Sunday was the day for all things spring at Woolmers Estate.
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There were over 5000 varieties of roses on show at the annual Festival of Roses, along with food vans, more than 80 stallholders, an auction, and lots of entertainment.
One stallholder was Karen Brock, who was selling roses grown from scratch on the West Tamar through her business Plants Direct.
“It takes them about two years to get to this stage,” she said.
“They’re a very popular rose because they’re very hardy, really tough, and they always give beautiful flowers right through to early winter.”
Like many florists, the Festival of Roses is the biggest day of the year for Ms Brock.
“It’s looking like a cracker of a day,” she said.
“We’ve had a fantastic season this year – the right weather, early spring warmth, couldn’t make it better.”
She said it was no coincidence that Tasmania was the location for a festival centred around one of the world’s most popular blooms.
The southern climate is ideal for the colourful flowers.
“We are so lucky,” she said.
“People from Sydney and Queensland are so envious of our climate down here.
“We get the most beautiful colours because of the high UV and infrared in our spectrum.”
Meanwhile, Sue Freeman of Florist on David was selling roses of a different sort.
Her preserved roses go through an embalming process that means they last for a year looking as if they were picked yesterday.
The only florist in the state to sell them, she keeps them in Beauty in the Beast-style glass jars.
“They go through a process that actually strips the colour, and then they are re-dyed in about 40 different colours,” she said.
“We’re so excited to have them.
We’ve had quite a few shipments in and everybody loves them.”
Also at the festival was a cook-off from celebrity chef Ben Milbourne, conversations with Henry and Anna Terry from Tasmanian Truffles who starred in My Kitchen Rules and gardening expert Angus Stewart, and an art exhibition.
Most of all, though, the festival is a showcase of the Woolmers Estate gardens.
The beautiful 82-hectare grounds at Longford are maintained throughout the year by an army of more than 20 hard-working volunteers.
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