“Old garden roses have a lot of nuances of fragrance and diversity of form. This gives you, the artist and gardener, a palette of plants to grow,” said Mike Shoup, owner of Antique Rose Emporium, “Fragrance is the emotional tie you will have to that plant forever.”
Sunday, Shoup spoke as part of the Oklahoma Horticulture Society’s Annual Winter Lecture Series. I thought I would share some of what I found most interesting.
Shoup told a story about a friend who used a film empty camera to capture his small daughter as she smelled roses in his garden. The idea was to have her sniff blossom after blossom and retain the memory of her father and his flowers. He knew that whenever she smelled the same scent it would bring her back to him. (For the young people reading this blog, this was before the days of digital cameras when film was pricey.) We can now take all the photos we want with almost no expense at all. However, having our children remember us is priceless. Just make sure they don’t get snagged by the thorns.
I’ve been to both of the Antique Rose Emporium’s gardens in Brenham and San Antonio. I loved them both, and while there, I bought Shoup’s book, Roses in the Southern Garden
That’s the thing about gardeners. They have an insatiable curiosity about plants and the people who grow them.
Shoup stressed that a rose should not be a prima donna, but instead, just another plant in the garden. With that idea in mind, he’s crossed old garden roses (those found at old homesteads, cemeteries and other abandoned places) with species roses like Rosa virgiana and Rosa carolina because they are tetraploids and tough as nails. He’s also used plants hybridized by Dr. Robert Basye, along with Rosa banksiae var. lutea, the Lady Banks rose. The result is the Texas Pioneer series of roses. They have brighter colors and simple forms which would probably look great in southern gardens with our hot sun.
I was also extremely interested to hear that his nurseries and gardens are now completely organic. They weren’t when I visited, but this is a fairly recent change. The roses do get blackspot, but they aren’t harmed by it, and seem to shake it off better than Hybrid Teas. (This is something I’ve believed for a long time.) He now applies three to four inches of hardwood mulch (recycled from the electric company line trimmings) to all of his beds and borders. He stressed that you need to feed the good microbes, and you’ll get nourishing soil. In his greenhouses, he makes an aerobic compost tea with molasses (oxygenated with a bubbler) to get good fungi in his gardens. He then referred us to the Soil Foodweb, Inc. website for further details on how to make the tea. Shoup used to sterilize and “nuke” his greenhouses, but now, the good fungi from the compost tea eat the mildew and blackspot. I’m impressed that he’s doing this on a large scale operation. Very impressed.
Shoup also revisited his rose rustling days and the beginnings of his nursery. It was entertaining to hear him speak of those early days and how rose rustling brought him out of his financial woes. One of the things I loved best about the San Antonio garden was the use of roses with xeric plants. Although Oklahoma gets approximately 35 inches of rainfall a year, our summers are very dry. Pam at Digging took some beautiful photos of this garden here and here. Unfortunately, I visited before I was a shutterbug.
As for fragrant roses, Shoup was a bit cagey because he said he’s found different people find different roses fragrant. However, when asked about his favorites for fragrance, he listed ‘Duchesse de Brabant,’ ‘Marchesa Boccella,’ ‘Reine des Violettes’ and Madame Isaac Pereire.’ Of these, I’ve grown the latter two, and yes, they are very fragrant.
Although I have many friends in the OHS, two of them are pictured here. Both Jeanne Mapes and Laurie Barger are also daylily crazed so we are members of both clubs. Jeanne is now the secretary of COHS, and Laurie is the past president. I will never serve as president. Mark my words.
I just wrote a garden profile of Laurie’s beautiful garden for Oklahoma Gardener magazine. It should come out in the May issue.
Good friends and an interesting talk about my favorite genus. It was a fun afternoon, and I left feeling energized for spring.
Hi Dee,
I’m pretty sure your beautiful little iris is ‘Iris reticulata’ (aka “Dwarf Wild Iris”), native of the Caucasus, blooms late winter or early spring, in shades of blue & purple, different cultivars available.
Greetings from Vienna/Austria
Hannes
Hi Hannes, Greetings to you too! I think you’re right about the little iris. Thanks for stopping by.~~Dee
Hi Dee! Love those little irises…I have them too… thought they were Dutch Irises. hmmm…cute as the dickens!
