The History of Roses of WA

John Viska, the chairman of the WA branch of the Australian Garden History Society will present an illustrated talk on the history of roses in WA, beginning with early settlement to the present day. In his presentation he will describe rose varieties that were fashionable in the different periods, how they were propagated and the rose growing industry.

John Viska is the founding Chairman of the West Australian branch of the Australian Garden History Society and the author of A Guide to Conserving and Interpreting Gardens in Western Australia. He contributed entries to The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens, the Historical Encyclopaedia of WA, researched and curated the society’s two exhibitions on Historic Gardens of Perth and co-edited Historic Gardens of Perth, European settlement to Modernism.

For twenty-five years he lectured in Horticulture in the TAFE system as well as part-time teaching with Landscape Architecture Students at the University of WA. He has co-authored Conservation Plans for the Heritage Council of Western Australia, The City of Vincent and The National Trust of Western Australia.

In 2008 he was the recipient of an award from the Heritage Council of Western Australia for Outstanding contribution to Heritage in Western Australia by an Individual and is actively involved with promoting the garden history of Western Australia through delivering public lectures to community groups and societies as well as publishing articles.

In 2021 he was awarded life membership of the Society.