ARS News

Planting the Seed
By Don Myers
Don.myers@bayercropscience.com

Every member of ARS developed an interest in roses from some experience. Sharing those experiences will interest the membership and provide ways that members can spread the hobby and interest others. The result will be to grow new members who are committed to the hobby of rose growing.

Let me share my story. I first became interested in roses in 1963 at the age of 15. Our family had just moved from Baltimore to central New Jersey. Prior to coming to New Jersey, I had no interest in plants except to mow the lawn of our tiny Maryland row house…and that was not particularly positive.

Our New Jersey home was in a new development. At that time there was no interest in preserving vegetation. There was not a single plant of any sort on the 1/2 acre property. The soil was red clay and the builder had removed most of the good top layer. I suppose my first reaction was to be happy because there was no lawn to mow. Our next door neighbor had an identical house and situation. They had also come from Baltimore and Mr. Peterson worked for the same company as my dad.

The summer was hot and humid and I was a bored teenager with nothing to do. When the first autumn rolled around, I noticed Mrs. Peterson (Miss Marie as I affectionately called her) doing something on the side of her house and I decided to investigate. She was planting tulips and daffodils. My natural curiosity took over and I began to ask her a variety of questions about what she was doing. She detected my interest, gave me a small bag of bulbs and suggested that I plant them in my yard. Since our houses were identical I decided the best strategy was to plant them in the same place as she did. I even decided to experiment and planted a daffodil and tulip in the same hole with the idea that they would somehow “hybridize.”

The next spring many of the bulbs emerged and I immediately was fascinated with the variety of color and form. I also got a certain joy out of seeing those blooms after a long, cold winter. Not long after, Mrs. Peterson was in the yard again, and this time she was planting bare root roses. Once again I investigated, and so began my rose garden. My first garden had about 40 varieties. Most were hybrid teas, but there were several miniatures. I still remember some of the varieties…hybrid teas/grandifloras such as ‘Mirandy’, ‘Montezuma’, ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Condesa de Sastago’, ‘Mt. Shasta’, ‘Queen Elizabeth’, ‘Chrysler Imperial’ and, of course, ‘Peace’. My first miniature was ‘Starina’. That rose began my life-long love of miniature roses.

I learned how to care for my roses…fertilizing, controlling insects and disease, and just enjoying their beauty through reading garden books such as Cynthia Westcott’s book Anyone Can Grow Roses and conversations with Mrs. Peterson. There was no internet and I knew nothing of rose societies. Westcott’s book is still worth reading.

Several years passed and I had to decide where I would attend college. My interest in plants had grown and while there seemed to be a certain stigma about matriculating at a college of agriculture, I chose Cook College at Rutgers University (the college of agriculture), as it was called then. I specialized in plant science and later obtained a PhD in plant pathology from Cornell University. My subsequent career has taken me from the university to a variety of jobs in industry, but my love of roses has grown exponentially. When my work day is less than perfect, a walk in my rose garden takes my mind to another place. Call it addiction or passion, roses are an important part of my life.

What can we learn from this story? First of all, the seed was planted during my youth. Without the “mentoring” of Mrs. Peterson, I may never have become interested in roses and my career might have gone in a completely different direction. Ironically, my parents had little interest in plants or roses. I can remember their dismay at my attempt to increase the size of my rose garden by removing lawn. Second, besides growing roses, my career became oriented around plants. A simple act of kindness by a neighbor affected the direction of my life. We, as rosarians must be that neighbor. Try interesting our youth in roses. Get them into the garden and focus their natural curiosity on something other than video games. If we don’t do it, our hobby will not grow. Plant that seed…now!

(Ed note: Sign your youngsters up for the on-line quarterly newsletter, The Young Rosarian. Send me their e-mail address and age today. The next issue will be e-mailed soon!

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Tips to Share
by Charles Shaner, Staunton, VA

Great article by Mary Peterson in the January issue “The Dreaded “S” Word”. Not only does the dreaded “S” word have a sociological effect on people joining a society but also the work involved in growing roses. I can count the number of times I have heard the comment “I don’t have all that time”. I tell them you attend meetings, listen to the experiences of others, and you develop ways to do the job faster with more efficiency and with less expense.

One of those jobs is feeding roses. We have put so much into it we sometimes forget the basics. Many people do not like to use chemicals and some states have put tight restrictions on the use of them. Chemical fertilizers also contain a high amount of salt. This is where we need to get back to the basics. I live in the Chesapeake Bay water shed area so we have to watch the use of chemicals and manures to a certain degree.

My father was a farmer during the Great Depression where many lessons were learned. He passed many of those lessons on to me like the use of manures. These are very inexpensive and if you visit your local farm, they may even be free for the asking. Just be sure you get the manures that have been around for a while and not the fresh. I blend my own organic rose foods. Most of the ingredients can be found at the farm feed store or garden center. Items such as Alfalfa Meal, Fish Meal, Cotton Seed Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Blood, and Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salts) can usually be found at a much lower price in larger quantities. My wife thought I was crazy when I purchased a small cement mixer to blend these in. With it, I can blend enough organic food to feed about 150 roses in less than a half hour. Dumping it into a construction wheel barrow, I can push it around and apply it to my roses with very little effort and time. My roses love it and it is safe for the environment. Organic foods can also be applied anytime and usually without the danger of burning. There are times we just need to stop and take a step back to the basics.

ED NOTE: In the last issue, the impression was given that the winning photo of Moonstone was an ARS National winner. That is not absolutely true. The photo show held in Palm Springs at the same time as the ARS/PSWD Convention and Show was in no way sponsored by ARS or the PSWD.  It was totally sponsored by the Desert Rose Society.  The ARS sponsors the ARS photography contest once a year in the American Rose Magazine, but, to date, the ARS has no specific guidelines for sponsoring or judging rose photographs as a separate division in ARS-sponsored national shows. Susan Graham wrote to set the record straight.

PSWD had an ad hoc Photography Committee appointed by District Director Kreg Hill to work on guidelines for adding Photography as a third and distinct Division in our district rose shows (and, of course, we hope that ultimately this will filter up to the ARS as a whole).  The 2009 Palm Springs International Rose Photography Show, sponsored by the Desert Rose Society, was the second show to use guidelines worked out by what had been the ad hoc committee. Albuquerque used it in their spring 2009 show.

Tom Mayhew's photograph of Moonstone, was the undisputed winner. There were 218 beautiful entries, but that one just stood out from across the room and up close!

Susan Brandt Graham, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chair, PSWD Photography Committee, www.abqmaternityportraits.com, www.sbgphotos.com.

COMING NEXT MONTH: Electronic newsletters “how to” ideas

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Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the American Rose Society. To respond to items in this ARS & You, please write to any committee member of the Local Society Relations Committee: