Kansas City Rose Society

We’re dreaming of a White Christmas in the rose garden! This photo captured the garden as a wintry wonderland in January of this year. Happy Holidays from the Kansas City Rose Society!

Kansas City Parks and Rec employee John O'Flaherty took advantage of the recent mild weather to cover the roses at the Rose Garden with compost for the winter. Here is the link to Winter Rose Care from our website https://www.kansascityrosesociety.org/winter-rose-care.htm Have a question about roses? Ask a Rosarian [email protected]

Kansas City Rose Society President Kandi McCasland presented retiring Rosarian Judy Penner with an Honorary Perpetual Rose Bed this week to celebrate her 34 years as Head Rosarian at The Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden. Congratulations Judy! We will miss you.

All 3,000 roses are cut down and ready to be covered with compost for the winter! See kcrsroselibrary.com to learn more.

Happy Thanksgiving! Many thanks to Kansas City Rose Society Groomer Martha Negley for this clever and creative creation from the Garden's roses. See kcrsroselibrary.com for more information about our roses.

Happy Veterans Day to all! One of our most beautiful red Hybrid Tea roses in the garden is 'Veterans' Honor.' The ‘Veterans’ Honor’ rose was recommended by Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer, who was then (1999) the undersecretary for health for the Department of Veterans Affairs. "I wanted to create a commemorative rose to signify the pride and gratitude that we as citizens of this country have for our veterans,’ Kizer said. ‘Without their sacrifices and beneficence, the freedoms that Americans and many other people enjoy today would not be possible." See kcrsroselibrary.com for more information. Say hi to the Rose Garden’s Head Rosarian, Judy Penner, working in Veterans Honor!

The fountain may be covered for the winter season and the roses fading, but the gorgeous surrounding trees at Loose Park are showing their glorious fall colors. Did you know there are 1,000 trees at the Park?! Thank you, Judy Penner, for capturing this magnificent shot.

Retiring Head Rosarian Judy Penner was the toast of the annual KCRS Fall Membership Luncheon on November 3rd at the Indian Hill’s Country Club. Judy’s 34 years of expert care in the Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden were honored with the American Rose Society Bronze Medal for outstanding and meritorious service at the local society level. She also received a special gift from KCRS, created by member Devan Hartnett. The shadow box featured a map of the Rose Garden and a pair of leather-handled pruners from the French Company Arno.

'Coral Drift', a beautiful orange pink shrub rose in the SW Quad of the Rose Garden, has become a popular landscape rose in and around Kansas City. Drift roses are a cross between full-size groundcover roses and miniatures. They are disease resistant, repeat bloomers and winter hardy. Don't miss seeing them in the Garden before the cold snap next week! See kcrsroselibrary.com for more information.

October is a beautiful month to visit the Rose Garden! Some of our climbing roses, such as 'American Pillar', display lovely rose hips in the fall. See kcrsroselibrary.com for more information.

Today... Rose Garden Readings featuring poets ...Melissa Fite Johnson, Al Ortolani and Jermaine Thompson. Please join us! Free and open to the public.

The Rose Garden has always been a popular place to fall in love. How fitting that one of our James Alexander Gamble Fragrance Medal winners is a Hybrid Tea called 'Falling in Love'. It's never too late to fall in love and visit the Rose Garden! See kcrsroselibrary.com for more information.

The 2021 Rose Show is on! Click this link to learn more: www.kansascityrosesociety.org/2021-rose-show.html

Please enjoy our special "virtual" presentation of this year's Spring Rose Care Demonstration. Conducted by Judy Penner, Consulting Rosarian & Loose Park Director, KCMO. Spring is coming and it will be time to prepare our roses for warmer months! --- Click This Link To View Now! > www.kansascityrosesociety.org/2021-spring-demo.html

American Rose Society Announces 2021 Member's Choice Winners Each year the ARS honors roses winning high garden ratings collected from throughout the country. This year's winners are: Member Choice: Ring of Fire This bright, hot orange hybrid tea lights up your garden and is a blue ribbon winner at many rose shows. It is disease resistant and blooms prolifically all summer. *(Photos of this rose can easily be found by doing a search on Google.)... Members Choice for Fragrance: Violet's Pride Named after the lavender dresses worn by Lady Violet of Downton Abbey fame, this floribunda rose has a strong fruity fragrance and produces mounds of flowers all season on a disease resistant bush. *(Photos of this rose can easily be found by doing a search on Google.) For past ARS Members Choice winners click here: https://www.rose.org/single-post//08/30/members-choice-2019

Please share with family and friends! Visit our website to get more information: www.kansascityrosesociety.org/2021-poetry-contest.html

Congratulations to Kansas City Rose Society member Michael Wathen for his prize winning photos in the American Rose Society's 2021 Digital Rose Photo Contest.

