The Portland pair have looked beyond a gardens' simple beauty and found tales of courage and passion, painstakingly uncovering details over 25 years.

Their discoveries are the subject of a new book, The Women Behind the Roses, which examines varieties named by celebrated rosarian Alister Clark.

Mrs Govanstone said a shared love of horticulture became a quest for more information on those who inspired the fragrant blooms of Australia's backyards.

"Unwittingly, the roses that we liked were Alister's roses; it was just a coincidence," she said.

"Then we went on and looked at the 125 roses that he named and saw that there were 65 women; the more we looked into it, we realised there were stories to be told. We had to make a decision to run with it or stop it and we decided to keep going."

Clark, a well-known horse racing enthusiast who did not take a profit from his cultivations, died in 1949 at 84 and is buried in the Bulla cemetery near Melbourne.

Pioneering women linked to his roses have made a range of contributions, among them heroic wartime nursing efforts and work to provide prosthetic limbs to amputees.

"Because we're talking about people's mothers, grandmothers and sisters, you really want to do them justice," Mr Govanstone said.

The couple agree persistence has served them well, particularly after a publisher rejected the book a decade ago.

"In hindsight, 10 years ago the internet wasn't there; we didn't have all the ladies and the photography would not have been as good," Mrs Govanstone said.

"We had five missing ladies and we found the other four just in the last year."

The last woman was tracked down just after the book was sent to press but will feature in its next edition.

In the meantime the relentless researchers will embark on an extensive speaking tour that includes Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and New Zealand.

The pair struggled to name a favourite rose but said several species on their own property deserved a special mention.

"In our own garden I think it would have to be Lorraine Lee, because she flowers all the time," Mrs Govanstone said.

The Women Behind the Roses will be launched at Portland Library from 5pm today.