Rose Friends,

If you were at the August meeting you know we are finishing 2019 strong. So many members brought in “Show and Tell” from their gardens… things ranged from what’s going right, what needs some help and our ASK THE MASTERS Team of Mark Nolen and John Hefner gave  us so many “professional” tips on growing roses in our area, and how to battle the pests that want to come along for the beautiful ride!

Sally Parsons took us through her experiment of using beneficial nematodes to battle midge and thrips. We will be checking back in with her next year! Sally also brought a vase of the most fragrant David Austin roses ever! Harlow Carr emerged as everyone’s favorite. Hope we can get some of those for our rose sale next year.

Teri Russell brought the “cutting” that she started at Rosefest when Connie Hartwood did her demonstration. New Dawn was no longer a cutting … it was 12″ tall and a strong plant. We celebrated with Teri!

John Hefner interviewed a team of our newer society leaders or what they had learned and what they still wanted to know. Out of that conversation we gained some insight into programs we might consider in the future.

Thanks to all who participated. It was a wonderful night!

Below you will read of the great things that are coming up!

See you there.
Teresa Byington
President

THE FINISH STRONG THEME CONTINUES . . .

DAVID AUSTIN: THE MAN AND HIS ROSES
TUES, SEPT 10, 6:30 pm
Sullivan Munce Cultural Center / Zionsville

SPEAKER: Trudy Struck (who is part of the team that manages the care for the Master Gardener’s rose garden in Noblesville!
Trudy’s program will give you insight into David Austin the man as well as showcase his beautiful creations.

We will finish the Sept meeting with the popular…
ASK THE MASTERS:
John and Mark will share tips for putting the garden to bed for winter and answer your questions!

CHILI COOK-OFF / COSTUME PARTY

TUES, OCT 8, 6:30 pm
Sullivan Munce Cultural Center / Zionsville

Our host for this special evening will be Humberto DeLuca. It promises to be FUN!

Those in the Chili Competition are:

• Keith Oltean
• Greg Byington
• John Hefner
• Mark Nolen
• Humberto DeLuca

Everyone will have the opportunity to taste test and vote!

We will need more than chili to eat! Click here for the online form to sign up for side dishes!

Costume Party: You can come dressed as a rose or something else if you prefer. Roses go back to the beginning of time – that a lot of names! THIS COULD BE INTERESTING!

We will vote on costumes too!

Winners will receive Dammann’s Garden Center Gift Certificates!

HOLIDAY PARTY!

SAT, DEC 7, 6 pm

Annual Awards & New Board Installation
Location: Magic Dinner at Serenity Restaurant
135 S Main St, Zionsville, IN 46077
(Two blocks from where we have our meetings!)

If you haven’t been to Serentiy it is a magical place or maybe I should say haunted. Yes, it is a beautiful house with a history and we will hear about it while we are there! Read more here.

Our entertainment will be a magic show.

COST: $22 per person
Price includes a three-course dinner, non alcoholic drink and show plus tax and gratuity.

You may also buy wine at $5 a “pour”.

This is a special evening for our society and a good time to get to know people better. Who knows you might just receive an award!

For the Christmas dinner, please RSVP to Teresa Byington here.

We are excited to see you at each of these events as we end our growing year strong!

Rose friendships and rose education is a winning combination.

Our meetings are open to the public.

So please invite other to join you!

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2020 Note:

Linda Kimmel and Teresa Byington are beginning to do research for the 2020 rose sale. While the annual Rose Sale is a money maker for our society, it is also a service to our members — giving them the opportunity to buy beautiful roses at a discount! To quote John Hefner, “the roses we get for the sale are outstanding!” This year we had a very successful partnership with Frazee Gardens in Brownsburg saving us money on delivery (they allowed us to have our roses delivered with their delivery)and their care and storage of our roses between delivery and sale was over the top. We can’t thank them enough and look forward to the same partnership this year!

Pre-sale will begin in February. Delivery to society meeting will be in April. We always sell out quickly, so be on the look out for the announcements early 2020!