1993 Old Rose Garden Tour of France and Germany 

By Louise Clements

On June 2 our party left San Francisco via Air France for Paris. We were led by Bill Grant, whose expertise in leading tours and dealing with the unexpected is invaluable. In Paris we were joined by David Ruston, of Australia, President of the World Federation of Rose Societies. We numbered twenty and ages ranged from early thirties to mid eighties. We counted among us those who knew much about roses and those who didn’t. After a bus trip we transferred to another flight for Lyon. The next day we traveled about 35 km by bus to the Chateau de La Chaize, built in 1676, and now a famous winery. The Chateau has an immense formal garden with wide expanses of lawn and cultured greenery. ‘American Pillar’ made an outstanding appearance here growing over a gateway. We were to see ‘American Pillar’ possibly more than any other rose on the tour. Climbing roses were a perfect complement to the imposing architecture especially ‘Albertine’, ‘Thalia’ and ‘Mine Alfred Carriere’. In the afternoon we visited Monsieur Denniger’s carefully planned and maintained alpine garden. He had a magnificent bush of ‘Cocktail’.

The next day was devoted to the garden of Georges and Odile Masquelier. And such a day it was. I generally straggled off the bus last as I was carrying a lot of camera equipment, and so I walked alone through the gate in a high stone wall into a breathtaking view. I gasped at the beauty around me and the promise of more as I glimpsed the vistas ahead. I decided that if I didn’t see another garden the trip would have been worth just this one. A most delightful discovery for me was seeing ‘Maria Lisa’ a strawberry-red rambler with small, single blooms in full and glorious bloom trained over an eight foot support. ‘Nozomi’ was wonderful in large stone pots. ‘Rosy Cushion’ sat atop a stone wall near a walkway. ‘Mermaid’ flowed up and over the pool house, splashing her huge, single, yellow blooms everywhere. Peering over the other side was ‘Long John Silver’ a fully double, old-fashioned, fragrant white. Mine Masquelier says this is her favorite white climber. After a morning of ‘photo-frenzy’ we were treated to a incredibly sumptuous feast on the cool patio, before we ventured into the sunshine to take more pictures. ‘Mrs. F.W. Flight’ was a voluptuous sight along the pergola by the upper wall of the garden. David Austin’s ‘Hero’ was resplendent near a wrought iron gate. But the queen of the garden for me was ‘Cerise Bouquet’. A huge bush measuring twelve feet tall and just as wide, its arching branches bore lovely, fully double, crimson-cerise blooms the full length of each branch. Mine Masquelier has five hundred rose varieties in her 2 acre garden including three of our introductions: ‘Aptos’, ‘Lyda Rose’ and ‘Mateo’s Silk Butterflies’. Climbing roses scampered up trees with wild abandon. This was a garden with liveability. Carefully tended but not contrived, the beds of roses and perennials enveloped the green lawns, bricked paths and patios with inviting color, texture and fragrance. We were grateful for the privilege we’d had and reluctant to leave at the end of the day.

Tete d’Or was a city park and garden with educational overtones. It was so large we had to take a motorized, rubber tire train through the park to see the various gardens. There was a large, formal planting of hybrid teas but I was more interested in the old roses. I was particularly interested in seeing the Geschwind roses which were trained for the most part on supports about 8 ft. tall. I sniffed ‘Souv. de Brod’ and nearly drowned on the dew filled petals. With the next rose I was much more careful. ‘Spencer’, as usual drew me to his side. David Ruston and I share a love of this lovely pink hybrid perpetual. ‘The heps on ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ were impressive even in June. [In our garden here in Oregon we have a wonderful 'Mary Queen of Scots' but to our utter frustration we can not get it to root. We will keep trying though.]

