The Heritage Roses Group was formed in 1975 as (in its own words) "a fellowship of those who care about Old Roses." Part of its appeal to me is its anarchistic quality -- it is the most loosely-organized large group I've ever known. The membership encompasses rosarians around the world but the largest concentration is in Northern California, the bastion of the redoubtable doyenne of the group, Miriam Wilkins. Miriam founded the organization with a few like-minded friends in order to focus on the preservation, history, re-introduction, and identification of roses which had been long out of commerce and fashion but which still had such qualities of beauty and vigor that they were still to be found in gardens, cemeteries, and abandoned home sites everywhere. Since the American Rose Society was not particularly supportive of this niche of rose lore, a new group which would focus on Old Roses seemed necessary and appropriate. It has certainly struck a chord with many rose lovers, as can be seen from its very large and eclectic membership.

The group is easy to join -- and the least expensive membership in any rose organization in existence. Another couple of dollars added to the membership fee brings you the wonderful bonus of two issues of Miriam's personal newsletter, The Old Rosers' Digest. The Heritage Roses Group also offers another quarterly publication, well edited by Marlea Graham and Rae Chambers, which is filled with calendars of events, feature articles offering arcane information about old roses, cultivation tips, and good gossip. This map is divided into the regions delineated by the HRG and the names and addresses of the regional coordinators who can be contacted for more information and for help in joining.

As an introduction to this section of my web page I am posting an article which I gleaned from the Old Rosers' Digest of April 1997. With Miriam's permission I am sharing this little piece of her writing to give you an idea of what you can expect from her and what it is that so attracts me to her and to the group which is strongly stamped with her character. Miriam is a real treasure, and I hope that she will be writing and sharing her vast knowledge and love of roses for many years to come.

A squirrel and rose heps appeared on your September 96 Old Rosers' Digest cover. I had written up an account of a visitor to our front deck who became dear to me. So much had to be included that the feature story was left out.

For almost a year a scrawny little squirrel showed up for two daily feedings of cracked walnuts. It was easy to see that he was blind for he had blue eyes, cataracts. Fat and shiny-coated competitors arrived with him, but I always made sure that he had his share. As his health failed, he took longer and longer to eat. When we were away, one of our daughters filled in. She once stood there for over an hour. When I told her that this was carrying it a little too far she replied that he wasn't going to go hungry on her shift! (another apple not falling far from the tree)

Toward the end his eyes had specks of pollen so I had to squirt Visine on them. When he scratched, bare spots appeared so I applied Polysporin. And he needed a bit of flea powder at the top of his tail. Imagine a little wild creature becoming this tame.

He always came when I called chee chee chee. Naturally 2 or 3 others showed up with him. They came to respect his territory whether I stood guard or not. But I could see his strength diminish and worried about winter arriving.

The last time that he answered my call he could barely get up the hedge to the deck, and he didn't eat. As usual, he tried to climb the wisteria to the roof where he would sun himself on the warm shingles before returning to his pine tree nest. I had to help him with the side of a broom. We brought a ladder so that we could leave a pile of fine walnut pieces beside him; nothing touched. Somehow he managed to get up the trunk of the pine and over to his home.

I did not call the next day and he didn't come. The weather had turned cold and foggy during the night. I was sure that he had closed his eyes and gone to a final peaceful sleep. We were really relieved that he did not have to cope with winter, but we missed him, still do. Funny how a little bit of nothing can steal your heart.

Every year the Heritage Roses Group organizes an amazing affair called the Celebration of Old Roses. This is one of Miriam's great gifts to the rose world. It has always been held at the El Cerrito Community Center just because it is only a couple of blocks from Miriam's home. Miriam (now in her eighties!) still oversees the whole show and is present from early morning until the last rose petal is swept up. Many volunteers scurry around in the morning hours arranging hundreds of rose specimens (cut from the members' gardens) into their proper classes (i. e. gallicas on one table, species roses on another, Noisettes elsewhere) and setting them out on long tables which form the centerpiece of the large central room of the community center. The walls of the room are lined with vendors of every imaginable rosy item and the whole thing spills out into the courtyard and features rose growers selling their wares in a kind of bazaar in the front parking lot. It is absolutely overwhelming. The focus of the event is education and it is quite an education to stroll along the tables, examining and smelling and discussing the array of roses available for observation. The air is redolent with the aroma of the many roses, the place is packed with admiring throngs, and after a couple of hours in that atmosphere one is practically reeling with ecstasy. At least, it always affects me that way. If you are in Northern California on the weekend after Mother's Day, you should not miss this wonderful rose show. It is always held on the Sunday after Mother's Day and the doors open to the public at 11:00 am, after the volunteers have finished the massive job of set-up. It ends around 4:00 pm with a wonderful raffle. Don't miss it!

Following is an account I wrote after a recent Celebration. It was written for posting in the newsgroup, rec.gardens.roses, and has a few personal references intended for that group. Despite that slant, it is a pretty accurate representation of my experience at the Celebration of Old Roses.

Where's Alice? Just finding her way back from Wonderland. I got to spend the most amazing day among a crowd of people interested in something in which I'm interested. Some of them are more than interested - - they're knowledgeable -- and this part was the most fun of all. I learned so much. The hardest part was on my back and my ankles. Backs and ankles were being discussed as much as sepals and stipules by about 4:00 pm. But by staying on my feet from about 9:30 [shortly after leaving Judy's [another story :)] from whence I staggered, primed with coffee (after staying up the previous night until 2:00 am!), until almost dusk I managed to engage in the schmooze of all schmoozes. As Deborah observed at one point in the proceedings, "This is too much fun!" The Celebration of Old Roses in El Cerrito, Miriam Wilkins' love child, is quite an amazing rose event. It is chaotic, yet well-organized. The set-up process is quite well orchestrated as hundreds of samples of old roses (and some not-so-old-ones) are set on tables, arranged by class, in labeled jars. The room begins to reel as the scents of the assembled beauties rise. People swarm into the hall when the signal is given. The day is filled with talk about roses. As usual, I treated myself to a browse through Bells' Books' display and bought just a couple. Barbara Worl was there and she helped identify one of Deborah's roses. There is a carnival atmosphere with vendors madly selling rose plants, perennials, jewelry, potpourri, china painted with roses, hats resplendent with ribbon roses, rose jam, rosy clothing, etc. etc. etc. Through all of this -- I talked. Talked to some amazing rosarians -- one woman told me of a trip to Beltsville in which she perused old nursery catalogs and found an etching advertising Cecile Brunner that was in a catalog from (I believe) 1885 or 1886. Before 1890. It had very elongated, foliated sepals!!!! Hot stuff! I got to schmooze with Virginia Hopper, from whom I bought a R. roxburghii 'Normalis', something I'd been desiring for a long time. Talked a bit with John Dallas who, among his old roses, had a couple of huge plants of Eyepaint. Got to match wits with Ed at the "Unknown Table." The Unknown Table was actually the high point of the event. It was full of intriguing mysteries and non-mysteries. It was great fun participating in the pillage (not rape, Mel, pillage) of the table, claiming a lot of the samples as cutting material for the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. There were some very interesting roses in the booty. It was exhausting and too much fun. And the clincher -- never say never -- I bought three Minis! Just wandered by the lady with the minis and let my instincts guide me and took what I liked. Ended up with My Sunshine, Crazy Dottie and Hoot Owl. Unbelievable!