Queen of the Show Fall, 2011

Touch of Class, grown and shown by Alice Otter

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Leadership Help Wanted

Leadership Help Wanted!
The months of September and October is the time when the rose society looks for people who are willing to help do the work of the society for the coming year. In the past few years this has been done at the Board level, and eventually at the October general membership meeting. The first Board level discussion hopefully will result in the formation of a single slate of candidates for all offices that are up for election this year. That could come at a September Board meeting, but no later than the October Board meeting. If you are willing to be considered for the main offices, President, Vice President, Secretary, and a vacant Board Trustee position, please let one of the current Board members know of your availability, so your name may be considered for one of these positions. The second means of getting involved in our society leadership, is by having your name placed in nomination as an addition to the Board slate of candidates, at our October membership meeting. The members who are being nominated to leadership positions are often not known until our October General Membership meeting (The 3rd Tuesday of October), but other names can be added at that meeting.
If you put your name up for available offices, hopefully you will be available for most of our occasional Board meetings, and for most of our General Membership meetings.

Fall 2011 Show Results

Grand Valley Fall Show Results
Sept. 3, 2011, Meijer Gardens
Horticulture Entries:
Class 1: Master Challenge:
Bill & Irma Blok
Class 5: Komar Challenge: 3-same:
Gord & Alice Otter.
Class 7: Broersma Challenge:
Anthony & Vance.
Class 9: Hi-Low Challenge:
Jon & Lois Wier.
Class 10: English Box (large roses):
Gord & Alice Otter.
Class 11:English Box, by 2,OGR/Shrub:
Jon & Lois Wier.
Class 13: Rose In A Frame, Large:
Bill & Irma Blok.
Class 14: Floribunda Artist Palette:
Rose Enders.
Class 16: Bouquet Bowl:
Gord & Alice Otter.
Class 20: Master Challenge (4-minies):
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 22:Rose Collection (mini sprays):
Anthony & Vance.
Class 23: Mini American Heritage:
Anthony & Vance.
Class 24: Mini Cycle of Bloom:
Gord & Alice Otter.
Class 25: Konrad Veit Challenge:
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 26: Mini English Box (different):
Anthony & Vance.
Class 27: Mini English Box (same):
Anthony & Vance.
Class 28: American Box (mini):
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 29A: Artist Palette (open minis):
Anthony & Vance.
Class 29B: Artist Palette (Exh. Minis)
Gord & Alice Otter.
Also Best Palette.
Class 35: One Bloom Hybrid Teas:
Queen: Touch of Class:
Gord & Alice Otter.
King: Olympiad:
Gord & Alice Otter.
Princess: Let Freedom Ring:
Anthony & Vance.
Court: Gemini
Bill & Irma Blok
Court: Secret:
Jon & Lois Wier.
Court: Voluptuous:
Marilyn Whittaker.
Court: Folklore
Gail Kaplenski.
Class 37: Hybrid Tea Spray:
Bill & Irma Blok.
Class 38: Grandiflora Sprays:
Bill & Irma Blok.
Class 39: Full-blown H.T.
Jon & Lois Wier.
Class 40: Floribunda (1-Bloom):
Marilyn Whittaker.
Class 46: Modern Shrubs:
Joan Stoffer.
Class 47: Classic Shrubs
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 49: Miniatures: (1-bloom, exhib.)
Mini Queen: Joy: B. & I. Blok.
Mini King: Irresistible:
Art & Joan Wiley.
Mini Princess: Pierrine:
Gord & Alice Otter.
Mini Court:
Magic Show & Ty:
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Bee’s Knees:
Anthony & Vance.
Kristen:
Jon & Lois Wier.
Class 50: Minifloras (1-bloom, Exhib.)
Queen: Shameless: Anthony & Vance.
King: Wine Colored Glasses:
Anthony & Vance.
Princess: Ghost Zapper.
Anthony & Vance.
Miniflora Court:
Anthony & Vance:
Conundrum & Showstopper.
Harlan & Kay Schumaker:
Power House & Butter Cream.
Class 51: Single Miniatures/Minifloras (1-bloom).
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 52: Single Mini/Miniflora Sprays:
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 53:Miniature Sprays (+12 petals).
Harlan & Kay Schumaker.
Class 54: Miniflora Sprays.
Bill & Irma Blok.
Class 55: Fully Open Mini/Minifloras:
Anthony & Vance.
Class 67: Rose Bowl (Large-Exhib.):
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 68: Rose Bowl (Large-Open):
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 69: Brandy Snifter:
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 70: Marine Bowl:
Bill & Irma Blok.
Class 71: Mini Rose Bowl (Exhib.)
Anthony & Vance.
Class 72: Mini Rose Bowl (Open).
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 73: Miniflora Rose Bowl (Exhib.)
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 75: Mini/Miniflora Snifter:
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 76: Boutonniere:
Art & Joan Wiley.
Class 78: Mini End of Trail:
Jon & Lois Wier.
Best of Show: Joan Stoffer:
Golden Wings.
Best Red Rose: Art & Joan Wiley:
Olympied.
Best Judges Entry: Bride’s Dream:
Marilyn Whittaker.
Arrangement Awards:
Joan Wiley: ARS Duchess, ARS Silver, ARS Mini Royality, ARS Mini Gold, & Mini Arrangement Sweepstakes.
Irma Blok: ARS Royalty, ARS Gold, Large Court of Etiquette, Mini Court of Etiquette, ARS Mini Princess, ARS Mini Silver, & Large Arrangement Sweepstakes.
Marilyn Whittakker:
ARS Visiting Judges Award.