The French public gardens, Bagetelle and Rosarie d’ l’Hay were stunning in layout and use of roses. Roses in baskets, tree roses (or standard roses), trained on large umbrella forms and draping gracefully, roses on trellises, pergolas, trained on pillars, and trained into the forms seen in the photo on the back cover of this catalog. Overall vistas in these gardens were so effectively used that one could look from left to right and be presented with form and color that gloried the rose. Strolling through the pergolas and pathways and seeing the roses close by was equally entrancing. At Roserie d’ 1′ Hay ‘American Pillar’, ‘New Dawn’, ‘Paul Scarlet’, ‘Alexander Girault’ and ‘Mrs. F.W. Flight’ were used as accents repeatedly. The group first saw ‘Rush’ at Hagetelle and raved about it. When I returned home I found we already had it on hand and just hadn’t put it in the catalog yet. In both these gardens we saw roses that are not available in the United States and coveted them. Nothing surpasses seeing a rose in full bloom at the peak of the season for whetting the rosarian appetite. Trips to other parts of the world have opened up much for us in deciding what to import and include, in our catalog in future. We have, now, four hundred varieties which we are evaluating for potential presentation.

A free day in Paris found me in the Louvre, a life-long dream come true. Though it would take days to visit every room in the museum let alone absorb everything, I managed to see enough to bring home lots of photos and satisfying memories. Ali, the garden of Andre Eve. A true paradise for the spirit of the flower lover. It fit perfectly with my philosophy for enjoying a garden.

A garden is a revelation: a celebration, enlightenment and inspiration. First I want to just walk through the garden, I don’t want to know the names of anything. I just want to experience the play of color, texture, and fragrance, to sensualize and celebrate the satisfaction and joy of it. I want to internalize the intention of the garden and see the gardener through his creation. That is when I notice what is planted side by side. What is at the back of the bed. What lies at my feet. What it is that draws me to a far corner of the garden, then I want to know the names of everything. After my curiousity is satisfied with information I can assemble sensual celebration with enlightenment and arrive at inspriation. How can I use what I have learned? How can I take all this home and relate it to those who have not seen it? Monseiur Eve’s garden is small (35x 150 feet), lavishly planted, with a winding pathway and side paths that brought discovery and pleasure with every turn, revealing secret corners and hideaways. Andre Eve is a rose nurseryman and hybridizer whose creations are not yet available on this side of the Atlantic. One of theses is ‘Suzon’ a cross between ‘Kiftsgate’ and ‘Joseph’s Coat’. A beautiful, semi-double, pink and orange, repeating rambler not yet on the market in Europe. We hope to introduce them to America.

Sangerhausen was a step into another world full of history and purposeful perseverance. When it was a part of East Germany, dedicated rosarians kept the garden alive and now it thrives. Six thousand or more varieties are preserved here in the largest repository of roses in the world. They are planted in beds of like types: moss, hybrid perpetuals, etc. Everything is labeled and listed in a comprehensive guide. We were there on a Sunday and it seemed that a major part of the population of Sangerhausen had dressed in Sunday best for a leisurely and appreciative stroll through the park. It reminded me of scenes from the turn of the century. Though there may have been some who saw the whole garden; I don’t think I did. I wandered through the beds of roses like a person bewitched. We were there at the peak of the blooming season and the rewards were rich. My photo log lists roses I had never heard of and so many that I wanted but I had to be content with taking pictures, which I did with relish. ‘Pleine de Grace’ called out to me with its arching branches covered with single, white blooms. ‘Marchenland’ was lovely as was ‘Vogelpark’ by Kordes and ‘Munchen’ a bright red single with equally bright golden eye and stamens.

Our accommodations in Sangerhausen were newly improved and our hostess gave each of the ladies in the group an old coffee pitcher (which we had admired) decorated with moss roses made during the time of the German Democratic Republic. Each of the men was given a beer mug.

Our hosts and guides in Kassel, Dr. and Mrs. Grimm, petitioned the city about 15 years ago asking to be allowed to plant roses, at their own expense, throughout the grounds of the city owned castle and park. Before the Grimms began their labor of love there was mostly greenery planted in the style of the times when the castle was first built. Now beds of gloriously blooming roses lend beauty for the casually strolling visitor and the serious rosarian alike. The Grimms’ (mostly Mrs. Grimm) tend sixteen hundred rose bushes alone though they are in their eighties. Growing on the grounds is a bush of ‘Hemispherica’ which has been there since the late 1500′s and is the oldest rose bush on the grounds. ‘Verdi’ a lovely deep violet bloom by ‘Lens’ was impressive. ‘Venusta Pendula’ was massive. Miriam Wilkins found a single moss rose that repeats.