Want to get your Valentine something special something different this year? ...but, you’re stuck in the house because of the COLD and COVID? WE’VE GOT THE ANSWER! The Kansas City Rose Society will send your Valentine a beautiful card with handwritten note, including purchaser's name, letting them know that, in their honor, an entire rose bush was purchased to be planted in the Rose Garden in Loose Park. Visit our website to learn more and Order Online, now! www.kansascityrosesociety.org/memory--friendship-roses.html

Dreaming of new roses? Winter is the time to curl up with rose catalogs or your favorite websites and plan next year's garden. Out with old, disappointing bushes! In with new, beautiful varieties that look so luscious in those close-up photos! Need help narrowing down your choices? Check out these resources: American Garden Rose Selections... www.americangardenroseselections.com Plants are tested in gardens throughout the US for disease resistance, bloom quality, fragrance hardiness etc. The 2021 winners have been announced! Help Me Find - Roses www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php?tab=1 Search by name to discover details about roses you have your eye on. American Rose Society Handbook for Selecting Roses www.rose.org/product-page/2020-handbook-for-selecting-roses Free with ARS membership. $10 at the ARS rose store Guide to over 3000 roses with descriptions and rankings based on rose gardener's experiences. Updated annually. Our Consulting Rosarians can help! E-mail "Ask a Rosarian" ... [email protected] Or visit our website: www.kansascityrosesociety.org

The Rose Garden is sleeping peacefully under a blanket of snow!

Water ‘em if ya got ‘em!

Questions about roses? Ask a Rosarian! [email protected] Or visit our Website: www.kansascityrosesociety.org/growing-roses.html

Are your roses ready for winter? Learn more; view our Winter Rose Care website page and a Winter Rose Care Video by Rosarian, Judy Penner. Find the links on the Home page of our website: www.kansascityrosesociety.org

Whoa ... we have a ton of rose action in the garden right now, if you are needing a zen moment ... breathe deep.

Just another amazing October rose garden walk ... go now, it is stunning. Judy Penner and staff, be proud ... and groomers, we helped!

Can you believe this is our rose garden today? Masses of flowers on a beautiful mid-October day! Take a stroll. As Jacques Mauritian says, the beautiful goes straight to the heart. Enjoy!

Celebrating the close of our summer Grooming with a Picnic in the Shelter! Celebrating all our efforts... new Green Aprons awarded and lots of 2020 groomer pins bestowed! Melissa Windju earned her 20th pin, having started in the very first Green Apron Group in 2000, and grooming every summer since! Mary Funk earned her 10 year pin for Grooming!! Gratitude and kudos to you both for your dedication to The Garden. Scroll thru the photos to see the very appropriate Groomer Pin for Summer 2020. And see Tahitian Sunset rose bushes putting on a late show. The Garden is still spectacular..... what a summer for abundant blooming!!

We’ve added another informational video to our website’s video page - Queen Elizabeth, Grandiflora rose; view now at: www.kansascityrosesociety.org/videos.html

Watch this space for an amazing drone video of the rose garden at its peak...thank you,KJO Media for the sunrise shoot!

Seven years ago we celebrated the completion of the North Portal Renovation! Thank you Kip Davis and crew from Architectural Masonry & Restoration, Inc. from Oak Grove, Mo. Thank you PJ Novick as our lead Architect (from Bowman Bowman & Novick) and thank you KCRS Presidents and heavy lifters for the project Boomer Savidge, Glenn Hodges, Arlyn Silvey, Sandy Campuzano, Joan Sherman (Sandy & Joan not pictured here) and Loose Park Director, Judy Penner!! What a Project!! What fabulous results!! This photo taken a few days before our 2013 Wine & Roses Event! We were so excited!!

American Rose Society Award Winner --- Olivia Rose Austin has won both the Members Choice and Members Choice Fragrance award for 2020. This rose, (seen below photo from the website: davidaustinroses.com) bred by David Austen Roses, is soft pink with strong fragrance, vigorous growth and good disease resistance. Is there a place for it in your garden? Learn More at: www.davidaustinroses.com/products/olivia-rose-austin

We are excited to begin an early morning video project in The Rose Garden!! We even have special permission to have the fountain flowing!!

We’ve added 2 new videos to our website’s video page; view now at: www.kansascityrosesociety.org/videos.html 1. Floribunda Roses narrated by Laura Dickinson, Consulting Rosarian 2. Arial Drone Footage of Loose Park Rose Garden courtesy of videographer, Mario Vazquez, Fox 4, WDAF News, Kansas City

Gorgeous Hybrid Tea Dark Desire, also known as Grafin Diana, shined this morning before the rain.