ARS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

After the recent spate of vicious weather in much of the country, I’m sure that spring and rose-related activities are the furthest things from many rosarians' minds. Nonetheless, February is the month that gardening starts to perk in warm and moderate areas of the U.S. and the sap begins to rise in our roses and rose growers. February starts the rounds of garden shows, nursery visitations, pruning demonstrations at public gardens, talks to garden clubs, and any number of other opportunities for us to educate the general public with regard to roses and rose growing.

This is one of the prime times to recruit new members for our local societies, and there are many ways to do this other than just talking to people and handing out society information sheets. One way some societies adopted is to obtain the e-mail addresses of interested gardeners, and send them a copy or two of the society’s bulletin. Even if your society only mails out its newsletters, these are inevitably prepared in an electronic format – Word or other – that can be e-mailed to prospective members at no cost to the society.

This is also a prime recruiting time for the American Rose Society, and while we cannot send people an e-copy of the American Rose magazine, we do have an excellent recruiting tool in place this year that we did not have previously: the $5 Trial Membership Program. This allows us to offer the 4-month trial membership at any of our rose-related functions, which can be just about anything. This membership is $10 if not offered through a local society. Plus, if you talk someone into joining your local society, they can then get the ARS trial membership free, as per Phase #1 of the program.

The process is so simple, even a caveman could do it (apologies).

• Step #1 Take some copies of the American Rose with you to your function to show people what they’ll be getting with their trial membership.
• Step #2 Hand them the application sheet, which can be downloaded from the ARS website and duplicated.

It is vitally important that we all do our part in building ARS membership. You do not need to be a Consulting Rosarian, a local society officer, or anything other than a dedicated individual to “sell” the American Rose Society to the general public. Let’s all do our best to take advantage of this opportunity.

Jeff Wyckoff
ARS President

Pres. Jeff Wyckoff wants to remind societies that a limited number of the book Roses for Today are available. The price is $50.00 for three copies. This would make a great trophy and/or a door price or raffle item. They are available from the ARS store at http://www.ars.org

NEWS FROM ARS

• Renew your access to Modern Roses 12 on the ARS web site, in the ARS.
• Here are some other reminders of the services and advantages of being part of ARS. There are a multitude of Power Point programs available to local rose societies for presentation at meetings. The special interest quarterlies are available on the ARS web site – free to members.
• From the National Chairman of Judges:

  ___The cost of taking the Horticulture or Arrangement Judge test is now $10, the badge is extra (this is in line with the CR test and badge costs).

  ___Two new show certificates are available – Miniflora Single and Junior One Bloom. Look for them in the ARS store when ordering show supplies.

  ___The Arrangement Rosette for Junior Royalty will be renamed Junior Award, to be awarded for any Junior arrangement class.

  ___For National Shows, a Novice in Arrangements has been defined as a person that has never won a medal award (gold, silver, bronze).

  ___The classification known as Mini-Flora, will now be known as Miniflora.

• The form for the Nominations of Miniature/Miniflora Hall of Fame is up on the ARS site.  Each member can nominate 5 roses.  You will also find a list of eligible varieties. 1) The variety must have been introduced at least 20 years prior to the year the award is given. Introduction date will verified by the latest edition of Modern Roses.   2) There can be multiple winners in any year.   3) Varieties for consideration are solicited from the general membership through an announcement in the American Rose magazine, on the ARS web site, in the Miniature and Miniflora Rose Bulletin and in district and local bulletins. Nominations are to be sent by May 1, 2010, to:

Dr. Jim Hering, 1050 Kingwood Drive, Marion, OH 43302 rosehering@roadrunner.com
Cast your vote on the web site today!

A Great Recruitment Tool! –To help you grow your local society membership, ARS is offering a free 4-month trial membership to all NEW non-ARS Members joining your society. We encourage you to use this special offer as a recruiting tool for your local society membership at every available opportunity. “Join our local society today and receive a FREE 4-Month Trial ARS Membership!” If they don’t join your local society, you can still offer them a 4-Month Trial Membership in ARS for just $5.00 (The 4-Month Trial membership is normally $10 to the general public, joining though the website or other advertisement.)

AN ARTICLE OF INTEREST
“Planting the Seed”
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!

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

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:

Page 5

Dear Editor,

Is your society’s information on the American Rose Society’s website up-to-date? I’m glad that I recently checked my local society’s information as it wasn’t! To update your officers, go to the ARS home page at www.ars.org. At the very top of the screen, click on “Local Societies”. Next, click on the hyperlink for "Update Local Society Information”. Simply fill in the information asked and click “Send”. This is an easy and wonderful process. Having your society’s information be current will surely benefit those in your area who may be searching for a local society to join or who may have questions about their roses.

