Shalott • Olivia Rose Austen • Roald Dahl • Sceptred Isle • Silas Marner • The Country Parson • The Lady Gardener • Vanessa Bell • Wildeve • William and Catherine • Young Lycidas
The Mayor of Dorchester, Gareth Jones, said: “Thanks to generous gifts from the Friends of the Borough Gardens and two private donors to purchase the roses, we are delighted to present this opportunity for a local lover of both literature and roses to be inspired and leave their permanent mark. They will have the pleasure of knowing the rose garden will be carefully tended by our skilled gardeners for the enjoyment of generations to come in the lovely Borough Gardens setting.”
Entry forms can be picked up from Dorchester Town Council offices, Dorchester Library, Shire Hall, The Old Tea House and the refreshment kiosk in Borough Gardens.
Entries shall be judged by Dorchester Town Council and Friends of Borough Gardens. The winner will be invited to a special ceremony in Borough Gardens on Saturday, 31st July to endorse the name on a plaque in the rose garden and receive their prize of a David Austen English shrub rose from the Mayor.
Completed entry forms to Dorchester Town Council, 19 North Square, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1JF or by email to enquiries@dorchester-tc.gov.uk by 5pm on Thursday, 15th July.
Visit the Thomas Hardy Victorian Fair website for more information www.thomashardyvictorianfair.co.uk
