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The Rose Times ISSUE INSIDE THIS The Rose Times ISSUE: Apologies 1 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 SPRING 202 1 The Chairman says 4 My apologies that the Spring newsletter. has almost become a Derek Lawrence visits 7 the Bowles Lyon Summer newsletter The intention was to await the results of our Garden Virtual Spring Rose Show (which you will find in this edition) so that Chris Warner talks 12 we could get you all in the mood for a summer, full of roses with rose Rose Trade events every weekend. Unfortunately it has taken longer than we Spring Show Pictures 15 would have liked. Valmai’s Rose 18 The blooms, as we see from the postings on our Facebook Group, are Irish Rover 19 bursting into life in your gardens; in spite of what has been largely A Rose For Eyam 21 regarded as a ‘very late season’. Society Shop 26 Unfortunately, and in spite of our wonderful NHS ploughing on with the vaccination programme, many of our summer shows have been AGM Report & 27 Dean Hole Medal affected and cancelled due to COVID worries. The one that gives us Support Our 31 most disappointment is our Summer Rose Festival at Squires Garden Sponsors Centre in Shepperton. Planned for the weekend of 26 and 27th June News From Down 32 Under –Australia 22 (just seven days after the originally planned end to restrictions) was The Rose Sleuth 33 we felt after agonising discussions with our hosts, just too soon to Contact Us 36 risk. The organisation of the marquee, security, catering and potential disruption to the smooth running of a very busy garden centre involved too much preparation only to perhaps cancel at the last moment. Additionally, after months of lockdown and isolation, our members, like many in the UK, will take time to adjust to the new and gradual return to normal. So sadly our show at Shepperton will again We should always be cancelled but we hope to return on 25th and 26th June 2022. remember Dean Naturally we have members and exhibitors who desperately miss the Samuel Hole’s shows and are keen for a show to be held under ‘COVID safe’ words . conditions and for that reason we have a a smaller show on Saturday “He who would grow 24th July at St Michael’s Hall in Pelsall. It will be a safe venue for beautiful Roses must exhibitors to compete, and for our new judges to have an have them in his heart” opportunity to see and judge some roses and complete their The Rose Society UK - Spring 2021 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 P A G E 2 accreditation. This will be the first time that we have had a chance to do this since September 2019. We grow a good number of roses at home in our garden but the majority, especially our ’show roses’ are grown on an allotment. As I have ’matured’ (grown older), I found that weeding is a job best done on my knees. Those same knees that have served me so well do however complain bitterly when scratching around the roses and so I always use a foam kneeling pad which is often mistaken by my fellow plotholders as a prayer mat! As my allotment adjoins the track that leads to the other allotment plots, there is always someone walking past to say ’hello’, ‘how are they growing?’ or ‘say one for me while your down there!’ That one just never gets old! Living in East Anglia, we are generally expected to have roses in bloom a week or two earlier than other areas but we’ve found that there’s even a difference between flowering time between our sheltered garden at sea level and our allotment 100 feet up and a mile further in land. Nearly everyone has remarked this year that the cold and dry early spring weather has meant that the roses are very late and whilst that may be true for some, the growth variation that we’ve seen between our roses suggests that perhaps the lateness may also have something to do with local conditions? So with the Government announcing that ‘Freedom Day’ will now be 19th July, the lateness of the growing season and our desire to hold a safe and worthwhile event we have pushed our date back as well. We will now be holding the ‘Show and Meet’ event at Pelsall on Saturday 24th July. The Show will be a smaller than usual event but with hopefully lots of mid-summer blooms. For this one event our show will be Open to all. Our hope is that we can attract new and first-time rose exhibitors in an effort to gain new members too. If you’re new to exhibiting, but have roses and would like to try, bring your roses and there’ll be members on hand to show you how. The show will be competitive and judged but above all, it will be friendly and a way of us saying “we’re back!” Let’s show everyone roses again. Obviously we would love as many Rose Society UK members to attend and enjoy the roses. Oh, did I mention the cream teas? We will be serving scones, cream, jam and a strawberry or two as our way of saying thanks for coming. The event will be free to attend but we do have to ask you to let us know that you’ll be coming so we can track all attendees in line with COVID guidance . For those who have not been to St Michaels’ Hall in Pelsall, it is a large community hall with plenty The Rose Society UK - Spring 2021 of ventilation that will enable us to comply with social distancing (or whatever conditions we have to abide by after 19th July) With luck, this will be the start of our ‘return to normal’. The society is making great progress with membership and we are on a firm financial footing to the extent that in 2022 we would love to hold a larger event where our membership can gather, meet, chat and enjoy roses in the company of other rose-lovers. If this is something you would like to attend or be involved in, please let us have your thoughts. You’re Invited to our Rose Show and Meet Event St Michael’s Church Hall Hall Lane, Pelsall, WS3 4JN Sunday 24th July Bring Roses - Show Roses - See Roses Talk Roses - Eat Cream Scones R.S.V.P. to; [email protected] to reserve your place Stay safe, keep growing those roses The Rose Society UK - Spring 2021 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 P A G E 4 The Chairman Notes It seems little has changed with the spring growing season since I wrote my notes for 2020. The weather was variable then and now in 2021 we have a similar pattern, but in reverse. April last year being very wet with May becoming warm and dry giving the roses a spurt. This year the pattern is reversed with the driest April for many years and has been exacerbated with damaging overnight frosts and now followed by a very wet and cool May. My rose bushes were severely damaged with the frosts, damaging the new soft growth and they are now only slowly recovering. However, on my climbers I expect the usual early flush of bloom because the growth at the higher level seems hardier, undamaged and less susceptible to the frost than my bushes at ground level. Like many members I missed meeting up and just talking about roses last year. I enjoy the socialising and chatting particularly with our bureau at major flower shows. Hybrid Tea - Crescendo Our Annual Meeting had to be postponed last autumn and this is always a good chance to catch up with members. So, I was pleased that our virtual Annual General Meeting on Sunday 25th April, was an opportunity to meet UK members, but also other parts of the world but only on the screen. I have since heard good reports of the proceedings from members who enjoyed the event. Hybrid Tea - Lowrie The Rose Society UK - Spring 2021 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 P A G E 5 Thanks are due to Ray Martin our multi-talented secretary for the smooth running and application of the agenda. I enjoyed taking part in the Chat Room sequence at lunch time; I am sure it will be repeated during the darker days of the autumn and winter bringing members together. It is probably one positive idea to come from the pandemic. Do let us know if you think it is a worthwhile project to consider pursuing. The afternoon talk by Michael Baldwin on the Rose Breeding at Peter Beales Roses was enlightening and entertaining. He showed us what I call his “Low Tech” approach which gave us a considerable insight of his breeding techniques. miniflora - Gift of Love I was pleased that at the meeting, the honours Committee made a worthy choice in awarding the Dean Hole Medal to our President Colin Squires OBE. Colin gave his total support and financial assistance in setting up the Rose Society UK in those dark days during May 2017 following the demise of the RNRS. The citation was read by Derek Lawrence, but unfortunately because the award being made at the virtual meeting the presentation of an engraved medal was McGredy’s 1981 miniature - Marriotta unable to be made. It will be presented on the next occasion when we physically meet. As I write these notes my potted roses in the greenhouse, which are grown for our spring show are now beginning to bloom, some three weeks late.
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