In Dortmund the newspapers came out to the garden to take pictures of Bill Grant and David Ruston with Dr. Otto Bunneman the curator of the garden and our guide for the day. The city of Dortmund treated us all like celebraties with a noon-time refreshment and a message of welcome from the Lord Mayor. Several of the smaller gardens within Dortmund Garden were constructed around themes: Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Medicinal and an interactive garden with bells and gongs to ring. I was excited to see ‘Improved Dorothy Perkins’ and ‘Improved Excelsa’ which repeat bloom.

I haven’t mentioned much about the food. In France the food looked beautiful. In Germany it tasted wonderful. I’m glad there is such variety. There were many people that were on the tour and that we met that I wish I could mention. It was a glorious trip. I’m so glad I went.

Visiting Three Corners of the United States: Minnesota, Louisiana, Alaska
By Louise Clements

Sure enough, since printing the last catalog we have been in those three states. In October of ’98 I was invited to speak to a group of rosarians in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to experiencing the wonderful Mid-western hospitality I was there in the fall when they do the “Minnesota Tip” which is not a dance…but a winter protection method for their roses. They find this necessary because of their extremely cold winters. I was taken, by my genial hosts, to the Arboretum at the University of Minnesota where volunteers had gathered with shovels, twine, and gloves to “tip” the roses in that garden. There, surrounded by exquisite golds and reds of fall, they buried the roses in a ritual community effort. The first step is to wrap the rose, leaves and all, with twine so that the whole rose bush is bound in a pyramidal confinement. A length of twine about four feet long is left at the top of the bush. Then a trench is dug from the base of the. rose bush extending out about the same measurement as the height of the rose bush. The depth of the trench is such that the entire bush will be covered by soil when the process is finished. Then the soil at the base of the bush is loosened and the rose bush is gently tipped until it is lying flat in the trench.

The soil is then heaped over the bush taking care to keep the four-foot piece of twine above the soil so that they can locate the bush the next spring; after the time of frost past, they will raise the bush by pulling on the string, loosening the soil around the bush, and setting it upright again. I asked to help with some of the work and found their soil to be wonderfully rich and easy to work with, although I could not come close to the speed with which these experienced volunteers attacked the rose beds. More than one of those volunteers told me how they bury up to one hundred of their own roses all by themselves. Several made a practice of helping each other and a great sense of community has developed around the “Minnesota Tip.” The next week the temperature dipped into the twenties.

But by the next week I was in Louisiana where John and I met and the weather was much, much warmer. We wanted to see several gardens in the South. We visited the Bellingrath Gardens in Alabama. Although there was only a small formal rose garden there it was lovely in its situation by a beautiful old-fashioned glass house. Bellingrath Gardens is huge and if explored adequately would take more than a day to see it as well as the house with its grand collection of treasures and the carriage house which has now houses a magnificent display of Boehm china pieces. Hodges gardens, in Northwestern Louisiana, with its varied topography and huge lake, offered a serene setting and was every bit as large though it had many more roses. One very beautiful setting was of a rose bed built on a peninsula-like projection into the lake.

We had never seen anything just like it. There were rose beds in tiers and on the top of a hill which overlooked the lake. They have a large gift shop which was air-conditioned and was most welcome.

Actually we were in Louisiana twice. I was invited to speak at the ARS Antique Rose Symposium in April of 1999. On both occasions the roses were in good bloom, and I took rolls and rolls of slides. Summer there, as we understand, is almost a dormant period. Even in April it was so warm that our Northern blood was evident The roses rest while the heat (described by some as “air you wear”) settles in with an oppressive slowing effect. The gardeners I spoke to took a rest from gardening also, because it is too hot to work except in the early morning hours. April and November are the best bloom seasons.

