A rose show is a horticultural exhibition focusing exclusively on roses.
Initially in the UK roses were exhibited in general flower shows such as those run by the Royal Horticultural Society. Judges were appointed by whoever sponsored the show, and were not necessarily rosarians themselves. The first Grand National specialty rose show was held July 1, 1858, in St. James Hall, London. [1] It was organized by S. Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester Cathedral and a prominent rosarian, Thomas Rivers, a nurseryman and publisher of the first catalog of roses (1834) in the UK, Charles Turner, a rosarian, and William Paul, a writer and nurseryman. Exhibitors were divided into three classes: nurserymen, amateur rosarians with hired gardeners, and amateur rosarians without hired gardeners (avid exhibitors included many working-class men and farmers). Prizes were 36 silver cups engraved with roses. John Edwards was in charge of setting up the show, which entailed clearing away the chairs and benches from the previous night's concert, and constructing tables for the exhibits. Subscription fee for exhibitors was 5 pounds, admission for the general public was 1 shilling. More than 2000 people attended the first Grand National Rose-Show. Music was provided by a brass band, which proved to be too loud for the venue.
Exhibition-form roses were exhibited as cut specimens grouped in a box, and the entire collection was judged on the quality of the individual specimens and on the composition of the whole. Duplicate cultivars were not allowed. Collections were to be in multiples of 6, up to 72 for nurserymen. Most exhibitors put their rose stems in vases or bottles nestled in moss inside a box of some kind, but some exhibitors inserted their cut stems into potatoes in straw to keep the roses hydrated. Wiring of stems and flowers was allowed – Tea roses were popular at that time, and the flowers of many Tea roses do not stand upright on their own. Garden roses, those not possessing exhibition form, were exhibited in bouquets. [2] Judges worked in teams of three.
The second Grand National Rose-Show was held June 23, 1859, in the Hanover Square Rooms. [1] In addition to cut roses in boxes, bouquets, and baskets, potted roses were exhibited. Boxes for the cut rose collections were required to be standardized, with metal vases embedded in moss – no potatoes or straw or beer bottles. The boxes were required to have a cover for transporting the roses to the show. Exhibitors travelled by either train or horse-drawn vans at the time, and roses needed a sturdy box in transportation. [2] Box with cover was only 14" tall, so the specimens inside the box had to be shorter than that. Music was provided by a strings and reeds band instead of brass. After this second show, it was decided that London did not provide rooms big enough for the crowds attending the rose show. [1]
Accordingly, the third Grand National Rose-Show was held July 12, 1860, in the Crystal Palace in Sydenham. 16,000 people attended.
In 1861, the Royal Horticultural Society hosted the Fourth Grand National Rose-Show in Kensington on July 10. [1] The rose show was held here every year through 1877. At that time the newly formed National Rose Society (founded 1876) took over the Grand National Rose-Show. The Very Reverend Reynolds Hole was the first president of the (Royal) National Rose Society. [3]
The (Royal) National Rose Society set the standards for exhibition and judging of roses for the Grand National Rose-Show and for rose shows sponsored by affiliated local rose societies. [2]
The American Rose Society was founded in 1892. [4] Initially, in contrast to the (Royal) National Rose Society in Great Britain, ARS membership was limited to professional nurserymen and florists. [5] Amateur rosarians formed local rose societies, such as Portland (Oregon) in 1889, and Tacoma (Washington State) and Syracuse (New York State) in 1911. Tacoma had hosted rose shows as early as 1895. [6]
The first ARS sponsored rose show was held in March 1900, in New York City. [7] At that time the ARS was a trade organization of professional nurserymen and florists. A second show, allowing amateurs, was held that June. Roses were displayed as 25 stems or more of the same variety. Single-stem exhibits became standard by about 1938. Show classes were divided by color. Judging was left to the tastes and inclinations of individual judges up until standards started to be developed in the 1940s. The first ARS judging school was held in 1950, and the first published judging standards appeared in 1959. The first edition of the current Guidelines for Judging Roses was published in 1971.
The ARS first allowed amateur rosarians and local societies to join as affiliates in 1914. [5] The Syracuse Rose Society, with 300 members, was the first local rose society to join the ARS, in May 1914.
