As the afternoon progresses, the friends move into the garden, looking like so many pastel spring flowers among Ellen's old-fashioned roses and bougainvillea.
Eight rose beds demonstrate the development of modern cultivars of hybrid tea and floribunda roses from the old-fashioned roses pre-1800, when they were crossed with repeat flowering China roses.
While purists favour old-fashioned roses with their single display of heavenly blooms, most want lots of flowers over several months.
The David Austin English roses were a breakthrough, combining the characteristics of old-fashioned roses with the repeat bloom of modern hybrids.
The gardeners, chosen because they collectively covered every region, climate and soil type in Britain, said that they liked old-fashioned roses with delicate scents.