Want to Hear Me Talk About Hollywood Cemetery?

I will be presenting my program about the roses at Hollywood Cemetery for the Ginter Park Garden Club on Thursday, January 11, 2018. at 10:00 am, at the Ginter Park Women's Club building, 3016 Seminary Avenue, Richmond, VA 23227.  (The building is on the corner of Rennie Avenue and Seminary Avenue.  Enter on the Rennie Avenue side.)   Click HERE for a map.

The public is welcome to attend.

I Promise ... I'm Still Here

Lots going on right now (all of it good) and, as a result, I'm not here as often as I would like ... spending less time on the computer and more time doing other stuff.  Most days start in the garden, riding a wave of energy and motivation and whipping this place into shape. 

Today, I'm debuting a new rose program for a local garden club.

I can't wait to tell you all about all of it!

Upcoming Spring Rose and Garden Events in Virginia

At this time of year, there are SO many choices of things for rose and garden lovers to do in Virginia.  (For those of you in other parts of the country, I'm sure that there is plenty of stuff for you, too, wherever you are.)  Below, you will find the events that I plan to attend ... I will be enjoying these as a plain old attendee at each of them but one.

Virginia Garden Week
April 19 - 25, 2015
There's nothing like Virginia Garden Week anywhere else in the country.  Home and garden tours are scheduled in many locations throughout the state.  I'm touring Fredericksburg on Tuesday, Warrenton on Wednesday, and Middle Peninsula on Friday.
Click HERE to go to the Garden Week web site for schedule and details.

Azaleas in full bloom in Fredericksburg for Garden Tour.

I will be speaking at the April meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Garden Club, delivering my program "Documenting and Preserving the Roses at Hollywood Cemetery"
Festival Hall, Reedville, Virginia
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 12:00 pm

A beautiful example of statuary, and 'Safrano', at Hollywood Cemetery

Lynchburg Old City Cemetery Antique Rose Festival

Featured guest and speaker is my friend, Rev. Douglas Seidel

Heritage roses propagated from the cemetery's collection will be available for sale.

May 8-10, 2015  

Schedule of activities at the cemetery's web site HERE.  

'Dortmund' climbing on the porch of one of the museum buildings at the Old City Cemetery.

Sunday Picnic at Hollywood Cemetery

Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and relax to sounds of great entertainment.  As an added bonus, I expect the roses at the cemetery to be putting on quite a show.

May 3, 2015, 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Details on the cemetery web site HERE.

Unknown red China rose, on the Dorsey Cosby lot at Hollywood Cemetery

Monticello’s Tufton Farm Wine and Roses Open House

Featured speaker is Peggy Cornett, Curator of Plants at Monticello

May 30, 2015 10:00 am – 2:00 pm  
Details are HERE, at the Monticello web site.

'Baltimore Belle' blooming in the garden at Tufton Farm.

Hartwood Roses Open Garden Day

Date to be determined, as soon as the roses in my garden let me know when full bloom time will be.

Details will be posted here, on the Hartwood Roses Facebook page, and on the Hartwood Roses web site as soon as I have them. 

Meet My New Friend

Whenever I notice that this blog has a new follower, I click over and check them out.  I figure that whoever it is probably wants to follow along because they have an interest in at least some of the same things that I do ... could be another blog/person that I want to follow, too.

I know exactly where the Goth Gardener was standing when she took this photo of 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' at Hollywood Cemetery.

One of these new followers has a blog called "Goth Gardening" ... the writer lives in Richmond, loves Hollywood Cemetery, and her writing indicated to me that she is probably a person that I would like to get to know in person.  She came up to Fredericksburg to be in the audience for my presentation to the Master Gardeners on Wednesday.  Afterward, we walked to a coffee shop and spent the whole rest of the afternoon camped at a corner table chatting, and totally losing track of time.

Another cutting of my Yellow Seedling had a flower, and I brought it with me to the meeting.

She even got me to agree without protest to do the Silly Selfie, as she calls it.

Her post about our day together is way more entertaining than this one.  Click HERE to run over to her blog to read what she had to say.  I will see her again tomorrow, as part of the crew of volunteers for my rose work day at Hollywood Cemetery ... and I will see her as often as I can in the future.  She's definitely a keeper!

Roses 101

That's the title of the program that I wrote to teach the basics of how to choose and grow roses.  I am presenting it later this week in downtown Fredericksburg, for the monthly meeting of the local master gardener group.