Since 1974, the American Rose Society's headquarters and gardens have been located at the American Rose Center in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The World Federation of Rose Societies is an organization of national rose societies. [8] It facilitates a world conference with a rose exhibition every three years, sponsored by a national society. It was founded in 1968. Founding member national societies were Australia, Belgium, Israel, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Great Britain and the US. Canada, India, Japan and Switzerland joined at the first conference in 1971 in New Zealand. Exhibitors bring roses from all over the world to exhibit at the World Conferences.
The American Rose Society sets guidelines and standards for rose shows in the US (and for Canadian rose societies affiliated with the ARS) and is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Roses by appointment of the International Society for Horticultural Science. [9] [4] The Rose Society UK sets the guidelines and standards and organises rose shows in the UK. Many Canadian and Australian rose societies were affiliated with the RNRS in addition to their own national societies. Rose shows using ARS guidelines use cultivar classifications assigned by the ARS, for instance Hybrid Tea or Gallica. [10] The ARS also assigns one of 18 official color classes to cultivars, for instance Light Yellow, Medium Yellow, Deep Yellow, and Yellow Blend. There is no color class for blue. Rose shows are hosted by local societies and may be organized as a local show, an ARS District show, or an ARS National show. Local shows generally require no registration or entry fees, while District and National shows do. All three levels of rose show generally offer three divisions: Challenge Classes, Horticulture, and Arrangements. Other divisions may be offered, for instance Rose Photography or Rose Crafts. Rose-themed Quilts have been included at rose shows. The Challenge Classes available vary between the local, District, and National levels.
The Horticulture division of a rose show consists of (usually) single specimens of roses – one 'Peace' rose in a vase, for instance. A few Horticulture classes call for multiple specimens, for instance 3 Stems Hybrid Tea, One Variety. In US shows, the Horticulture classes can be organized either alphabetically by name, i.e. 'Peace' would be exhibited under Hybrid Teas N-R; or by ARS color classes, i.e. 'Peace' would be exhibited under Hybrid Tea Yellow Blends. In some larger shows, popular varieties with many entries, such as 'Peace', may get their own class. The Challenge Classes division imposes special criteria on the exhibit, for instance Five Floribunda Sprays, Five Varieties, judged on both individual bloom quality and composition of the whole. There are five kinds of Challenge classes: multiple stems of multiple varieties of the same class; multiple stems of one variety; multiple stems of multiple classes; bloom progression (3 stems: bud, exhibition bloom, and open bloom with stamens showing); and English-style box (6 roses). [11] Other popular Challenge classes include Most Fragrant, Rose in a Photo Frame, Rose in a Bowl, and Artist's Palette (5 roses, different colors). The Arrangements division consists of floral arrangements in which roses predominate.
The ARS offers a series of named Challenge classes, ranging in size from a single Grandiflora in an "appropriate" container, to 5 Old Garden roses in separate containers, to 6 All-American Rose Selection winners in separate containers, to 12 Miniature roses in a clear container. [12]
Rose shows using ARS guidelines and standards are judged by ARS-accredited judges working in teams of three. Accreditation requires experience exhibiting, working as a show clerk, attending a judging school, and passing an exam and an apprenticeship. [13] Judging schools in the US are held by the ARS Districts and are required to use the ARS-published Guidelines for Judging Roses as the text. The exam is a standardized national exam. Judges are required to audit the judging school every three years. [14] The ARS has established standard certificates for awards at local society rose shows, for instance Queen, King, Princess; Classic Shrub, Modern Shrub. Local societies are free to use any or all of these certificates, plus other categories as desired.
Various publications are used by exhibitors to enter their roses in the right show category. The ARS publishes the Handbook for Selecting Roses, mailed to members annually, which lists most roses in commerce in North America and gives the official Exhibition Name, color class, petal count, year of introduction, and classification. The Combined Rose List is published annually and is used by exhibitors and judges as a reference for official cultivar names and unofficial synonyms, color category and classification, and year of introduction. It includes all roses known to be in commerce worldwide. The Guidelines for Judging Roses is published by the ARS and gives the standards by which roses are to be judged: Form, Color, Substance, Stem and Foliage, Balance and Proportion, and Size.
