THE York Minster Rose, specially developed to help to raise funds for the restoration of the central tower of the Minster, is to be launched at the Chelsea Flower Show in May. It will be displayed at the Harkness Roses stand, and will be on sale to the public in the autumn.
It is a floribunda bush described as having “creamy full petals and a delicate flush echoing the centre of the wonderful Rose Window in York Minster”. It is also said to be vigorous, and to have a lovely scent.
The Minster has been associated with roses since the Middle Ages. A medieval inscription in the Chapter House reads: “As the rose is the flower of flowers, so this house is the house of houses.”
The great Rose Window in the south transept commemorates the union of the houses of Lancaster and York after the Wars of the Roses, and there is also a new Blue Peter-rose ceiling-boss in the south transept, as part of the restoration after the fire in 1984.