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The holding of a rose show was first suggested by Dean Hole in The Florist.³¹' It went almost unheeded. He later appealed to three of England's greatest rose-growers for co-operation, and they decided to hold the world's first Grand National Rose Show on 1st July 1858. They subscribed £5 each as a commencement and solicited subscriptions. St James's Hall, London, was engaged. Dean Hole arrived at the hall with his blooms at five-thirty on the morning of the show after a journey of one hundred and twenty miles.

The second rose show was held on 23rd June 1859, the third on 12th July i860, and the fourth on 10th July 1861. They were all spring shows, for very few blooms were to be had at other times of the year in those days, but after a few years two or three shows each season came to be regular fixtures.

Early shows consisted almost entirely of specimen blooms. These magnificent roses of large size and faultless form still command universal admiration as the true aristocrats of any show, but, with the rapidly growing tendency towards roses of lighter build, grace, artistry, and vivid colours, large numbers of classes are now provided for roses less suited to specimen-bloom purposes.