In Shreveport we got acquainted with the staff at the American Rose Center where the American Rose Society is located and experienced the great Southern hospitality. We were toured and dined with generosity by the staff. I developed a boundless appetite for Southern cooking and came away with several cook books. Now this has nothing to do with roses, but it was so funny, I just have to tell you. While in Shreveport I had blackened alligator. It was wonderful! I determined to take some home with me. So the night before we left, I ordered the dish in a restaurant and had it packed in ice ready to take it on the plane back to Oregon. Later John spoke to the stewardess, “Could we have some ice for our alligator?” The expression on her face was priceless as she asked incredulously, haltingly, with a touch of cooperate indignity “Do you have an alligator on board this plane?” She was reassured. We laughed heartily.

In July of 1999 we visited Alaska, where the season is short, roses do grow, and in the winter in Skagway the wind chill factor is -150 degrees. The wind blows so hard you have to park your car into the wind or else when you open the door it will blow off (so one local resident told me). Tourism is the major source of income along the coast of Alaska. The population can triple in a day when the crnise ships stop at the docks. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, can be reached only by sea-plane or boat. There are no roads into the city. Barges come in weekly with supplies and goods for the residents. We found one rose growing in front of The Northern Lights Pizza restaurant in Skagway. It was a vigorous, healthy, deep pink hybrid rugosa. We asked what its name was,but no one seems to know or where it came from. While we found no rose beds, and frankly hadn’t expected to on the coast, we do know from our customer list that roses grow in Alaska.

Three corners of the U.S.A. – where people will endure anything for the love of a rose.

By John & Louise Clements

We celebrated our wedding anniversary while in England by spending two nights at Thombury Castle. Originally owned by the Earl of Buckingham, who had the audacity to criticize King Henry the VIII and lost his head as a result, the castle became the property of King Henry and was the residence of Anne Boleyn. It boasts the oldest Tudor garden in England though we took issue with the Hybrid Teas occupying a portion of the garden. It was a once m a lifetime treat.

We searched out Sanday’s Rose Nursery, which had been in business for many years, only to arrive on the day after their last day in business. It had become impossible to compete with the much cheaper rose imports from the Eastern Block countries and with deep regrets they had to close their doors. We walked through their display garden with sadness.

Warwick Castle was a grand experience. The Victorian Rose Garden, which Louise had seen in 1991 when it was newly planted has now come into its own and though only the David Austin English Roses were in bloom, including, of course, a bed of ‘Warwick Castle’ the garden was lovely with its formal planting and tidy paths and ordered structures. The castle itself was delightful, extremely busy with visitors and entertainers roaming the grounds, entertaining with music, song and story.

Our purpose was to meet some of the rose hybridizers and nurserymen currently in business. We arrived at Gandy’s Roses to meet with Mr. Gandy and though he is 85 years old he was cutting budwood in the field; which can be a backbreaking job. Gandy is an energetic man who is passionate about roses. He plans to hybridize till his dying day he says. We believed him. He has been in the rose business for 72 years. We are evaluating several of Mr. Gandy’s Shrub roses for future introduction. We walked his test field and breeding greenhouses to the accompaniment of colorful stories from his life with roses. A spritely gentleman he is.

The future to him is another 50 years ahead. The future of the present, however, definitely rests in the genius of David Austin. We traveled to Albrighton for a scheduled meeting with himand his son David Austin Jr. We talked roses and business in the conference room of their brand new office facility. While we were talking John glanced out the window and said, “Isn’t that your friend from France?” I excused myself quickly and ran outside to greet Odile Masquelier, who was visiting the nursery for the first time. She was as astonished to see me as I to see her. Such a coincidence for people from two different countries to meet in a third country. Great timing, I must say. I returned to the discussion with the Austin’s, and they gave us a marvelous repast of little sandwiches and delicately prepared fruits. The display garden has been expanded, and a faux temple or porch has been added which makes an excellent backdrop for the roses. The test fields are full of promise.