A Good Show

We were not expecting much of a Fall Show this year, with the Japanese beetles plaguing our gardens to some degree right up to show day, but in unusually large numbers as late as 10 days before our show. The unseasonably hot weather was not a plus either. Although quite a few of our large roses matured a week too early, there were those last minute surprises that boosted our spirits and the quality of roses in our show.
Our show was more balanced this time. Whereas in last spring’s show, one exhibitor entered all 7 of the 1-bloom hybrid teas that were honored, this time the Queen, King, Princess, and the 4 Queen’s Court roses were each entered by a different exhibitor. It is painful when you don’t win an award you coveted, but we need to cheer this as evidence of more and better competition at our shows. The surprise of the show was the presence of a pair of exhibitors from Ohio. Richard Anthony and his exhibitor partner, drove much of the night to enter rose in our show. Richard Anthony is a nationally known expert and exhibitor of mini-flora roses. He provided our program on mini-flora roses at the last District Convention we hosted here, a few years ago. Not surprisingly, the mini-flora Queen, King, Princess, and two of the 4 members of the Mini-flora Court were won by the team from Ohio.
Congratulations to Gord and Alice Otter for winning, among other awards, the Queen of Show with Touch of Class, the Komar, and the English Box for large exhibition stage roses. I could tell by Alice’s big smile that she got a special kick out of edging out your Editor for that last award.
The Bloks seemed to be specializing in sprays, as we won the Best Mini-flora, Best Grandiflora, and Best Hybrid Tea sprays. We also surprised by winning the Miniature Queen with an entry of Joy.
The Wileys, besides winning their usual boxes, and an unbelievable collection of bowls, won the Mini King with Irresistible, and the King of Show with Olympiad. Their Olympiad entry also was judged “Best Red Hybrid Tea.”
Harlan and Kay Schumaker found the going a bit tougher than usual in the Mini-flora class, due largely to the influx of those roses from Ohio, but did better than most in the small roses. They won the two miniature spray classes, as their spray of Pierrine was judged the Best Miniature Spray. They also showed their usual strength in the small rose classes by winning numerous small rose challenge classes, and once again winning the small rose Sweepstakes Award.
Although it was not a good season for OGR’s, The Wiers won with the High-Lo Challenge, the By 2’s OGR/Shrub English Box, a Mini Court Award, and Best Open Bloom Hybrid Tea.
Congratulations also to President Joan Stoffer for winning the Best Modern Shrub award with Golden Wings. That entry was also judged to be the Best of Show.

The President’s Corner

The President’s Corner – By Joan Stoffer
Don’t get tired of “groomin’ the blooms” just yet! There is still an upcoming District show in East Lansing, so get out there in the rose garden and start prepping your pets. It’s too late for disbudding – (sorry Jon Wier – I missed the optimum time—- again). I expect to have a couple hardy souls to exhibit, but alas, no Queens among them.
Today, which is too blustery to work outside, I have chosen to browse through the oldest of the American Rose Annuals in my library (1950). What fun to see who was who in rosedom 61 years ago, and what was being exhibited and winning when I was near starting high school. Dr. William Ayers was ARS President in 1950, and R.C. Allen, editor of the Annual . When Dr. J. Horace McFarland established the first edition of the Annual, around 1916, the ARS numbered only 198 members with a total income of only $1885.90 In 1950, membership was 10,000 and the budget more than $40,000. Among the popular roses of that time were Sutter’s Gold, The Doctor, Ellinor Le Grice, Capistrano, Fashion, Fandango, Gordon Eddie and of course, Peace. Color objectives visualized good lasting yellows and non-bluing reds.
Advice in that era for wintering roses was to mulch with peat moss or—corncobs! Mrs. Dorsett, President of the Norman Rose Society in Norman, OK, was loving a good dust mulch. “I take my garden rake in hand and loosen and stir the good, clean top soil under my higher-than your-head roses; I don’t mean dust like inside on the piano, but about three inches of finely loosened soil as one might expect to find in a well cultivated cornfield – no clods, stick or stones. I haven’t seen a weed among my roses in years.”
Fred Glaes, President of the Reading Rose Society, Reading, PA, was stressing the value of organic matter – a change of diet in the rose garden. His established compost pile consisted of a 6 inch layer of wilted organic matter, such as weeds, leaves, grass, etc. on the ground. Next comes two inches of fresh manure. Cover with one-half inch of clean soil and sprinkle with a very light layer of lime or wood ashes. Water must be applied during construction until the pile is as wet as a squeezed-out sponge. Turn the heap at 3 weeks, 5 weeks, and four weeks later it is ready for use. The bed is then covered with ground corncobs to protect it from the sun, then watered heavily.
Favored insecticides of the time for red spiders , their eggs, and thrips, were parathion and benzene hexachloride. Midge was more persistent and DDT gave better control. Both new chemicals seemed compatible with Fermate and Copper-8 which enables mixing to form an all-purpose spray or dust of superior effectiveness.” Because fatalities have been attributed to parathion poisoning, only a fool will rush in where angels fear to tread – lest there be another angel treading.” Good advice from Ralph Dasher, Florence, Alabama, a chemist professionally as well as a lover of roses.
These are but a few tidbits from the 1950 annual – I could go on and on, but I do want to leave room for the editor to update you on results of the September rose show.