Here are the particulars, as published in the newspaper:

Master Gardener General Membership Meeting (open to the public) 

Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 

Time: 12:30pm  NOTE:  Daytime meeting

Location:  Central Rappahannock Library Theater Room,  1201 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg. VA 22401

Speaker:  Connie Hilker, an expert on historic roses and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Heritage Rose Foundation.  Connie’s overall message is that ‘roses are not rocket science’ and she strives to show that anyone with a basic knowledge of gardening can choose appropriate roses and grow them well.   She presently has over 700 varieties of roses in her garden!  

Title:  Roses 101

A one hour program with the intent to take the mystery and confusion out of growing roses. Covers the basics about different types of roses, where to plant them, how to care for them, and what to do about rose pests and diseases in order to keep them healthy.

*********************
The meeting is free and open to the public, and everyone who wants to learn more about roses is encouraged to attend.  The talk lasts for about an hour, and there will be more than enough time for questions afterward.  My goal is to give everyone in the audience the power to go home and grow roses without fear.

On The Road Again

I'm taking the show on the road this afternoon, speaking to the Richmond Rose Society ... debuting a new program.

By the time I finish with them, I hope everyone at the meeting has learned something that they didn't already know about Old Garden Roses.  I also hope that the program goes the way I have it planned, and that I don't confuse the crap out of everyone.

Do you have a garden group who would like to learn more about roses?  I have a number of topics available, and I tailor my talks to the experience level of my audience.  If you're interested, click HERE to contact me.

Wish me luck!!

Happy Sunday, Everyone.

Easy Care Heirloom Roses ... The List!

When I was asked to present a program on easy care heirloom roses, I decided to use the following criteria to create the list:

1.  Roses that respond the best in MY garden with minimal care ... meaning irrigation, fertilizer, and fungicide when I remember to do it.  I live in north central Virginia, which is USDA Zone 7A.

 2.  Roses that bloom with more flowers than my level of effort should produce.

 3.  Roses that look their absolute best in the worst of conditions.  At the end of a hot, dry summer these were among the stand-outs ... both in quality of flowers and the appearance of the bush itself.

I further narrowed the list to a manageable number that could be presented to a group in less than an hour, allowing time for questions. 

Let's sit for a while and look at lots of pretty rose pictures.  (Any of you folks with slow internet connections are going to hate me for this.)