We made our way to Hitchin, The Sun Hotel, built in the 1200′s, and its wonderful food and to see Harkness Roses. Robert Harkness drove us to the growing fields, where we spent two hours in the test plots choosing numbered test roses to be shipped to us for evaluation with an eye toward putting them in the catalog. Robert told us that he had located a few of his father’s (Jack Harkness, who had just died) book Roses and would like to see us sell them in our catalog. You will find it on the Book pages.

St. Albans was our last stop and yet another serendipitous event. We arrived on the day of the RNRS Annual Miniature Rose Show. What a treat! Sean McCann was there, and we shared notes about his award winners and ours! Our ‘Golden Beauty’ was a first place winner. Don’t you think we were excited. The next day we returned to pace the test beds and take pictures by the dozens. Can you imagine how much we have had to leave out of so brief a report? We returned home tired but happy and would you believe…NO jet lag!! What a perfect ending to a dream trip.

By Louise Clements

On July 7, 1994 I joined John in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where we toured the floating flower markets on the canals. For blocks there were boats secured to the walls of the canals offering their wares. Cut flowers of every size and shape or color it seemed where displayed in containers. Exotic or simple. Mix your own bouquet, pick out one already arranged so beautifully in cellophane holders. Take it home to share at the dinner table, give it as a gift or keep it just for your own pleasure. Bicyclists, folks in taxis, youths with backpacks, couples hand in hand, an elderly folks, and business people on their way home from work stopped to purchase flowers. We just walked along, our senses flooded with the wonder of the colors and scents that flowers provide.

From Amsterdam we headed for The Hague, where we spent several hours taking pictures of the vast rose garden which we estimated to be about 40 acres in size. Grassy lawns beckoned around each bend to new vistas of delight. The well kept lawns were the perfect foil for the magnificent beds of multiple plants of each variety of roses. Ponds with ducks and swans drew us beneath the trees waving over them. The garden was full of people on a Sunday outing enjoying the roses just as we were. This is a very famous destination garden and we heard several different languages being spoken. We saw so many roses not available to us in the United States and of course we added many to our wish list. But we also saw many that we do have and had a chance to make comparisons and take notes. We were pleased to see so many of Louis Lens roses. ‘White Magic’, ‘Petit Rat del’Opera’, ‘Neige Dete’, ‘Maria Mathilda’, which won the 1981 Golden Rose of The Hague. ‘Paganini’, ‘Magie d’Orient’, ‘Ravel’. Roses from all over Europe are sent here for test trials hoping for coveted awards. Louise’s friend, Elena Pizzi, of Italy, who wrote an article for our 1993 catalog is one of the trial judges here. ‘Armada’ by Harkness looked just as wonderful there as it does in our own garden. McGready’s ever popular ‘Handel’ stood out. The wonderful pillar rose ‘Antique’ put on a fine display. ‘Pink Cloud’ one of the most prolific blooming of all roses lived up to its name. I love this one and we will be introducing it soon. Austin’s ‘Leander’ won the Bronze Medal of The Hague’ for 1994. It was being grown as a climber. But for grand display nothing topped ‘Rosy Cushion’ planted on a hillside. There must have been over 70 plants all in full bloom set off by a border of Hidcote Lavender.

A new rose to us was a sport of ‘The Fairy’ called ‘Lovely Fairy’ a deep, fuchsia-pink which we saw everywhere in Europe and will be introducing in the future. It is always exciting to see the test beds of roses which as yet do not even have names. How will they perform? What will be their names? What will their future hold? What passions will they stir? We cannot know. We must wait.

In the meawhile we were off to Belgium the lace capital of the world and a little shopping and sight seeing in the very old city of Brugge. Space and topic do not aUow for romantic romps or reminisences about the beautiful European cities we saw. The canals we traveled. The Art Museums (ahh, the Art Museums!). The history. The food. The architecture. The catherdral bells. The evening walks. The pastry shops. The thrill of the challenge of a country where you do not speak the language and have no idea what is around the next corner. But roses are always nearby and familiar.

