The roses were created by crossbreeding a combination of varieties in the city of Salalah. Photo: RHS
The roses were created by crossbreeding a combination of varieties in the city of Salalah. Photo: RHS
The roses were created by crossbreeding a combination of varieties in the city of Salalah. Photo: RHS
The roses were created by crossbreeding a combination of varieties in the city of Salalah. Photo: RHS

Rose inspired by Sultan of Oman on display at Chelsea Flower Show


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

Two roses inspired by the Sultan of Oman and his wife are currently on display at London's Chelsea Flower Show.

Harcarmine, created in honour of Sultan Haitham of Oman, and Harforever, created for his wife Ahad Al Busaidiyah, represent the colours of the Omani flag.

Harcarmine is red, Harforever is white and the foliage represents the green part of the flag.

The roses are a crossbreeding of a combination of varieties, and have been grown in the city of Salalah where they adapted to the area’s cool and damp climate.

Oman already has a reputation for cultivating roses. Thousands of rose bushes flower each year across Jebel Akhdar, also known as the green mountain, filling the air with their scent during harvesting between March and April.

Farmers pick roses during harvest season in Oman – in pictures

The season attracts tourists from all over the world who come to watch pickers select the flowers to make smoked rosewater in a process that has been passed down through the generations.

The new roses were unveiled at a ceremony in Chelsea this week, which was attended by Badr Al Mantheri, Oman's ambassador to the UK, among other officials.

The annual flower show has been running since 1862 and is a favourite of the British royal family.

On Monday, it was visited by King Charles III, who appeared to be on the lookout for something to fill a patch in his garden at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, after the animals took a liking to some of his plants.

King Charles III at the Choose Love garden with the humanitarian aid movement's chief executive officer, Josie Naughton, and award-winning designer Jane Porter at Chelsea Flower Show. Getty
King Charles III at the Choose Love garden with the humanitarian aid movement's chief executive officer, Josie Naughton, and award-winning designer Jane Porter at Chelsea Flower Show. Getty

He stopped at designer Jane Porter's Choose Love garden, where a lavender sage plant – also known as salvia lavandulifolia – with delicate purple flowers caught his eye.

The garden was created for the humanitarian aid movement, which supports asylum seekers around the globe, and features plants such as old varieties of roses from the Middle East and irises from North Africa that those seeking sanctuary would recognise.

“He was really interested in one of the plants we've got because at Highgrove something's being eaten by rabbits and he wants to replace it,” Ms Porter said.

“I love that. That's brilliant he's such a keen gardener. I'm sure he would have his eye out for all sorts of things – he was very knowledgeable about everything in the garden.”

The new roses were unveiled at a ceremony at the flower show this week. Photo: Oman News Agency
The new roses were unveiled at a ceremony at the flower show this week. Photo: Oman News Agency

It was the king’s first visit to the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show as monarch. He was joined by the queen, who toured the site separately.

Earlier in the day, the Princess of Wales also visited the event to join schoolchildren who were invited by the RHS to participate.

Best in Show at Chelsea Flower Show was on Tuesday awarded to Harris Bugg Studio for an entry named after the spinal injuries charity Horatio’s Garden, the first fully wheel-chair accessible garden to win the prize.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits the Chelsea Flower Show – in pictures

“It’s unbelievable and still sinking in,” a statement released on behalf of designers Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg said.

“It’s a really special garden for us because of the nature of the charity. Horatio’s is a charity about gardens and how they help on journeys of healing and so it feels absolutely right that it should win Best in Show.

“We are delighted for the charity, and we hope it helps to raise the profile of the incredible work they do and are delighted it will live on to form the heart of Horatio’s Garden Sheffield after the show.”

Plant of the Year was also awarded to Agapanthus Black Jack, which was selected from a shortlist of 18 plants.

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

The Energy Research Centre

Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.

Awar Qalb

Director: Jamal Salem

Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman

Two stars

'Shakuntala Devi'

Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director: Anu Menon

Rating: Three out of five stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The story of Edge

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.

It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.

Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.

Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab

 

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

Race card

4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m

4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m

5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m

5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m

6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m

6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m

7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m

The National selections:

4pm Zabardast

4.35pm Ibn Malik

5.10pm Space Blues

5.45pm Kimbear

6.20pm Barney Roy

6.55pm Matterhorn

7.30pm Defoe

Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Director: Venkat Prabhu
Rating: 2/5
The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

match details

Wales v Hungary

Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm

EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdinburgh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%204%20%3Cem%3E(unchanged)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBahrain%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2015)%3C%2Fem%3E%3B%20second%20daily%20service%20from%20January%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKuwait%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2016)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMumbai%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAhmedabad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColombo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202%20%3Cem%3E(from%20January%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMuscat%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cem%3E%20%3C%2Fem%3EMarch%201%3Cem%3E%20(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELyon%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBologna%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Emirates%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: May 24, 2023, 1:04 PM