June 19 column: Rose Show
If there were a popularity contest for everyone’s favorite flower, the rose would win hands down, don’t you think? You just can’t beat roses for their beauty, color and fragrance. Next Sunday (June 26), you’ll have the opportunity to view all sorts of different roses at the Spokane Rose Society’s 69th annual Rose Show.
Here’s a link to my column about it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Discover variety, learn about care at Rose Show. Or you can read my column below:
Column:
by Susan Mulvihill
June is the perfect month to celebrate the most beloved flower in the garden, the rose. After all, roses are right in the middle of their first flush of blooms. They add color, fragrance and elegance to our landscapes.
On Saturday, June 25, the Spokane Rose Society will hold their 69th annual Rose Show. Northland Rosarium, which is located at 9405 S. Williams Lane, in southwest Spokane County, is the venue. Admission is free.
“The show is a great way for attendees to appreciate this amazing flower in a way that you can’t in the garden. Having the show at Northland Rosarium gives people the opportunity to see a much wider range of roses.”
Kevin Brownlee, Spokane Rose Society president
In addition to the show being free and open to the public, anyone can enter their roses for judging. SRS members will even help them display blossoms to their best advantage.
Roses are everybody’s favorite flower
Brownlee recently reminisced about the popularity of roses over time.
“In the old days, people liked roses because they were finicky. So it was a sign of accomplishment when they could grow them,” he said. “Roses were sort of the souffle of the garden. The opposite is true now. There are ever-blooming varieties, they have a long season of interest and need very little care.
Master Rosarian Lynn Schafer enjoys the educational aspect of the shows.
“We get to demonstrate to the public that roses aren’t fussy,” she said. “They are actually easy. They’ll bloom through the summer. You can get them in all colors except blue. And you can find roses with a fragrance, or without a fragrance if you’re allergic.”
She is delighted with having Northland Rosarium as the setting for the show. Attendees tend to see roses they like and often will be able to purchase them there.
Rose care from Master Rosarian Lynn Schafer
Schafer, who has about 200 roses in her own garden, feels Spokane has an ideal climate for growing them.
“We can’t grow the dinner-plate size (blooms) that Seattle has,” she explained. “But we don’t have to fight fungus or black spot. People think roses need to be sprayed and coddled, but they don’t. And breeders have focused on disease-resistance, so today’s cultivars are much easier to care for.”
With the distinct possibility of another hot summer, she offered the following advice to keep roses happy and blooming:
“Give them regular, deep waterings, not just a sprinkle,” she suggested. “By giving them an inch of water once a week, they will provide you with blooms all summer long and into the fall.”
Schafer’s summertime routine is to apply a gallon of a custom fertilizer to each of her roses in mid-July.
“Other than that, my advice is to deadhead and water them, and then just enjoy your roses,” she added.
There’s a bonus besides viewing the roses at the show. Attendees can watch garden guru Phyllis Stephens answer gardening questions during her radio show from 10 a.m. to noon. Spokane Rose Society members will be on hand to answer rose questions and there will be a prize drawing.
The Spokane Rose Society meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. Manito meeting room, just east of Manito Park’s Gaiser Conservatory, is the meeting place. Guests are always welcome.
Susan Mulvihill is co-author, with Pat Munts, of “Northwest Gardener’s Handbook.” Contact her at Susan@susansinthegarden.com and follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/susansinthegarden.
Rose Show schedule of events:
- 8 to 10 a.m. – Rose exhibitor prep
- 10 a.m. to 12 noon – Judging
- Noon to 4 p.m. – Visitor viewing
If you aren’t familiar with the location of Northland Rosarium, view their website. You’ll find directions, contact information, as well as information on the roses they have available for sale. They have beautiful display gardens to stroll through. In addition to being an enjoyable pursuit, you’ll see how many different rose cultivars grow. You just might be bringing some new ones home to your garden!