It’s Labor Day Weekend, and sadly we’ve become accustomed to thinking of it as the end of summer. Certainly, it’s the end of summer vacation as students return to school and life gets back to normal.
However, the first official day of autumn is a good three weeks away, so that means there’s still more summertime to enjoy–and one of those joys is another flush or two of roses and other garden delights.
If you’re a gardener, you know what I mean. Many pretties–like zinnias, dahlias, and mums–will continue blooming until the first frost, and that’s true of my favorite, too.
If I’m lucky, my collection of 16 or so rose bushes will stay green for another month or two and put forth buds and blooms until there’s frost on the pumpkin.
If I’m really lucky, several of my rose bushes will be blooming next Saturday, and I can enter them in the rose show being held at the RIT Inn & Conference Center.
How I would love to enter my new favorite, the salmony-pink Tournament of Roses with its absolutely perfect blossoms, or my first love, the deep pink Heirloom and its old-fashioned, romantic blooms.
Just to be able to show them off would be lovely, but winning a ribbon (or two) would be great, too. You see, this isn’t just any rose show.
It’s the New York District Rose Show, which is part of the American Rose Society’s district convention, which is a pretty big deal for those of us who grow roses in the area.
And many of us members of the Greater Rochester Rose Society grow enough rose bushes to amass an impressive collection of them (even if most members don’t yet think of their “girls” as a collection–but I’m trying to convince them to see things as a committed collector would.)
More important to us Rochesterians is that the Greater Rochester Rose Society has the honor of hosting this year’s event as part of its own centennial celebration, for the GRRS has been promoting the appreciation of roses for one hundred years now and has been educating others about the best ways to enjoy roses in their own gardens.
At the show, amateur rose gardeners from Western New York and neighboring states are expected to enter rose blossoms by the armload as well as floral arrangements and photographs, too. The more serious “collectors” among us will be preparing their beautiful specimens before the sun comes up next Saturday, so their entries will be all ready for judging.
Once the ribbons are in place, the public will be welcomed in to see what’s expected to be a colorful and fragrant array of gorgeous roses, including many that are best suited to our region.
Whether you garden or not, if you love beautiful flowers, the District Rose Show should be something to see–but be forewarned: Collecting roses can become as addictive as any other collectible.
Hope to see you there. The rose show is free and open to the public.
The New York District Rose Show
Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019
1:30-4:30 p.m.
RIT Inn & Conference Center
5257 W. Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14467
rochrosesociety@gmail.com
Patti
The Committed Collector
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