The National Rose Show results are on the ARS web site under Members Only/Resources. I’m sure that members of your society want to know the results! Please check them out at http://www.ars.org/?page_id=777#natroseshow. If anyone has moved or changed their e-mail or phone number, they should file an update with ARS using the “Update Membership Information under Members Only” at http://www.ars.org/?page_id=268.

Great Rosarians of the World Event

THE GREAT ROSARIANS OF THE WORLD™ X - Honoring David Austin

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The New York Botanical Garden REGISTRATION REQUIRED. - To register or for more information, visit www.nybg.org/edu or call 718.817.8747. - Adult Education at The New York Botanical Garden -Registration Course # 104GAR 715, Registration fee: $95 for Members of The New York Botanical Garden, Heritage Rose Foundation, Manhattan Rose Society, or American Rose Society, $105 for Non-Members.

Morning Session: 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Lessons from a Rose Rustler with Mike Shoup owner of The Antique Rose Emporium
Sustainability GROW(s) Up! - A panel of world renowned rosarians will discuss topics covered in the new, revised and enlarged edition of The Sustainable Rose Garden Reader. Hear Peter Kukielski, curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, Clair Martin, Shannon Curator of Rose & Perennial Gardens at the Huntington Botanical Garden, San Marino, CA, Mike Shoup owner of The Antique Rose Emporium, Marilyn Wellan, 2009 Great Rosarian; Jeff Wyckoff, President of the American Rose Society, and Hillary Merrifield, co-author of Tea Rose –Old Roses for Warm Gardens.

Afternoon: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. –

Award Ceremony and Lecture by the Great Rosarians of the World 2010 Honoree, David Austin - David Austin is the hybridizer of English Roses and founder of David Austin Roses, Albrighton, Wolverhampton, UK. He is best known for developing roses that combine the strength, hardiness, fragrance, and the flower shapes of the Old Garden Rose classes with the health and re-blooming characteristics of modern remontant roses.

Reception 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. –

Reception in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden immediately following. The day will conclude with a reception in Mr. Austin’s honor in the beautiful, award winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. There will be “Jazz & Roses” music provided by Parlor Entertainment, a New York City based Jazz Trio, during the reception.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Queens Botanical Garden www.queensbotanical.org

43-50 Main St., Flushing, NY 11355 Registration: $20. Call 718-886-3800, Education Department
10am – 11:30am

From Australia!! - Three of the Authors of Tea Roses – Old Roses for Warm Gardens - Billy West, Hillary Merrifield, and Lynne Chapman will present a program on Tea Roses - - followed by Q&A.
11:30 am – 12:30pm

Guided Tour of the Rose Garden. Meet the Curator – Karl McKoy!

Promoting American Rose Society 4-Month Trial Memberships

I used the graphic below on the cover of Rainy’s newsletter for several months. If you feel it would help you to spread the message about how to join the American Rose Society, please feel free to use it in your newsletter!

— Sue Tiffany

July 1, 2010

ARS President’s Message

The American Rose Society has always supported rose exhibiting. We will continue to do so as rose shows are one of our prime tools to educate our members, non-members and the public. Seeing a wide array of rose varieties at their peak of cultural perfection at a rose show got many of us started in the hobby. Despite the fact that the majority of our members do not exhibit, we remain convinced of the importance of our competitive rose shows.

Some years ago, in response to a membership survey, the ARS decided to de-emphasize exhibiting information in the American Rose magazine and instead concentrate it in a new quarterly publication. In order not to favor only the exhibitors, the Mini Quarterly and The Arrangement Quarterly were also established at that time. This has remained a viable approach for these specific aspects of our hobby. Of late, the Rose Exhibitors’ Forum (which will be renamed “Exhibitors Quarterly”) experienced a noticeable hiatus, with no new issues coming out in over a year. In response to this, it was decided to take this publication in a new direction, one that would take advantage of our online ability to display a large number of color images of roses in the publication. It was also decided to forego reporting local show results in order to concentrate on District and National rose shows. We will continue with articles from exhibitors around the country, as well as other information specifically related to rose exhibiting.

I’m very happy to welcome Louise Coleman as the new editor of the ARS Exhibitors’ Quarterly. Louise’s long and outstanding service to the American Rose Society was recognized when she was awarded the ARS Gold Honor Medal in 2003. We are fortunate to have her returning to a publication she initiated and edited in the past.

The new format for the Exhibitors’ Quarterly will be a combination of a website blog and a direct quarterly mailing to interested ARS members. The ARS website will contain sign-up information for those members who want the EQ e-mailed directly to them on a quarterly basis. In addition, they will be notified when new material appears on the EQ site. This arrangement was necessitated by the limited file size that can be sent directly, while there is no limit for material, both text and images, appearing on the web blog.

The ARS website will also include a form for Districts to report their show results, as well as information on submitting digital images of District Show winners. As mentioned, we want to feature images of winning exhibits, so please be sure to provide photos of winning exhibits from your District show.

