The Heritage Rose Foundation's annual conference, held in Denver this year, was an exhilarating experience. After spending a few days totally immersed in rose lore, it was difficult returning to the "real world." I could have spent far more time in the rarefied atmosphere of the conference, as well as in the rarefied, mile-high atmosphere of Denver. I found that it was quite an adjustment to travel from my home about 50 feet above sea level to the altitudes of Denver -- I tired easily, but also experienced a somewhat giddy light-headedness that was not unpleasant, though it was a little disconcerting until the local folks assured me that it was a common occurrence among people not familiar with the mountains.
I would have liked to explore Denver more, but most of my time was spent within the Renaissance Hotel, scurrying from one workshop to another. In between workshops there was some time for talking and exchanging information -- but not enough time! There were so many interesting people there that we could have talked to each other for days and days without flagging. I'll mention some of the folks I met after reviewing some of the workshops.
As it turned out, the talk that I was giving in tandem with Mike Shoup was the first on the agenda. We had originally been scheduled to follow a pair of Colorado rosarians who were discussing uses of Old Roses in the landscape, but they never turned up at the hotel so Mike and I were pressed into service. After a flurry of rearranging slides to incorporate Mike's into my own, we were on! Because of the abdication of the first speakers (they never did show up) Mike and I had more time for our presentation and we enjoyed using it all. Mike led off with a discussion of some of the "found" roses he has been collecting and identifying in Texas, accompanied by an evangelistic plea for preservation and propagation of these old, unknown beauties. Then I entered the discussion with the presentation of a list of over 70 roses that I have found in and around Mendocino County. All of these roses have proved their drought-resistance in surviving in various nooks and crannies of the California hills without care for many years. I emphasized the drought-tolerance of many classes of roses and showed slides of the roses I have found from each class. This is a subject that is of great interest to many gardeners and landscapers and the talks were very well received and many interesting questions were brought up. I produced a list of the drought-tolerant varieties that I know from personal experience and distributed it. I will soon be posting this list on this web page under discussions of Drought Tolerant Roses.
Following Mike and me, Kathy Zuzek from the University of Minnesota, gave a talk about roses surviving another extreme of climate -- that of deep cold. Kathy has written a definitive book on the subject (Hardy Roses) and she talked about some of the roses she has been researching and the degrees of cold-hardiness they exhibit. We will be offering her book through our catalogue. It is one of the most scientific and detailed works in existence on this subject and makes a fascinating read. Kathy gave an overview of the contents in her speech, highlighted with slides.
After lunch (during which I talked with a Colorado nursery owner who lamented that Old Garden Roses were getting short shrift in retail nurseries because there were so few salespeople who knew enough about them to provide potential customers with reliable information) there was a very interesting panel on hybridizing with OGRs. There were a surprising number of hybridizers at the conference. I met several people who were interested in introducing the qualities of disease-resistance and cold-hardiness found in many of the OGRs and Species roses. Some very intriguing crosses are being made between these tough roses and the more finicky Hybrid Teas. The panel discussion brought out even more information on this direction in the world of rose hybridizing. The results may prove to be roses with the form and colors of the Hybrid Teas but with better qualities as shrubs in the landscape and much hardier constitutions than the HTs. The participants in the panel were Jack Walter (Director of the Rose Hybridizers Assn.), Mike Shoup (of the Antique Rose Emporium), John Starnes (Denver landscaper and hybridizer and one of the hosts of the conference), and the moderator Glenn Austin (also of the Antique Rose Emporium and very knowledgeable about hybridizing). The Antique Rose Emporium has already begun to introduce its own hybrids, using genetic material from its "found" roses as well as that of "known" OGRs. It will be very interesting to see what this enthusiastic and talented group will produce over the next few years.
I spent part of the afternoon resting and made it back to the conference room in time to hear a lively discussion of Integrated Pest Management, led by John Starnes who is avid on the subject and pursues it actively in his lively little publication, The Garden Doctor ($16 to TGD, 1684 Willow St., Denver, CO 80220 brings you large, eclectic spring and fall issues). Many of the attendees showed great interest in the subject of how to grow roses without adding to the cumulative impact of poisons in the environment. It was heartening to me to see this trend.
That evening people scattered to various places around Denver and I ended up having dinner with Jack Walter. This proved to be really fun and very informative. Jack, longtime owner of Kimbrew-Walter Roses, is an old-time nurseryman and a gentleman of the old school. He was friendly, open, and generous with his vast expertise and our chance encounter developed into a valuable evening for me. I finished the evening sitting by the window of my room, watching spectacular displays of lightning decorate the skies above Denver.
The next day, bright and early, I boarded a bus and headed for the Denver Botanic Gardens where the day's activities began with a show of OGRs, Shrubs and Species roses. We were early and ended up helping to label and set up the displays. It was interesting to me to see old favorites looking very different when grown in Denver and its environs. Many of the blooms were much smaller than they are in California and colors were quite different in several cases, especially among the Teas and Chinas. After an hour of sniffing and squabbling pleasantly about identifications, I took off for a private tour of the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver. Since I had to leave Denver before the group tour, John Starnes kindly offered to take me to the cemetery at a time when he could get away for a few hours so that I could have an opportunity to see this "Mother of all Cemeteries."
