2023 was a very good year for our rose society! We had a super strong start with two power house speakers… Tom Carruth and Gaye Hammond. If you missed the Tom Carruth or Gaye Hammond program, they were recorded and are available on our MEMBERS ONLY page. As members you will definitely want jump over there and watch. The MEMBERS ONLY page is password protected but you can get the password here…. Email link. 

In March we moved back to Sullivan Munce for in-person meetings and Teresa Byington gave a program on English Cottage Gardens. March was a great time to “visit” England and begin to make plans for our own gardens. Through Teresa’s program we “visited” some estate gardens in England, had a mini tour of Teresa’s garden, talked about garden planning and plants Teresa found to be suitable for Cottage Style gardens in our area.

WORKSHOPS

Throughout the year we had workshops: tool sharpening, propagation via rose budding and there was fertilizer making day!

GARDEN TOURS

We were inspired by visiting gardens in our area and a member’s garden: Tree Frog Garden, Avon Gardens, and Rita Spalding’s home (where art and roses meet).

We kicked off fall with a visit from Ron Daniels,  Nashville (TN) Rose Society President. It was an over the top meeting leaving us all inspired! Ron actually brought roses from his amazing garden in Nashville to give out to our members!

We finished our year with a fantastic meeting on attracting birds, bees and other beauties to our garden from two experts in the field – Karen Smith and Jennifer Davies. 

A TIME TO CELEBRATE

Last week we had our board installation and awards banquet. 

John Hefner conducted the board installation. He encouraged each board member based on their particular job description and also called on all members to participate and serve when there’s a need. We are so proud of those who lead us! And, invite all of our members to be a part of this thriving group. 

• President: Trudy Struck
• 1^st VP: Teresa Downham
• 2^nd VP: Carolyn Lloyd
• Secretary: Kim Chmielewski
• Treasurer: Tad Sayama
• Membership: Norma Bledsoe
• Newsletter Editor: Linda Kimmel
• Website/Blog/Social Media: Teresa Byington

President, Trudy Struck, gave out special mentions to several who served well in 2023…

⭐️John Hefner who hosted an excellent meeting and budding workshop at his home.
⭐️Kim Chmielewski for her excellent work handling all aspects of our extremely popular rose sale.
⭐️Teresa Byington for her work on the website/ blog and programs.
⭐️Linda Kimmel for her work on our very newsy newsletter.
⭐️Eloisa Garza for her work on our 2023 programs and extra effort in storing roses during our sale.

THE BIG WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Norma Bledsoe, Bronze Medal

The American Rose Society’s Bronze Medal is given to a local rose society member for outstanding service to the society. Norma has served in many society capacities through the years. Her primary focus for the last several years has been to serve as our Membership Chairman. From the moment you are interested in the society through the membership process, Norma has it covered! 

Thank you Norma for a JOB VERY WELL DONE.

ON THE JOB

The board has assumed their positions and is already tackling 2024 with plans and projects. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Could you take just a minute and let us know if there are things you are particularly interested in that we could work into our planning OR maybe you have a program you’d like to give to our group, OR maybe you’d be willing to open your garden for an exclusive Rose Society tour. That would be fabulous! Remember size and style do not matter. We have members with huge gardens, tiny gardens, container gardens, formal gardens, collectors gardens, cottage gardens and all are so fun to see! Email the Rose Society here with your thoughts and ideas. (link).

HEY SANTA!

Recently we did a survey on FAVORITE GARDEN TOOLS. Here are some of the tools our garden community says they can’t live without. I’ve included links so you can take a look and get additional details. 

🎅 First up were Felco Pruners. Rose growers love them!  (link)
🎅There was also a lot of buzz about the new battery powered pruners. This brand came highly recommended. (link)
🎅Another recommendation was for a Hori Hori knife — used for weeding, dividing plants, planting blubs and much more. (link)
🎅What about general garden gloves? These came highly recommended.  (link)
🎅The Cobra Head weeder was a favorite! (link)

DEALING WITH MIDGE

Midge is a very unpopular addition to any rose garden. If Midge has come to your garden, help is on the way. In the article below John Hefner tells you his midge story and offers tips that will send Ms Midge packing. Read here… 

Rose Midge

COMING SOON!

Our rose sale will begin soon. Remember members get first choice and a nice discount! This year’s list is shaping up to be fantastic! New or current members… membership fee is due now!

Membership Fee: $20 More Details here 

Thanks for stopping by!