Small Shrubs

 "Caldwell Pink", found rose

Polyantha, Lilac Pink, 3-4 feet, repeat blooming

White Pet, 1879

Polyantha, White, 2-4 feet, repeat blooming

Echo, 1914

Polyantha, Pink blend, 3-4 feet, repeat blooming

Ducher, 1869

China, White 3-4 feet, repeat blooming

La Marne, 1915

Polyantha, pink blend, 3-5 feet, repeat blooming

Apothecary Rose, bef. 1240

Gallica, dark pink, 3-4 feet, spring blooming

Rosa Mundi, bef. 1581

Gallica, pink striped, 3-4 feet, spring blooming

Medium Shrubs

 "Angel's Camp Tea", found rose

Tea, light pink, 4-6 feet, repeat blooming

Madame Antoine Mari, 1901

Tea, pink blend, 4-5 feet, repeat blooming

"Tutta's Pink Noisette", found rose

Noisette, light pink, 4-6 feet, repeat blooming

Duchesse de Brabant, 1857

Tea, light pink, 4-5 feet, repeat blooming

Marie Pavie, 1888

Polyantha, white blend, 4-5 feet, repeat blooming

Marie Daly, sport of Marie Pavie

Polyantha, light pink, 4-5 feet, repeat blooming

Charles de Mills, 1829

Gallica, dark pink, 4-5 feet, spring blooming

Large Shrubs

"Darlow's Enigma", found rose

Hybrid musk, white, 6-12 feet, repeat blooming

"Portland from Glendora", found rose

Portland, medium pink, 6-8 feet, repeat blooming

Sidonie, 1846

Portland, light pink, 6-8 feet, repeat blooming

Mutabilis, 1894

China, yellow blend, 4-8 feet, repeat blooming

Sarah Van Fleet, 1926

Rugosa, medium pink, 6-8 feet, repeat blooming

Madame Plantier, 1835

Hybrid alba, white, 5-12 feet, spring blooming

Shailer's Provence, 1799

Hybrid china, medium pink, 6-10 feet, spring blooming

Banshee, 1773

Hybrid damask, light pink, 6-8 feet, spring blooming

Repeat-blooming Climbers

Crepuscule, 1904

Noisette, apricot, 10-12 feet, repeat blooming

Climbing Pinkie, 1952

Climber, medium pink, 8-10 feet, repeat blooming

Alba Meideland, 1986

Climber, white, 10-12 feet, repeat blooming

Awakening, 1935

Climber, light pink, 12-16 feet, repeat blooming

New Dawn, 1930

Climber, light pink, 12-16 feet, repeat blooming

White Cap, 1954

Climber, white, 8-10 feet. repeat blooming

Parade, 1953

Climber, dark pink, 8-12 feet, repeat blooming

Spring-blooming Ramblers

"Peggy Martin", found rose

Hybrid multiflora, dark pink, 10-16 feet, scattered repeat

Alberic Barbier, 1900

Hybrid wichurana, white blend, 15-20 feet, spring blooming

Albertine, 1921

Hybrid wichurana, orange pink, 12-15 feet, spring blooming

Aviateur Bleriot, 1910

Hybrid wichurana, light yellow 15-25 feet, spring blooming

"Arcata Pink Globe", found rose

Hybrid setigera, light pink, 15-20 feet, spring blooming

Leontine Gervais, 1903

Hybrid wichurana, apricot blend, 20-30 feet, spring blooming

Gardenia, 1899

Hybrid wichurana, white blend, 16-24 feet, spring blooming

Ghislaine de Feligonde, 1916

Hybrid multiflora, yellow blend, 8-12 feet, spring blooming

As I said in THIS post from earlier in the month ... if you want easy care roses, you have many choices beyond Knock Out.  The roses I presented here are mostly available at specialty nurseries, and they usually cost less than the Knock Outs that you see at the big box stores.  Why not grow a piece of history in your garden?

This is by no means a comprehensive list of ALL roses that grow well with minimal care ... these are some of the roses that please ME the most. I offer them, hoping that they might also please you. 

Do you have a rose or two that you grow that you think should be on this list?  I would love to hear about it.

Easy-Care Heirloom Roses

This Sunday, February 13, I will present a program for the Arlington Rose Foundation titled "Easy-Care Heirloom Roses".  The meeting, at Merrifield Garden Center in Fairfax, Virginia, starts at 2:00pm, and I will begin my program shortly thereafter.

I wrote this program to show folks that there are plenty of roses available for your garden that don't require heroic measures to look good and bloom. 

Most people get their rose information from mainstream nurseries or big-box stores.  These locations are driven by their suppliers, who buy whatever the reps are pushing, and this has increasingly become exclusively some sort of Knock Out rose.  This leads folks to think that their only options for easy-care roses are Knock Outs. 

We HAVE choices!! Don't feel as if you HAVE to plant a Knock Out rose ... unless a Knock Out rose is what you WANT to plant.

"But I HAVE to plant Knock Out", you say, "because other roses are hard to grow."  

WRONG!!!  There are SOME roses that take more effort to grow than others.  These are NOT the ones I'm talking about. 

The roses that I am featuring in this program grow and flower and thrive with minimal care.  Nothing in the garden is completely maintenance free.  Give these roses water and fertilizer, and perhaps the occasional spritz of fungicide (though not required), and they will reward your effort many times over.

My program is divided into sections:  Small shrubs, Medium shrubs, Large shrubs, Repeat-flowering climbers, and Spring-flowering ramblers.  This should provide more than enough choices for whatever situation you have in your garden.

Within each of the shrub categories, I am featuring both repeat-flowering roses and once-blooming Old Garden Roses.  Both of these types are very valuable in the garden, and I try to show folks that they need not limit their choices to repeat-blooming varieties.  (Banshee, the beauty I show above, is a once-bloomer, and the shrub without flowers is beautiful all season long.)

By the time I get to the end of the program, and I have answered the last question, I hope folks will leave having been introduced to at least one rose that they will want to add to their garden.

If you are local, I hope you can come out on Sunday to hear me speak.  I would love to meet you.  If you can't come, check back here next week and I will publish the whole list of the roses I feature.  I would do it now, but I'm still editing it a bit ... I may add one or two to the list between now and Sunday.