ROSE TRIAL GARDEN: In the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in the City of Adelaide

For centuries poets, artists and backyard gardeners have been captivated by the delicacy, texture, fragrance and variety of the rose.

And at the National Rose Trial Garden tucked behind the Goodman Building and the National Wine Centre in Hackney Road some of the latest hybrids from the Northern Hemisphere are put through their paces.

Dean Stringer is the Rose Trial Co-ordinator and it's his job to oversee a process, which determines the roses best suited to Australian conditions. While historically the rose may have been seen as the flower of love there's nothing romantic about the way each is entered in Dean's precious catalogue. As Dean explains, there aren't any names just numbers.

"The ten people who come in every three weeks to assess them haven't got a clue whose rose they are or where they come from. I've got the 'Bible'. That has the details and they don't have a clue whose they are."

This is rose number 84 from English Rose breeder Chris Warner. It's performing reasonably well apart from one key factor - it doesn't flower as freely as the panel of experienced Rosarians would like. But the abundance of flowers is one thing, perfume is quite another.

"We bring a couple of sight-impaired people in therefore the colour and shape of the rose has nothing to do with it. I pick a rose and give it to them individually. They give it a mark out of ten."

Points are awarded on a range of strict criteria over two growing seasons.

"Now Dean we're at number 79. How does 79 rate and where does it come from?"

"Well 79 is another shrub rose and this one comes from the USA. This is bred by Weeks in California. A famous breeder, Weeks has been breeding for about four generations. Look at the head on this plant and it's not only this one stem.. Every head or every stem has a got a head of flowers."

"Why do breeders send them out here. What's the whole purpose of it?"

"They get a royalty on all the roses that they breed and if it can get any sort of rating in the trial ground the possibility of sales are enormous."

Dean Stringer is proof that the love of the rose is universal and transcends all stereotypes. After all, this bloke was a burly North Adelaide League Footballer - a member of the Roosters premiership teams in 1949 and 52. He was known to take the occasional 'specky' mark but now he's a smooth mover in the Rose Trial Garden. But he still has an eye for the spectacular.

"It's the most widely grown shrub in the world. It has a greater range of colour, size of flower, type of flower, type of growth. You've got them from little miniatures to great big climbers and a rose to fit in every garden. You can't better it."

To see the latest additions to the rose growing scene before they hit the nurseries head to the National Rose Trial Garden in the Botanic Garden just behind the Goodman Building on Hackney Road. It's free. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au