Interview Girija Viraraghavan

Girija Viraraghavan was so friendly to make time for a short interview for our group members. Together with her husband, Viru, they are one of the most prominent rose breeders of India

Dirk: Thank you for making time for us Girija. When did you guys fall in love with "the rose"?

Girija: Viru fell in love with roses at age 13. I came to know about roses and other plants only after we married in 1960 and I fell in love with roses around 1965 because Viru was so passionate about them.

Dirk: Which rose families do you like most and why?

Girija: Rosa Gigantea and their derivatives the Teas because of the beauty of their flowers

Dirk: What are your all time favorite rose varieties and why?

Girija: It is very difficult to have favourites!!for Viru it was Julien Potin which he saw at age 13 and fell in love with roses. Later it was Pristine and Valencia, we love all the bronze coloured roses. And of course we love all our own ones!!!Viru particularly likes our Priyatama since it is named for me. Then we like the Lijiang  Rose which we saw in Lijiang and that was quite a sight! So beautiful!

Dirk: Does it take a lot of time to create roses that are good enough to sell?

Girija: For us it takes 8 to 9 years of testing

Dirk: Is it difficult to cultivate roses in a hot climate like yours?

Girija: While India is a tropical country with hot climate, we live at an altitude of 2200m so we have what is called tropical mountain climate, with  cool summers and cooler winters. We don't get snow but we get ground frost. So we have no problem. But in the plains ,roses suffer in the summer months and bloom only in the monsoon, August and go on blooming till January

Dirk: What does your ultimate rose look like?

Girija: There Is no one shape or form. We have bred roses which are single, semi double, Double ,fully double, HT form, China form, flowers with green centres....

Dirk: One last question: What kind of advice would you give to our members who are just starting with roses?

Girija: Make sure if the kind of roses that will do well in your climate, seek the advice of experienced rose growers of your area, after you have learned the basics and your roses are flourishing, experiment with roses you like but which are touted to only do well in 'cold climate ' ' hot climate'' whatever,  with your experience you should be able to grow even difficult roses. Abd grow all kinds, and all sizes from minis to climbers. Abd enjoy your roses,let rose growing be a happy activity!

Dirk: Thank you for making time for us!

Girija: It's been my pleasure!