It’s pruning time, and Walter is in his khaki overalls vigorously excising a tough sucker from one of his prize plants.

He eventually breaks it away and tosses it on the huge pile of spiky prunings ready to be dragged off and burnt.

It’s the end of a hard day’s work and he is ready to sit down and talk about his lifetime love affair with the rose.

A broken hand led Sevenhill rose fancier Walter Duncan into an affair with a flower which culminated in receiving the World Federation of Rose Fanciers highest accolade last month.

As a young man of 19, Walter broke a bone in his hand while playing football.

“It took a long time to heal and my mum got a bit tired of me not doing too much, and she said ‘come and learn how to prune roses’.”

Mrs Duncan took her son to Ross Roses, where Alec Ross taught him the fine art of pruning.

“I enjoyed it. Our roses at home were one big mess and it was so easy to improve them - it was just like a game.”

A quick learner, he fell in love with the rose and its many forms and was soon giving pruning demonstrations himself.

From an amateur rose grower, Walter moved into commercial growing. He had joined the Rose Society in the last year of his teens and became president when he was 32 years old.

Although a keen exhibitor, he stopped competing with his blooms when he became a professional grower and turned to judging and lecturing throughout Australia and New Zealand.

In the late 1960s and 70s Walter appeared in the In Your Garden television series, produced in Adelaide, speaking on rose growing and other garden plants, which led to his selection for the Royal Adelaide Show’s horticultural committee.

“There were old blokes on the committee when I got on, and now I am an old bloke on the committee trying to get off.”

The attraction of roses is not just their perfume and beauty, but the challenge they present for growers like Walter, who are constantly striving for perfection.

Although retired from commercial sales, the Duncan’s maintain a 1000 or so rose plants on their Heritage Garden property, specialising in heritage roses.

On June 19 Walter travelled to Vancouver, Canada, for the World Federation of Rose Societies 15th Convention where he was presented with his World Rose Award at the opening ceremony, for his contribution and passion for “Old World Roses”.

Q&A

What is your favourite rose?

The last one I see (taken from a quote by famous English rose grower Harry Wheatcroft). I have always loved Souvenir de la malmaison (slightly fragrant, pale pink rose).

How much water do roses require in summer?

Not as much as you think, because they are very drought tolerant plants, originating in countries around the Mediterranean where pruning was literally pruning by fire.

We are having a party in the garden - how many days between pruning before they will flower?

The answer is always “52”. It takes roughly 52 days from pruning to flowering.