Only a few miles from Brugge was Louis Lens Nursery now run by Rudy and Ann Valle. Sheep were tied near the edge of the fields munching on weeds. ‘Flash’ a white Hybrid Musk type and ‘Pink Spray’ were literally covered with blooms. Wearing his straw hat against the hot summer sun, Rudy enthusiastically showed us through the nursery which he cultivates and maintains with a horse drawn plow. Sheep were tied around the border of the growing fields to help keep the weeds under control. We saw ‘Bouquet Parfait’ a pink blend Hybrid Musk and ‘Neige Dete with huge clusters of small fully double pure white blooms. Lovely plants of ‘Rush” which can be used as shrub or climber. ‘Silver River’ a silver-white ground cover. ‘Poesie’, double pale pink to white. ‘Little Green Snake’ a prostrate Ground Cover. ‘Sibelius’ is more repeating than ‘Pucinni’. ‘Focus’, a small, white, with double blooms and a golden center, was eyecatching. A large bed of ‘Kent’ a Ground Cover which is very popular in Europe. A huge bed of ‘White Magic’ fully double, almost quartered, small old-fashioned blooms which repeat blooms and makes a large shrub, 5 – 8 feet. ‘Walferdange’ named for city in Luxembourg. 3 in. deep pink blooms which repeats is an English type rose. Nice planting of ‘Mozart’ and ‘Petit Rat d’Opera’. ‘Revel’ may be grown as a climber. It is bright red with a white eye and is repeat blooming. ‘Lovely Fairy’ deep fuchsia pink to red sport of ‘The Fairy’. We saw this one at The Hague. Valle’s had a huge bed of them because of the great demand for it in Europe.

Huge beds of potted roses grown for sales at the nursery were separated by cement walkways. We had to leave them all behind. We found many outstanding varieties by Lens yet to come when we visited Louis Lens himself at his home about 50 miles (or was it kilometers?) away. As we approached his tree surrounded home a wooden stork announcing the birth of his new grandchild greeted us. Seeing Louis Lens was a delight. We walked his growing fields with him on a hot and windy day while he talked of his love of roses and hybridizing. Though he says he is finished with his hybridizing it is hard to believe that he is not still dreaming of new roses to create. As is typical of the best hybridizers each section was carefully labeled. He knew immediately when asked what the crosses were of each rose. Many of his roses are named for famous composers. Well educated he speaks four languages: Dutch his native language, French, German and English. A beautiful plant of ‘Omni’ in his garden caught our eye. Across the lawn Mr. Lens pointed out to us ‘Greensnake’ in full bloom in the middle of July. ‘Little Greensnake’ was nearby. Louise identified ‘Verdi’ in his garden and Mr Lens mentioned that it could be used as a repeating climber. We noticed the deep reddish purple of ‘Sibelius’ with large clusters of blooms. Rosa swegenzowii showed off a nice display of hips in mid July. ‘Cerise Bouquet;’ he told us, came from Rosa bra cteata. So many bits of information stored and to be retrieved into conversations. We reluctantly parted his company. What secrets a life time of work and experience can be untapped in the mind of such a man.

Next was Germany. The map was a who’s who of rose names; so many roses have been named after cities in Germany it almost felt familiar. We spent a night in the Catherdral city of Aachen for which the lovely rose ‘Gruss an Aachen’ was named. We headed for Utersen since it was generally on our route and we have the rose ‘Rosarium Utersen’. A wrong tum took us past a sign which we readily recognized. “Tauntau Rose Nursery”. Dazzled by our good luck we entered the very modem offices and introduced ourselves to

Maaike Evers, the daughter of owner Hans Evers. She spoke perfect English and had even worked in the United States. What’s more she had friends in Portland, just 25 miles away from us. She took us on a extended tour of their state-of-the-art-greenhouses. This part of Germany is a very water poor area and all water is handled with great reverence. The methods that they used to recover and recyle water were extremely high tech. Computers control all the recycling and even test the water continually. They sell mainly florists roses wholesale, though they have some shrub roses and others in which we were interested. We returned the following day for a tantalizing tour of the growing fields. Maaike Evers thoughtfully suggested a place for us to spend the night and even called the hotel for us which was only about 5 miles away. The hotel was the Restaurant and Hotel in the Rosarium in Utersen. A serendipitous event! We had aimed our car in the direction of a familiar name with no knowledge of what might actually be there. It tumed out they had only one room left, which we happily took. What a providential wrong turn we had taken.