JeanAnnVK´s last blog post..How to Grow Potatoes in a Garbage Bag
Sounds like a great event – wish I could have been there. Shoup’s organic tea sounds interesting. Love the rose-smelling-photo story. Someone caught a picture of me smelling roses from my Gma LaRee’s garden when I was about 6 and I love that picture. I can’t smell geraniums without remembering them in her garden. VW
VW´s last blog post..New and Improved Delphiniums
VW, I hope you have that photo framed and on your desk for inspiration.~~Dee
I love the “little iris.” How sweet and cute it is!
Brenda
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Hi Brenda, it was a bright spot in a late winter day.~~Dee
Great post and how lucky you were to hear him. I also have that book of his and highly recommend it. Very interesting to hear how he’s gone organic on such a large scale. I’ve always been organic with roses and wish others would too. But what most people don’t realize is you have to be able to put up with the blackspot occasionally. You know, I wonder where the rose industry would be without Mike Shoup? Would we have so many carefree type roses today? And so many fragrant ones? Hmm, I doubt it. Again, great post!
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Hi Jean, I thought it was interesting too. I think I’ll go organic this year too. We’ll see what happens. The truth is, whether we spray or not, we still have blackspot, and in the last few years, I haven’t sprayed.~~Dee
We love the Antique Rose Emporium. You should see how much stuff we brought back the last time we were in College Station and close enough to visit. The north Texas garden bloggers are considering a get together on 3/30 in Edom. Would you be interest or are we too far away?
Oh, Deb, I wish I could. My son has a Boy Scout Court of Honor that night, so I need to be there. However, I will be with you all in spirit.~~Dee
Well done for remembering so much of what Mike said and for sharing the anecdote about the father and daughter. Sweet.
I wish I could have joined you and your friends for this talk, Dee. Oh, and thanks for the links.
Pam/Digging´s last blog post..Native and Adapted Landscape Plants: An Austin gardening resource
Pam, I wish you could have too. It would have been even more enjoyable. I took notes. That’s how I remembered. As a journalist, I take a lot of notes. 🙂 ~~Dee
What a beautiful story of the father having his daughter smell the roses. It’s amazing the memories those fragrances can bring back. What a smart man! How funny, the mention “before the days of digital”, seems so long ago, doesn’t it?
Nola, before digital days seem like dinosaur days. How about electric typewriters (and those that weren’t), mag card machines, and the days before Xerox?~~Dee
Dee, It’s sounds like you had a very good time. I can’t think of a better time then listening to a garden guru speak about plants I love. I want to look up the crosses he’s made with R carolina. I really like that rose.
Gail
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Gail, they sounded interesting, and I think they would work in a natural garden like your meadow.~~Dee
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a winter’s day. So true about fragrance being an emotional tie. I adore fragrant roses.
I’d like to learn so much more about rose care and enjoy greater success with mine.
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Hi Kerri, I’ve written several posts on caring for our temperamental beauties. I think this post linked to some of the others.~~Dee
You are lucky to get to meet him. I have his book but I’ve never visited the nursery (although I order from them). He has really helped put antique roses on the map. I would love to see your article about your friend’s garden. Reckon the State by State gardening people would let you share it with us?
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Phillip, I wish they would let me post the article on here, but they won’t. They buy “all rights” and that’s that.~~Dee
Sounds like a wonderful time spent with like minded people.
Thanks for all the tips.
I’m partial to those fragrant roses.
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Hi OS! It was great fun. Thanks for coming by.~~Dee
I envy having those rescources so close by…i was up at the Antique Rose Emporium in November and as always enjoyed it, even during that time of year….love antique roses and by far one of my favorites is a Noisette called, Belle Vichysoise. ARE used to carry it years ago. Sweet, aggressive, climber, all season rebloomer and fragrant!
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Yes, they’re a little far for me to just go and visit. I be the gardens are beautiful even in winter. I’ve never grown the ‘Belle,’ but I bet she is beautiful.~~Dee
Sounds like a lovely way to spend a late winter’s afternoon. Thanks for taking us along to enjoy it with you.
Now I really DO want some roses.
Carol, you need to buy some now before mine are all blooming, and you’ve missed your chance for another year. 🙂 ~~Dee
Shoup sounds like a very interesting guy. I’m glad to hear he’s gone organic in his operation.
The Iris reticulata might be ‘Cantab.’
Thanks, MMD. It sure might. It was at the zoo and didn’t have a tag.~~Dee