Rose flowers come in different forms. Flowers may be cupped, globular, flat, imbricated (like a camellia) or high-centered. Exhibition flower form is defined by the ARS as a high-centered flower with a circular outline and petals that spiral outwards from the center in a symmetrical manner. [11] In profile, the flower should form a cone. Most cultivars are exhibited at a stage from one-half to three-quarters open – enough to show the pointed center, with no stamens showing. Exhibition form roses must also produce long stems. Some rose cultivars are capable of producing flowers of exhibition form, while many others are not. These latter cultivars may be referred to as ‘garden’ or ‘decorative’ roses. A few cultivars may produce exhibition form flowers under certain weather conditions but not others. Rose shows may have special classes for the decorative roses separate from the exhibition roses. Queen of Show, the highest award, is generally reserved for roses of exhibition form. In 19th century rose shows, exhibition cultivars were mostly Hybrid Perpetuals and Teas. [1] These have now fallen out of favor as exhibition roses and are relegated to separate classes for Old Garden Roses, not eligible for Queen of Show. Hybrid tea roses were developed early in the 20th century, with even higher-centered flowers and more symmetrical spiralling than the Hybrid Perpetuals were capable of producing, and quickly became the favored exhibition roses. [2]
Roses in the US are also shown at garden club shows and county fairs. These shows are generally not judged by ARS-accredited judges or by ARS judging standards. The National Council of State Garden Clubs trains and certifies judges for these shows, including sections on the judging of roses. [15]
ARS-affiliated local rose societies may host rose shows that do not use the ARS guidelines or standards; these are often called Rose Displays and often are not judged at all, merely admired. Heritage rose groups, independent of the ARS, host non-judged Celebrations of Old Roses, as well as garden tours.
Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. Geranium is also the botanical name and common name of a separate genus of related plants, also known as cranesbills. Both genera belong to the family Geraniaceae, and Carl Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium; they were later separated into two genera by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789.
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park held at Tatton Park, near Knutsford, Cheshire, first began in 1999 by the Royal Horticultural Society. The show houses the RHS National Flower Bed Competition, Young Designer of the Year Award and a wide range of inspirational show gardens, smaller 'Back to Back' gardens, visionary gardens and a number of marquees displaying prize plants and flora exhibits. Other key features of the show are the floral marquee and plant plaza, the arts and heritage pavilion, and the floral design studio.
David Charles Henshaw Austin was a British rose breeder and writer who lived in Shropshire, England. His emphasis was on breeding roses with the character and fragrance of old garden roses but with the repeat-flowering ability and wide colour range of modern roses such as hybrid teas and floribundas.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event produced by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and traditionally held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in early March. It is the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world, attracting more than 250,000 people annually. It has also been described as "the country's oldest, largest, and most prestigious celebration of flowers."
The Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) (1876–2017) was a specialist horticultural organization in the United Kingdom dedicated to the cultivation and appreciation of roses. Founded in 1876 as the "National Rose Society", it was the world's oldest plant society. It was a membership organisation, with members drawn from professional and amateur gardeners and horticultural businesses. Originally based in London, the rose society moved its headquarters to Chiswell Green, near St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1959, where it created the Royal National Rose Society Gardens. In 1965, the society changed its name to the "Royal National Rose Society" (RNRS). At the height of its popularity, the RNRS had 100,000 members and its gardens contained 30,000 rose shrubs. The organisation was dissolved in May, 2017 and the gardens were closed permanently.
The American Rose Center is a rose garden in Shreveport, Louisiana owned and operated by The American Rose Society. There are over 20,000 rose bushes of 100 varieties in 65 separate rose gardens on 118 acres of pine forests and woodlands.
The Royal William rose, registered under the cultivar name "KORzaun", is a red hybrid tea rose. It was developed by Reimer Kordes from the cultivar 'Feuerzauber' and is available under several other marketing names, such as Fragrant Charm, Duftzauber, La Magie du Parfum and Leonora Christine.
Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous hybrid perpetuals with the tall, elegant tea roses. The hybrid tea is the oldest class of modern garden roses. Hybrid teas exhibit traits midway between their parents, being hardier than the often delicate tea roses, and with a better ability for repeat-flowering than the more robust hybrid perpetuals.
Rosa 'La France' is a pink rose cultivar found in France in 1867 by the rosarian Jean-Baptiste André Guillot (1827–1893). It is generally accepted to be the first hybrid tea rose. Its introduction is therefore also considered the birth of the modern rose. As the cultivar was not systematically bred, its hybrid parentage can only be speculated, but 'Madame Falcot' is considered as a possible parent.
Rosa'KORbin' is a white floribunda rose cultivar bred by Kordes in Germany in 1958. It is also known as Iceberg, Fée des Neiges and Schneewittchen. 'KORbin' is among the world's best known roses.
A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped by individual variety, colour or class in rose beds. Technically it is a specialized type of shrub garden, but normally treated as a type of flower garden, if only because its origins in Europe go back to at least the Middle Ages in Europe, when roses were effectively the largest and most popular flowers, already existing in numerous garden cultivars.
Garden roses are predominantly hybrid roses that are grown as ornamental plants in private or public gardens. They are one of the most popular and widely cultivated groups of flowering plants, especially in temperate climates. An enormous number of garden cultivars has been produced, especially over the last two centuries, though roses have been known in the garden for millennia beforehand. While most garden roses are grown for their flowers, often in dedicated rose gardens, some are also valued for other reasons, such as having ornamental fruit, providing ground cover, or for hedging.
Rosa 'Ingrid Bergman' is a red hybrid tea rose, bred by the Danish rose growers Pernille and Mogens Olesen and introduced by their company Poulsen Roser in 1984. It is a cross between the red hybrid tea 'Precious Platinum' and an unnamed seedling. It was named in honor of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982).
Henry Bennett was an English pioneer in the systematic, deliberate hybridisation of roses. Bennett, a tenant farmer from Stapleford in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, applied the systematic breeding used in raising cattle to roses, and emphasised that his roses were raised scientifically from known parents. His hybrids, between Teas and Hybrid Perpetuals, were called Pedigree Hybrids of the Tea Rose. He is considered the father of the Hybrid Tea class. Important cultivars are the Hybrid Tea 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam' (1882), a parent of 'Mme. Caroline Testout' and the Hybrid Perpetuals 'Captain Hayward' (1893) and 'Mrs. John Laing' (1887).
Rosa 'Perle d'Or' is an apricot blend Polyantha rose cultivar bred by Joseph Rambaux in 1875 and introduced by Francis Dubreuil in France in 1883. 'Perle d'Or' was granted several awards, including the Lyon Gold Medal in 1883, and the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.
Rosa'Buff Beauty' is an apricot Hybrid musk rose cultivar, bred by Ann Bentall and introduced into Great Britain in 1939. Bentall and her husband, John Bentall, inherited the rose fields of acclaimed rose breeder, the Reverend Joseph Pemberton after his death in 1926. The rose was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.
Graham Thomas is a deep yellow shrub rose bred by British rose breeder, David C.H. Austin, and introduced into the United Kingdom by David Austin Roses Limited (UK) in 1983. The cultivar was named for legendary rose horticulturalist, Graham Thomas. The rose was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993 and inducted into the Rose Hall of Fame in 2009 as "World's Favourite Rose".
Rosa 'Soleil d'Or' is a Foetida hybrid rose cultivar, bred by Joseph Pernet-Ducher and introduced on November 1, 1900. It is the ancestor of all modern Hybrid tea roses and the first yellow-orange rose. Pernet-Ducher later crossed 'Soleil d'Or' with Tea roses to create a new class known as Pernetiana roses.
Rosa 'Madame Caroline Testout' is a bright pink hybrid tea rose, bred by French rosarian, Joseph Pernet-Ducher. The pink, fragrant rose has been a very popular rose worldwide since its introduction in 1890. It is recognized by the city of Portland as being an important contributor to its worldwide reputation as the "City of Roses"