The lovely, small hotel had vases of fresh roses on every table in the large dining room. And through the windows we caught our first glimpse of the rose garden. It was breathtaking. The awning covered outdoor dining area affords a lovely view of the two lakes and rose beds. Bordering the pathway along the outdoor dining area are numerous tree roses of ‘The Fairy’. This seemed to be a very old garden that is nicely maintained with long winding paths through the beds around the two lakes which are habitat for numerous varieties of ducks. If you love roses and a serene setting. Rosarium Utersen is the loveliest place on earth. We were the only tourists there as it is far off the beaten track. Its leisurely paced atmosphere compelled us to relax. The roses in the garden include large colorful beds of modem roses with individual specimen plantings and beds of old garden roses and ramblers surrounding the lakes. Many of the varieties are in our catalog. In addition there were also many rare old varieties. There were hundreds of roses here, some of them found nowhere else in the world to our knowledge. One of the most exciting finds was ‘Romanze’ by Tantau which we plan on introducing in the future (we subsequently saw it many other places.) It has large semi-double, rose-pink blooms with wavy petals bom in clusters of 6 – 10 in profusion. We enjoyed the magnificent planting of ‘Mozart’ by Lens in front of the hotel. There was a huge bed of the Ground Cover rose ‘Snow on the Heather’. We encourage you to visit.

Sated we left for yet another nursery. We drove north to see the enormous Kordes nursery in Sparrieshoop. We toured their greenhouses and visited their display rose garden where we took even more photographs and video and observed several varieties we should like to offer in the future.

On to Kiel, Germany to a long anticipated meeting with Rolf Seivers, hybridizer of the Blush series of roses (three of which we introduce in this catalog). Rolf Seivers, a gracious man with a passion for roses. Though he spoke little English and we speak no German, communication between lovers of roses seems to breech the barriers of language. Many things going on in his very diverse hybridizing program. He has a wonderfully creative mind which likes a challenge. He is persistent and thorough in record keeping and research. He keeps very concise and complete records and excellent photographs of all his roses in ring binders. He has bred a remontant Moss. He also breeds lilies. His seedlings are planted outdoors and the winters temperatures drop to minus 28 degrees. All roses are winter hardy. He uses Alba’s, Kordesii’s and Old Garden Roses in his breeding. We toured his greenhouses and test plot barely able to contain our excitement at what he is producing.

Our next stop was Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit Poulsen Roses. We saw beautiful beds of his roses in the Tivioli Gardens. A standout was the white ‘Isak Denison’ named for the author of Out Of Africa. After Copenhagen we went on to Stockholm, Sweden, to look for very winter-hardy roses. We purchased a wonderful rose book with the hardiness zones of Sweden but as it was in Swedish we can only look at the beautiful pictures.

Only a few highlights. Oh so many memories. Nearly 1800 slides to sort and savor. Trying not to forget a thing.

A Garden Glimpse of England and the 7th Int’l Conference of Old Garden Roses
By Louise Clements

The question is not whether there will be weather but what the weather will be. In June of 1997 the weather in England was windy, rainy and cold, the coldest June in 129 years. Into this blowing, blustery damp stepped 22 intrepid rose gardeners. Well, 21 anyway. One of our company was not truly a gardener. She came to be a traveling companion to her 83 year old sister. (This non-gardener celebrated her 85th birthday while on the tour!) Her unequivocal observation was that we were all mad! We tramped through gardens with rain running down our necks, trouser legs wet and muddy to our knees, with delighted smiles on our faces all the while. Since we were all (nearly) gardeners with experience in the elements we generously brushed off the apologies of our gardening hosts as they ducked with us through the rain. At Kiftsgate the ground was so soggy in places that they had to lay boards on the ground so that we would not slide on the slippery grass into the sodden, muddy beds. It only served to heighten our sense of adventure and discovery. It will be impossible to tell you about each of the eighteen gardens we visited in such a short space but I will give you what were, for me, highlights of the trip.

