I hope this finds you all well and “enjoying” sheltering in place. I just spent probably the strangest birthday in my life. But the current situation puts in focus the things that really matter in life. Highlights were cards, messages, and calls from friends and relatives including a card from GRS sent by Shirley Mullins. Thanks so much. If you need a mask to stay safe, please let me know. We were able to obtain some medical fabric which filters 95% of viruses and bacteria. I will be happy to mail you a mask or drop off at your house— keeping a safe distance, of course.
Really miss seeing rose friends. Hope that things are back to some kind of “new normal” by autumn when our DSD fall meeting is scheduled. Chairmen Jean and Ralph Stream have been working diligently to put the meeting and show together.
We received information from the Greater Atlanta/Gwinnet on-line rose show. You must be a member of GARS to enter and are welcome to join. Membership is $30 per household. GARS is trying this since, like all Deep South District societies, they cancelled their spring rose show. Exhibitors take photos of roses staged in vases at home. Arrangements can also be entered. Categories have been simplified. Entries will be judged, but this is not a sanctioned ARS show. You can view entries and get details at http://atlantarose.org/the-2020-roseshow.
I was thinking about something like this for GRS. I doubt we have the expertise to do a complete on-line rose show, but could post photos of our roses on a web page or facebook to share and maybe vote for favorites. Who would be interested in making a simple schedule for roses and arrangements? New grandmother Susan Cooperman is willing to post for us. Congratulations, Susan, and the proud parents of baby Saige Eileen.
What’s going on in your lives and gardens? At our house, Pink Pet, Mozart, and Gertrude Jekyll are blooming. Most of the other bushes are between flushes. Everything green has responded to recent rains. I’d love it if you all would share some photos. While we are not so busy, it’s a great time to take your phone or camera out in the garden and take some pictures. Just remember to note the variety names. Then you will be ready to submit them to the DSD digital contest, the DSD rose show in October, and the ARS wall calendar.
Speaking of photos, it’s not too late to enter digital photos to be used in the 2021 American Rose Society wall calendar. The deadline has been extended to June 1. This is a great place to enter your photos since the rules are fairly simple—just enter photos of named roses available in commerce. In past calendars, close ups of blooming roses—single blooms, buds, collections, sprays, etc. – have been selected. Also, enter varieties that haven’t appeared in calendars the last 5 years. Check it out at http://rose.org/. Go to Photography and choose Wall Calendar Contest for details. To get photographs the proper size, I set up a properly sized page in Microsoft Word with 0” margins. Then I copy and paste a photo and crop it to fit the page. Enhancement by various programs is allowed. Instructions for entering the Junior/Senior High School contest are also posted.
Yours in Roses,
Jean Giesel, President
