Our Story
Chris Warner is an award winning hybridist, who’s fascination with the rose began the moment he bought his first climber.
Born in Shropshire, England, Chris Warner is the son of a poultry farmer who produced cross-bred chickens. His mothers’ father was very active in the National Rose Society and co-wrote a book on roses, so you could say he chose his parents well.
In 1963, Chris married his wife Barbara, who wanted a cottage in the country with roses round the door. Both on teachers salaries, the reality was a maisonette in Halesowen with a tiny piece of land at the front door. To please Barbara, Chris bought the first climbing rose he saw, ‘Emily Gray’. He watched it carefully for many weeks, intrigued by its growth habit. Over the next two years, Chris bought more roses and read as many books on roses and rose hybridising as he could find.
Chris began hybridising roses for the first time in 1968. Initially this was in a small lean-to glasshouse at home in Devon, which quadrupled in size over the years. In 1984, Chris had his first international success in the Rose Trials held in Geneva, Switzerland for an orange climber, which now only sells in New Zealand and is named, ‘Lady Barbara’.
In 1987, aged 50, Chris was able to follow his dream and became a full-time rose breeder. Along with his wife Barbara (pictured above), the family moved back from Devon to his father’s home in Shropshire. He used the money from writing a book on climbing roses to pay for a 60ft glasshouse and there was sufficient land to increase seedling production from 2,000 to around 15,000.
In the first year (1988), Chris’s patio climber rose, ‘Warm Welcome’ (above), won the top prize, The President’s Trophy, at the RNRS trials at St Albans. Another patio climber, ‘Laura Ford’ won a Certificate of Merit at St Albans and a silver medal at the Baden-Baden rose trials. These were the first two of an eventual range of patio climbers, i.e small flowers and small leaves, but growth to 7ft to 9ft and a width of about 2ft 6, essentially a column of colour. Other successes for Chris included named roses, ‘Pillarbox’ for The Post Office, ‘Edith Holden’ for the writer and author, and ‘Lest We Forget’ for the Bomber Command Memorial Association. Other well known and award winning roses by Chris include ‘Ali Baba’ (pictured above), ‘Gardener’s Glory’, ‘Open Arms’ and ‘Scent from Heaven’.
Another significant milestone in Chris’s breeding career has been the development of the Persica hybrid. This was sparked into life on a visit to Harkness Roses in the 1970’s, where he saw Jack Harkness’ Persica roses cascading down the side of the glasshouse benches. Beginning with ‘Tigress’, Chris bred around 30 hybrids, two of which he shared with a small group of purposeful amateur breeders. One of the group, Ronnie Rawlins from Yorkshire, produced a very healthy hybrid, but the flower colour was too similar to the eye colour. This seedling crossed with many other varieties, has produced a very healthy line for Chris, starting with ‘Bright as a Button’, (code named chewsumsigns, and commercially also known as ‘Raspberry Kiss’ in the USA and ‘Peace & Love’ in Europe). Chris’s following Persica varieties have gone on to win multiple awards including, ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and most recently, the climbers, ‘Peter’s Persica’ and ‘Looking Up’. Today Warners Roses continue this work, seeking the Persica hybrid in all types of rose.
In 2021 Catherine Shaw (pictured below) started working full time at Warners Roses. She completed the RHS Level II certificate in Horticulture whilst working in marketing and publishing in London, and made the move to Shropshire, jumping straight in to the pollinating season in May. Now Managing Director, Catherine will continue Chris’s work, developing new and novel rose varieties and creating garden roses with outstanding health, beauty and fragrance.
Warners Roses are proud members of The Rose Society UK and The British Association of Rose Breeders (BARB).