Book  (2002)  Page(s) 209.  
 
Roses can’t be relied upon to come true from seed and most of the seedlings that come up in a big garden are not worth keeping. But years ago when I was at Bleak House a really worthwhile seedling came up in a bed of Rugosas. I think one of the parents was the purple ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’. I’m not sure what the other one was. The tiny plant grew and prospered – largely because I didn’t have time to weed the bed – otherwise it would have gone down the crimson path to the bonfire like most of my seedlings. When it put out its first tentative flower I was delighted. It was large and scented, a softer colour than ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’ and nearly as double. I was even more delighted when the little plant flowered again in autumn. So when I moved from Bleak House to Erinvale I dug it up and took it with me….When we were planning our move to Tasmania this seedling rose was one of a very few I wanted to take with me. As it was a chance seedling I would never be able to get it again. So I asked John Nieuwesteeg to bud a couple of plants for me. He does it so much better than I do. In our first winter down here I put in a big rose order. I hope John might remember my seedling rose. Of course he had. But he sent me not the two or three I had asked for but a bundle of twenty-two beautiful strong healthy plants – enough to make a hedge. And Rugosas make the best hedges of all. So I made a bed along the north-east boundary of the red and grey garden and settled them in. They have made an excellent hedge. It is now 1.5 metres tall and so dense that even the heelers don’t push their way through. When he took the budwood John had asked me to give it a distinguishing name, so I had called it ‘Niree Hunter’ after my mother…… So my seedling rose goes by her name and would without doubt have been a joy to her. The name ‘Niree Hunter’ confuses everybody. The rose has been referred to as ‘Marie Hunter’, ‘Irene Hunter’, ‘Myra Hunter’ for most people have never heard of the name Niree.

Magazine  (1999)  Page(s) 26. Vol 21, No. 1.  
 
Penny McKinlay, We spent the afternoon with Susan and Bill Irvine at their new home at Elizabeth Town outside Deloraine. ….I loved it all and delighted in the full hedge of a new Rugosa bred at Erinvale, and propagated by John Nieuwesteeg, to be named ‘Ngarie Hunter’, in memory of Susan’s mother.