A Dorchester resident is being given the opportunity to have a lasting legacy in the town.

Dorchester Town Council is calling on anyone inspired by great literature and a love of nature to suggest a name for the new Writers' Rose Garden in the Borough Gardens.

The flower beds have bene planted with David Austin English roses from the Literary Collection. The award-winning roses are renowned for their fragrance, bloom, and resistance to disease.

David Austin was a keen writer and poet and spent many hours among his roses with a book. His love of literature and the English countryside is reflected in the names he chose for his roses.

The roses in the Writers' Rose Garden have been selected for their colour, fragrance and suitability to local growing conditions. Many of them are named after Thomas Hardy characters and great British classics, such as:

• Bathsheba
• Dame Judi Dench
• Desdemona
• Emily Bronte
• Eustacia Vye
• Gabriel Oak
• Gentle Hermione
• Gertrude Jekyll
• Jude the Obscure
• Lady of Shalott
• Olivia Rose Austen
• Roald Dahl
• Sceptred Isle
• Silas Marner
• The Country Parson
• The Lady Gardener
• Vanessa Bell
• Wildeve
• William and Catherine
• Young Lycidas

The mayor of Dorchester, Gareth Jones, said: "Thanks to generous gifts from the Friends of the Borough Gardens and two private donors to purchase the roses, we are delighted to present this opportunity for a local lover of both literature and roses to be inspired and leave their permanent mark.

"They will have the pleasure of knowing the rose garden will be carefully tended by our skilled gardeners for the enjoyment of generations to come in the lovely Borough Gardens setting."

Entry forms can be picked up from the Dorchester Town Council offices, Dorchester Library, Shire Hall, The Old Tea House and the refreshment kiosk in the Borough Gardens.

Entries will be judged by Dorchester Town Council and Friends of Borough Gardens. The winner will eb invited to a special ceremony in Borough Gardens on Saturday, July 31 to endorse the name on the plaque in the rose garden and receive their prize of a David Austen English shrub rose from the mayor.

Completed entries forms need to be returned to Dorchester Town Council, 19 North Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1JF or by emailing [email protected] by 5pm on Thursday, July 15.

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