I’m looking forward to the first edition of the new Exhibitors’ Quarterly, and again my thanks to Louise Coleman and to ARS staff for their work on this groundbreaking approach to our quarterly bulletins and our continuing commitment to rose exhibiting.

Jeff Wyckoff, President

July 1, 2010

Guidelines & Rules for Judging Roses

Guidelines and Rules for Judging Roses has been revised – all the changes approved by the Board of Directors since 2003 have been placed in the new Guidelines. You can order a copy from the ARS Store on the website at:http://www.ars.org/store/index.php? main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=Guidelines

The new Guidelines, with the red binder cover is $15. Just the pages (you put them into your own binder cover) are $10. Shipping and handling is also charged.

(Editor’ s note: If you are interested in exhibiting or if you are involved in putting on your local rose show, the Guidelines and Rules for Judging Roses will be very helpful. Your society should have a copy for reference.)

July 1, 2010

Roses in Review

By Phil Schorr

The 85th annual Roses in Review survey is now open and ready for your responses. Why not take this opportunity to support the educational efforts of the ARS by participating? Whether you are an experienced grower with many plants or a relative beginner with just a few roses, your input is valuable and needed.

There are two ways for rose growers to participate. The old, traditional way is by filling out the paper rating forms that are appearing in the current edition of the ARS magazine. If you need additional forms, feel free to photocopy the forms from the magazine. For those who aren’t members, or who would rather print out additional copies of the forms, a PDF will soon be available on the ARS website which will allow you to print the forms directly from your computer. When you have completed the forms, mail them to your district RIR coordinator, whose name and address are included in the package with the rating forms.

If you would like to save time and just complete your ratings on the internet, you can reach the online RIR survey directly from the ARS website. Once you have registered the first time, you can come back to rate more roses at any time without having to register again. Be sure to read the Instructions that are available with the online survey. They will give you information on the most common questions, such as “How do I send the report to my district once I’ve filled out the form online?” Most of our reports are now coming through this online system, and I would encourage everyone to give it a try. It’s fast, easy and fun to use.

Don’t forget, the survey closes at the end of the day on September 26. Every year we hear from a few people who forgot and wonder if it’s too late once Sept. 26 has passed. The answer, I’m afraid, is “yes.” Don’t be left out! Why not get started right now while you’re thinking about it?

New Issues of the ARS Quarterly Bulletins

By: Philip Paul, Editor of the Miniature and Miniflora Bulletin and Member of the Local Society Relations Committee

In order to make sure all ARS members are more aware of when new issues of any of our Quarterly Specialty Newsletters are available on the ARS website, we are starting to publish a periodic short note on these new issues and some of the current articles available.

These newsletters can be found on the ARS website (ARS.org) under the “Members’ Only” section using the current password found on page 5 of each issue of the American Rose.

Miniature and Miniflora Bulletin
Four Issues from 2009 posted Volume 24
Two issues posted for 2010 — Volume 25

Issue 1 – First Quarter 2010 includes articles on:

• Call for Nominations for the Miniature and Miniflora Hall of Fame
• A Tribute to Frank Benardella
• Sandy Lundberg’s Mini and Miniflora Picks for 2010
• Sources for Miniatures and Minifloras
• Rose Restoration – A Practical Pruning Guide by Dr. Tommy Cairns
• Information on the August 2010 All Miniature Rose Show and Conference

Issue 2 – Second Quarter 2010 includes articles on: 
JUST POSTED

• Official Miniflora name change
• More information on the All Miniature Rose Show and Conference
• An article by Sandy Lundberg on the popularity of the miniflora rose
• New miniflora roses announced in 2009 and 2010 by Ron Schwerdt
• Updated (two new vendors) Miniature and Miniflora Rose List
• Stephen Hoy Southern Hybridizer
• Harold Baker on how he prunes miniatures and other roses

Old Garden Rose and Shrub Journal 
Four Issues from 2009 posted Volume 6

Rose Arrangers’ Bulletin 
Four Issues from 2009 posted

RECENT POSTING
Spring 2010 Issue includes articles on:

• “Can Horticultural Exhibitors Transition to Artistic?” by Bob Lundberg
• “This and That” by Sandy Dixon, National Chair of Arrangement Judges
• Linda Boland on “More Than The Duke”
• The Arrangers side of the All Miniature Rose Show and Conference
• Jim Harrell writes on “The Schedule Writer”
• “Arrangement Workshops and Programs in Shreveport” by Lew Shupe
• Pat Bilson writes on “A Focus on Miniatures”
• Jim Harrell weighs in on “The Novice Controversy”
• “Understanding Miniature Staging” by Sandy Dixon

Note: Jim Harrell, as newly appointed Editor of the Newsletter, also gives his plan for 2010 Bulletin’s themes.

Rose Exhibitors’ Forum 
(NEW NAME – ARS EXHIBITOR’S QUARTERLY)
One issue posted – See the President’s message for information on plans for this quarterly.