The official Gallipoli Centenary Rose has been sent across the country from Treloar Roses in Portland. The business worked with the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee to select the hardy, deep red bloom from international growers. 

Treloar Roses director Gary Matuschka said the committee approached the business in 2010 and asked if they could source a rose for the 2015 centenary. 

“We worked closely with them to select the right rose,” he said. 

“It had to be hardy, because it was going to be planted in all sort of gardens around Australia.

“And when it came to colour it had to be red.” 

The rose has a bushy 1.2-metre growth with large blooms and a long, flowering period. The variety has won international gold medals, as well as best shrub and a bronze medal at the Australian National Rose Trial Garden in Adelaide. 

It’s not the first commemorative rose the company has been involved with. In 2009 it worked with the McGrath Foundation to select the Jane McGrath Rose, which has helped raise more than $100,000 for cancer research. 

Mr Matuschka said Lady Lynne Cosgrove, wife of Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, had planted the Anzac rose in the garden at Government House and councils from across Australia had planted it at local war memorials. 

He said the rose would be available to the public from early 2015, with $1 from each sale donated to the Anzac Day Commemoration committee.

“It’s a very hardy plant and should flower from late spring through to late autumn,” he said. 

“We are very proud to have played a small part in this important national commemoration and we hope the public enjoy the rose as much as we do.”