Dame Deborah James has revealed her joy at having a rose named after her, which she hopes her daughter may pone day have in her wedding bouquet.
The You, Me and The Big C podcast host, 40, recently revealed she is no longer having active cancer treatment and is under hospice care at home until the end of her life.
She took to Instagram to share a photo of the Dame Deborah James rose as well as her holding a beautiful bouquet.
Dame Deborah told her followers: ‘I’m so honoured with the help of @worldofrosesuk and @theharknessrosecompany to announce the release of the Dame Deborah James Rose!
‘I actually cried when they asked me if they could name a rose after me. The new rose is available to pre-order now for delivery in Autumn 2022 (link in stories and below). Even better, £2.50 from the sale of each rose will be paid to the @Bowelbabefund. There is of course a limited supply of Rose plants for sale! I just can’t wait for my family to plant them everywhere this Autumn.’
She added: ‘Roses are my favourite flowers and I hope this one will brighten the smiles for all! What also brings me so much joy is to know that the rose will also be incorporated into the company’s new Community Gardening Scheme which aims to get more vulnerable groups and people from underrepresented backgrounds involved in gardening.
‘Harkness have pledged to give away 1,000 Dame Deborah James Roses to Community Gardens across the UK this autumn time.’
Dame Deborah revealed her hopes that her family could keep the rose in their lives long after she is gone, with it having a special place in her teenage daughter’s future wedding.
She admitted: ‘What breaks my heart and brings me the most beautiful thought, is that this variety will and can now be grown forever, and maybe one day even Eloise might choose to have it in her wedding bouquet.’
Dame Deborah had set up the BowelBabe fund after revealing she was in hospice care and it has already amassed over £6.4million in donations to help raise awareness and research into bowel cancer, which she has battled for five years.
The Dame Deborah James rose is available to pre-order now at worldofroses.com/damedeborah, with a donation of £2.50 from each rose going to her BowelBabe Fund for Cancer Research UK.
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