Summer: Farmers Markets, Friends, and Family

“Antique roses aren’t good because they’re old; they’re old because they’re good.”

Grant, Greg & Welch, William C., The Rose Rustlers (2017)

Oh, what a magical and very busy the summer of 2024 has been. After a warmer and sunnier than normal spring and then a cold, wet beginning in June the roses didn’t know what to do. Their buds swelled and stayed ready to bloom for over two weeks which led to an amazing flush in the middle of June. Everything that blooms in May, June, and early July bloomed at once: lilacs, rhododendrons, magnolias, dogwoods, tulip poplars, and the spinosissimas and other roses. That and the absence of mowing because of the wet weather offered an impressionist landscape to enjoy.

Farmers Markets have always had a place in my heart. In Bloomington, Indiana, Saturdays are a wonderful opportunity to meet friends at the market to catch up, listen to music, and pick up what you aren’t growing in your backyard for the week. While the Stanwood, WA Farmers Market is much smaller and still not where most people in the area shop for their groceries, it does have that hometown feel featuring friendly farmer neighbors who are happy to share information about how they grow your food. I love the conversation, children playing in the aisles, the smell of sometimes unusual and ethnic delicacies such as African Johnny Cakes wafting around the booths.

This year I participated at the Stanwood Market in June as a farmer/educator sharing Anne’s story and roses. My goal for this year is to get 100 different heirloom roses in people’s backyards for Anne’s 100th birthyear. This has been much more difficult than I thought, but the Farmers Market was helpful. I met many people in the area from all levels of gardening expertise who were interested in learning about and growing heritage roses. I didn’t make near enough money to cover my expenses by the time I paid for the business license, insurance (required by most Farmers Markets), and space but it was fun, there is a possibility that many cuttings took, and I met people I wouldn’t have otherwise met.

I told some people I met who weren’t sure which roses they wanted to try to propagate that they could come over to view the roses and take cuttings of the ones they were interested in. As long as they did the work they could have them for free. Unfortunately, I learned quickly that many required a lot of assistance and what came to three or more hours of my attention. I just didn’t have the time to do this. It would be much easier to schedule specific times to meet with all of them – OR, invite them to be members of the Heritage Roses Northwest and come to our July 27th meeting to be held at my house. This was the WINNER.

One very exciting thing that happened at the Stanwood Farmers Market was that I met someone who knew where to find the rose, ‘Ruth Alexander’. I was finishing up a conversation about propagation, when a woman came up behind me and whispered, “Do you want a Ruth Alexander?” Say, what!?! I could hardly believe my ears. I had been looking for the remaining Ruth Alexander bushes (there were possibly two, one on Lopez Island and the other somewhere in Mount Vernon to the north of us) for the past year and a half. Ever since Gregg Lowery mentioned that they would like to have one at the Friends of Vintage Roses and I realized that we no longer had ours. This woman was amused by my reaction and we exchanged information so we could schedule a visit to ask for cuttings. We met the following Sunday on Camano Island and drove to a friend’s house who owns the house across the street where one of the last known large flowered climbers is. It was stunning with it’s unusual shape and sunset colors. Our hostess not only allowed us to take cuttings she gave us a tour of her impressive garden. It was a perfect day of new friends and plants.

The end of June brought many visitors to Anne’s Gardens. I was so excited that Elena Williams and Diane Sommers took time out of their very busy schedules to stop by. It was a perfect day with friends who have midwestern roots. Elena shared a rose sleuthing idea and gifted me with a bag to carry out said idea (see picture below). It occurred to me later why Anne had similar bags filled with water containers in the hallway to the garage. She, like her rosarian friends, was ready to act should a rose finding adventure present itself. I thought it was prepper activity…and, actually it was.

July involved a trip home to Indiana and Michigan and the opportunity to meet the members of the Indianapolis Rose Society. What a treat! This group was so receptive to helping me save Anne’s roses, especially those that may do better in more northern climates. After presenting a bit about Anne and her Indianapolis connection (Anne’s great-great grandfather, Samuel Henderson, was the first mayor of Indianapolis), we discussed her roses and gardens, propagation from cuttings, and the goal of making the rare roses more common. Members were invited to take cuttings from the roses I shipped to Linda earlier and root them for their gardens. While QRC registration of Anne’s roses through the American Rose Center (Save the Ramblers Project) is only available through roses purchased through nurseries at this point, we are making note and encouraging people to keep us in the loop about their rose cutting success.

As an aside, if you are a member of the American Rose Society, Claude’s list of Anne Belovich Collection Varieties and their availability is available in the member’s only section on the ARS website along with a digitized version of Anne’s Rambler book.

My goal for 2024, Anne’s birth year, is to ensure 100 of her roses have five duplicates in the United States. In addition, I hope to be able to move those roses that do better in midwestern and northern climates to those locations. Anne sent only those ramblers to Chambersville that she thought would do well there.

When I was putting together the slide show for the presentation, I found a few pictures of the property that shows the changes over the years. The last one was taken in 2022 with a drone by our friend, Chris Benzakein of Floret. I traced that and used Adobe Paint to do a watercolor like version to label parts of the gardens. I still have a little more work to do on it, but it has been useful for helping people find the location of the rose they are interested in and sharing common location names with work parties.

Anne’s Gardens was the location for the Saturday, July 29th Heritage Roses Northwest meeting. We had many new members join us. John Moe presented on pruning and other important tips to take care of your roses and Sally Willett shared propagation techniques. People spent the rest of the time practicing pruning and propagation techniques, deadheading, weeding, having lunch, engaging in conversation, gathering cuttings, or just walking around the gardens. It was so much fun. Anne would have loved to see everyone having such a good time. So much energy!

A few of the new members asked me if they could have a work party and invite their friends. Of course I said, “yes!” We scheduled it for tomorrow, August 10th, which will be my birthday. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than with twenty energetic new rose friends. Shawn, June, Bradley, Victoria, and several others will be here bright and early to build community and friendships. I’m sure there will be much laughter.

To close, I leave you with Winchester Cathedral (Austin, 1988) showing its sporty side, from Mary Rose (Austin, 1983).

Happy gardening!