Lorraine Flynn – champion rose grower, and, now, investigative journalist.
Te Awamutu’s champion rose now has a name.
The News reported last week that the 58th annual rose show now had an overall winner – but owner Lorraine Flynn didn’t know its name.
She has been looking after it since moving into her Pakura Street home 36 years ago. The News made it even more confusing by referring to it as Pokuru St.
“I have done some investigative journalism myself with regards to the name of the rose and have now solved the mystery,” Lorraine declared in the wake of our story.
“Via facebook and messenger I was able to contact the previous owner’s daughter, who has been a hairdresser in Te Awamutu for many years and now lives and works in Cambridge.
“I explained how the rose in her family home garden had won the Champion of Champions and wondered if her or her sister could remember the name of it. Kay replied that she remembered a red one being called Uncle Walter and a purple one being Blue Moon. I had told her where the rose was planted in the garden but at first she could not be sure if it was the Uncle Walter red rose. I asked her if there was a family member called Uncle Walter who her mother might have planted the rose for.
“Kay came back and said her father’s name was Walter and the more she thought about it the more she was sure that was the right one. Kay had looked on google and sent me some photos of the Uncle Walter rose and sure enough the description and picture fitted what I had entered perfectly.
“So I deemed that the puzzle pieces had fallen into place and Uncle Walter is the name of the rose.”
South Pacific Roses reports Uncle Walter is “an old favourite that is always very popular. Deep red blooms with lovely form that grow on a strong healthy plant. A wonderful rose picked for the vase. Nice fragrance.”
Judges at the Te Awamutu rose show certainly agreed in awarded Lorraine, who has celebrated first placings in previous rose shows, her first champion title.
South Pacific Roses reports Uncle Walter is “an old favourite that is always very popular. Deep red blooms with lovely form that grow on a strong healthy plant. A wonderful rose picked for the vase. Nice fragrance.”
Judges at the Te Awamutu rose show certainly agreed in awarded Lorraine, who has celebrated first placings in previous rose shows, her first champion title.
Read: The Pakuru rose mystery
