Charles quest-ritson biography

Charles Quest-Ritson is man who literally wrote the book on roses — several of them, actually — but he'll openly concede that his best efforts in Hampshire are as nothing compared to the best Australia has to offer.

Twenty years ago, I wrote two rather hefty books about roses.

Both were well reviewed and both won international prizes. One of them was translated into seven languages and — rather more importantly for an author — still earns welcome royalties.

The international editions were pre-sold at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which meant that I had to include roses in all the markets where the book would be published.

Rose lovers are famously nationalistic — it is difficult to persuade Frenchmen that some of the best roses are bred by Englishmen — and so, with the backing of a generous advance, I set off to study and write about roses all over the world.

My tra