Alexandra Farms Honors Designer with Stunning New Variety: Princess Holly’s Hope

Alexandra Farms is proud to announce a special addition to our prized Princess Garden Roses Collection with a classically stunning new variety: Princess Holly’s Hope®. This special garden rose has been years in the making at Alexandra Farms and is named after our friend and close collaborator – the renowned floral designer and educator Holly Heider Chapple.

A wonderfully imposing peach-colored bloom, Princess Holly’s Hope was selected by Holly as her signature garden rose during a visit to our farm in early 2020. Transitioning from a soft peachy-toned center to creamy outer petals, this sizable ruffle-cup bloom is classified as “very full” in terms of petal count, as it has over 80 petals. Princess Holly’s Hope opens fully and holds astoundingly well with a strength and resilience that reminds us of our friend.

A recognized American floral designer, published author, and educator based in Virginia, Holly says that when she first immersed herself in the floral industry, garden roses were her “first love,” noting she was quickly enamored with David Austin Wedding Roses’ Juliet (Ausjameson) and Patience (Auspastor). After encountering our varieties in 2009, she spent years designing and teaching with Alexandra Farms’ garden roses at conferences and Chapel Designers gatherings. Her design style was romantic and nostalgic yet modern – a perfect match with garden roses. Holly attributes much of the acclaim she received in the early years to the use of Alexandra Farms garden roses in her design work. “Juliet and Patience made me fall in love with garden roses and really established my brand and changed the trajectory of my company because we started focusing on these luxury flowers,” she says. Her expertise and appreciation for garden roses eventually cemented a partnership with Alexandra Farms when she met our company president, Jose (Joey) R. Azout, at the American Institute of Floral Designers’ 2018 Symposium.

Holly and her core team, including her husband and business partner Evan Chapple, first visited Alexandra Farms in February 2020. Holly approached several test varieties in our greenhouse before selecting three large blooms as her favorites. As the group poured over and discussed the varieties with the Alexandra Farms team that afternoon, it became clear that Holly was enamored with one rose in particular. This was Holly’s first encounter with the garden rose that would ultimately become her namesake.

What Holly particularly loves about Princess Holly’s Hope is how the variety opens, mimicking a large and striking star. “Her nuance in shape and variations in shades” are thrilling, she says. “I’m a lover of the ‘in-betweens’ and rarely look for a single-tone flower. [Princess Holly’s Hope] is a jewel in the industry.”

Joey agrees that this garden rose stands out from others because of her originality. “She’s not a traditionally shaped variety, considering Holly’s classical design,” he says. “The fact that she was inclined to select this flower shows Holly’s true versatility and ability to envision something beautiful in a more modern style.”

Princess Holly’s Hope is not only a unique and rare honor for the educator and leader it was named after but also for her husband Evan, who ultimately coined the name “Holly’s Hope” and who continues to inspire her work to this day. In 2022, Evan passed away after nearly 2 years of battling cancer, leaving their family and businesses to live on and thrive in Holly’s hands. Evan contributed to the growth of successful floral businesses, a family, and an infinite amount of love that is evident throughout Holly’s work and life. “It’s always been a shared world,” Holly says. “And everything I do still has a part of Evan in it.”

Princess Holly’s Hope is not only a unique and rare honor for the educator and leader it was named after but also for her husband Evan, who ultimately coined the name “Holly’s Hope” and who continues to inspire her work to this day. In 2022, Evan passed away after nearly two years of battling cancer, leaving their family and businesses to live on and thrive in Holly’s hands. Evan contributed to the growth of successful floral businesses, a family, and an infinite amount of love that is evident throughout Holly’s work and life. “It’s always been a shared world,” Holly says. “And everything I do still has a part of Evan in it.”