Flower show’s new rose to honour radio gardener

Rosa ‘Geoffrey Smith’, a climbing rose, has been named after the late horticultural broadcaster and author of the same name, who was a presenter for BBC Gardeners’ World and a panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time for nearly 20 years.

Smith became superintendent at Harlow Carr Gardens, near Harrogate, at the age of 26 and continued working there for two decades, while also making a number of TV gardening series and being a prolific writer. He died in 2009.

The climbing rose – created by Pickering nursery RV Roger Ltd – will be launched at the annual flower show, which takes place from September 14 to September 16 at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

It is a mutation of Compassion, a highly fragrant, creamy yellow bloom that flowers from May to October.