Winners announced at 2018 Biltmore International Rose Trials

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – An apricot-colored princess has captured the top prize at the recent finals of the 2018 Biltmore International Rose Trials.  

Princesse Charlene De Monaco (Meidysouk), a hybrid tea rose bred by House of Meilland in France, and distributed by Star Roses & Plants, took home the George and Edith Vanderbilt for Most Outstanding Rose of the trials. 

The winning rose was among a collection of roses planted for trials in 2016 in the western border of Biltmore’s historic Rose Garden. Since 2011, Biltmore’s Rose Garden has been home to the trials in which nearly 200 varieties from growers and breeders worldwide have been planted and cared for by Biltmore’s expert horticulturalists. A permanent jury of rose experts judged the plantings four times a year during the trial’s two years.

Editor's note: Go inside Biltmore's trial gardens in our May 2017 cover story.

In addition to winning the Best in Show Award, Princesse Charlene De Monaco won the Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil Award for Most Fragrant Rose, and the Pauline Merrell Award for Best Hybrid Tea. 

Additional winners this year were:

• Oso Easy Urban Legend (R. ‘ChewPatout’), bred by Chris Warner of Spring Meadow Nursery, winner of the Lord Burleigh Award for Best Disease Resistant, and the Chauncey Beadle Award for Best Shrub Rose. 

• Highwire Flyer (Radwire), bred by William Radler of Star Roses and Plants, winner of the Gilded Age Award for Climbing Rose, and the William Cecil Award for Best Growth Habit. 

• Shining Moment (Radshining), bred by William Radler of Star Roses and Plants, winner of the Edith Wharton Award for Best Floribunda. 

Roses competing for this year’s titles came from breeders based in the U.S., France, Great Britain and Germany. Trials of this type are open to rose breeders around the world – from professional to beginner. Competing roses are evaluated for overall health and rigor; fragrance; disease resistance; and ability to repeat bloom.