And what a cemetery it was! I was in hog heaven. John and I and a young hybridizer from Vermont named David Cunningham, spent a delirious couple of hours running from rose to rose, exclaiming over our finds. It was so exciting to see the differences in the roses represented in this climate compared to the roses I find in California cemeteries. In Denver there were none of the Teas and Chinas that fill the Texas and California graveyards -- instead we found Damasks (Banshee was everywhere), interesting Alba crosses, a lovely pink Moss. There was one red Floribunda surviving well, an Eglantine thriving after many years, an anomalous Wichuraiana rambler, and several Hybrid Chinas. The roses were all watered in the well-cared-for cemetery but they were growing without any winter protection and doing very well indeed. The cemetery was enormous, 240 acres, and we couldn't possibly cover it all, but the parts we saw were fascinating and I hope that one day I will get back to Denver with days to spend wandering in this treasure trove of old roses.
We made it back to the Botanic Gardens just in time to wolf down our lunches and get to the classrooms for the afternoon's workshops. I attended a workshop on propagation which covered amateur preparation of cuttings using a "baggie method" perfected by Cheryl Netter, a discussion of tissue culture by Jack Walter which included my first look at these tiny rose plants growing on agar in test tubes (these particular plants started by our other host, Dr. Bill Campbell of High Country Roses in Denver), a demonstration of grafting by Dr. Malcolm Manners of the University of Florida (Malcolm also took on the duties of MC during many of the workshops), and an interesting talk by Mike Shoup about starting cuttings in large-scale, commercial operations. It was a lot of information packed into an afternoon and I was impressed by the ambitious planning of the organizers of the conference. We were also treated to a tornado warning that afternoon and the usual afternoon thunderstorms. I found the Denver weather quite exciting and was glad that the pattern left the mornings dry and bright (albeit humid) and the afternoons reserved for dramatic downpours that included hail.
We staggered back to the hotel to put up our feet and change our clothes before the evening's banquet. By then we had formed many new friendships and the banquet room was buzzing with enthusiastic conversations. After dinner we were treated to a rambling array of stories and observations by the incomparable Steven Scanniello of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens' Cranford Rose Garden. Steve is author of several excellent books on roses and he turned out to be a witty and wonderful raconteur who kept the room laughing and interested for a long time. It was a great highlight of the whole conference.
The last day of the conference was devoted to tours of the cemetery and various private and public gardens in the Denver area. Unfortunately, I had to return to San Francisco that day and left for the airport early in the morning. It was hard to leave the fascinating world I'd been inhabiting for the last few days to get back to my "real" job and all the details of everyday life I'd left behind for a while.
The conference was wonderfully informative and exciting, but what stands out most for me are the people I met there. It was a collection of dedicated and knowledgeable rosarians and it was thrilling to be hanging out with them. It was also a collection of friendly and fascinating people and I enjoyed making new friends. So many of the people I had known only through their books, or their reputations, or an email correspondence turned out to be down-to-earth, open folks, easy to talk to and fun to be with. Mike Shoup is amusing and interesting -- very eager to talk roses and very willing to share his knowledge. It was a pleasure getting to know him. Malcolm Manners was everywhere, a high-energy guy brimming with information and talking constantly. I wish I'd had more time to spend with him. But the one evening when I found a little time in my own schedule he was singing show tunes with a bunch of rosarians in the bar! Steve Scanniello was just plain fun to be with. He told good jokes and was the sort of person who finds himself in unusual situations which he enjoys re-living through a good story. As I've found with many other "experts," Steve is forthcoming and generous with his knowledge and has a lot to teach. John Starnes was absolutely delightful -- an energetic dynamo, filled with excitement and wonder -- a true gardener and lover of nature. He ran madly in circles, trying to address all of his varied interests and duties, and did pretty well at balancing it all.
It was also fun to meet people who knew me from the newsgroup, rec.gardens.roses. Several of them were lurkers who introduced themselves -- I encouraged them to "come out" and join in the discussions in that amusing group. But one who participates regularly was "sub rosa" who turned out to be a delightful companion throughout the conference. She and I had a great time "helping" Kathy Zuzek with one of the greatest rose rustles I've ever attended. Kathy was great fun -- full of life and enthusiasm for roses. We really hit it off. Also amusing and exciting was Liz Druitt, who I've long admired for her wonderful books. Liz liked asking the hard questions during the workshops and her humor and spriteliness added a lot to the events. I met a xeriscape gardener from Dallas, Peter Schaar, who gave me a good insight into the conditions he faces in planning landscapes. He is involved with the Dallas group that will be hosting next year's conference during the last weekend in April. I know I'm leaving a lot out, yet this "little note" is getting very long. Do contact me if you have any questions about this conference and I'll be glad to fill you in on any details in which you're interested. Hoping to see you in Dallas next spring!