This year our time was split between two central locations: Cirencester in the Cotswolds and Cambridge. Our first 10 days were spent in Cirencester at Stratton House Hotel which served as our very comfortable base. We made daily forays out to the scheduled gardens and returned each evening for wonderful meals and then a sharing of experiences from the day.

Many of the gardens are not open to the public and only through research and many weeks of contact and negotiating by Bill Grant, our leader, were we permitted entry. Such were the gardens of Highgrove at the home of Prince Charles. A once in a lifetime experience. After stem warnings about taking photos (Don’t!). We were escorted through the extensive gardens by Mrs. Pyle. We all eagerly absorbed the vast variety of plantings and marked them in our memories. Some drew quick sketches of the various scenes. The thyme walk with many varieties of thyme spreading casually along both sides of a long stone walkway was lovely. It was accentuated by topiaries which Prince Charles had permitted his gardening staff to shape in any way they wished. This added a marvelous whimsical touch. The rose walk designed by Rosemary Verey was refreshing with its serpentine paths through a mix of roses, perennials and shrubs. The temple garden was casually serene with two faux temples constructed of tree roots. I only wish I had a picture to show you. I’ve never seen such an artistic result in such an unexpected medium.

I think that the most common denominator of the gardens this trip were Levels! It has been said that the three requirements of a good garden are levels, water and discipline. We certainly saw levels. Many of the gardeners we visited had made remarkably creative use of some very steep and daunting terrain. Stone and bricks were used to construct stairways and paths leading from one level to another. Often the next level was not even visible until we right upon it.

Sudeley Castle was a Medieval vision. The ruined castle walls, the rose garden, the beautifully kept grounds! Worth at least two days of tanying.

A surprisingly satisfying garden was that of the estate at Sizencote. There were, maybe, three roses planted there. The sun had come out and the vast green spaces and remarkable plantings of trees were serene in their splendor.

Stancombe Park, a huge estate owned by Mr. and Mrs. Barlow, was an experience of surprises. A lovely rose garden and then a challenging climb down a hillside on a damp path took us through twists and turns, tunnels and temples, flora and faux fauna, grand and glorious vistas. A garden I will always remember.

We moved on to Cambridge to attend the Seventh International Heritage Rose Conference 1997. Approximately 400 people from 22 countries attended. “Roses was the most common language spoken after English. The lectures were: Stimulating: Gwen Fagan, from South Africa, showed us through her slides how she created a paradise from ground that had previously sprouted only boulders. Sally Allison, of New Zealand, inspired us to plant climbing roses with her stupendous pictures of her own and several others garden. Bill Grant, California, stirred our longings for the originals, the species roses. Educational: Robin Fox spoke of DNA testing for certainty of rose identification. A huge new field of research for scientific rosarians. Elsie de Raedt gave us seldom heard information about the part Belgium and Holland played in the preservation and creation of roses over the centuries. Hazel LeRougetel took us to China via her slides and introduced us to another major part of rose history. Mike Lowe showed us how own-root propagation is done and his slides were of Heirloom’s propagation procedures! Trevor Griffith’s talk got down under as he the described planting roses with exotic perennials native to his homeland, Australia.

A final celebratory dinner at King’s College left me fairly gasping with awe. The historic hall, the company, the elegance! Peter Beales and Rosamund Wallinger and their hard working committee are to be congratulated on a magnificent job well done.

I came away with enough wonderful memories to savor for many years to come. Though, believe me, I would go again at the drop of a rose petal.