Join us at our Monthly Meetings and Events
The Nashville Rose Society serves all of Middle Tennessee by sharing knowledge and information about our national flower, the rose. Through a monthly newsletter and meetings that feature regional and nationally recognized speakers, we bring you advice and instruction geared to growing roses in the specific soil and climatic conditions of this area. For all scheduled Meetings & Events, click here.
Save Cheekwood Petition: Help protect our history and culture
For 66 years, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens has been a treasured place where art, culture, history, and nature come together for families, students, and visitors from Tennessee and around the world.
For the Nashville Rose Society, Cheekwood has been our home for as long as most of our members can remember. It is where we gather for many of our meetings, host our Nashville Rose Shows, and share our passion for roses with the public. Through its partnership with our society, Cheekwood helps educate visitors and members alike about our national flower—the rose.
Today, Cheekwood faces a significant challenge. A formal legal appeal has been filed with the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals seeking to require the city to issue a Stop Work Order that would halt further work and public use of portions of the property. The appeal stems from Cheekwood’s plans to construct a new parking garage, a project that has been opposed by a group of neighbors.
If you would like to learn more about the issue and support Cheekwood, please click hereto read about the situation and consider adding your name to the petition.
Rose Chat Podcast – Rose Study Garden Renovation, Blending History with Today
On this episode of the Rose Chat Podcast, host Teresa Byington chats with Ron Daniels, a Nashville Rose Society Master Rosarian, former president of the NRS, and longtime volunteer.
Ron oversees the society’s garden project at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, where the study garden recently underwent a major renovation.
In this conversation, Ron shares the story behind the renovation, the challenges and opportunities involved, and how the garden will be used by the Nashville Rose Society.
Click here to hear their conversation.
Upcoming Meeting and Events
The 2025 meetings of the Nashville Rose Society will be held at the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens or at the Ed Jones Auditorium in the Ellington Agriculture Center. The meeting location, dates and times are shown on the Meetings & Events page of the website.
The Cheekwood Estate and Gardens is located at 1200 Forrest Park Dr, Nashville, Tennessee 37205. The meetings are free to guests, as is admission to Cheekwood for meetings. Simply tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nashville Rose Society meeting.
The Ed Jones Auditorium at Ellington Agriculture Center is located at 416 Hogan Rd, Nashville, TN 37220. More information on how to find the Ed Jones Auditorium, click here .
Howard has lived in Big Spring, Kentucky his entire life and began growing roses in 1997 after being inspired by the Kentucky State Fair. What started with a few roses quickly turned into a lifelong passion that led him to join both the Louisville Rose Society and the American Rose Society. Over the years, he expanded his garden to more than 200 roses, built a homemade greenhouse, became a horticulture judge in 2004, and today still grows around 125 roses including hybrid teas, floribundas, shrubs, miniatures, and minifloras.
Howard will be sharing his experiences with propagating roses from cuttings, hybridizing, and the journey that turned a hobby into a lifelong passion for roses.
As always, we’ll have time to visit with fellow members and guests before the program begins. Guests are always welcome! Please bring roses from your garden to share!
LOCATION NOTE: This meeting will be held in the Bradford Room at the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens Frist Center, a new meeting location on the Cheekwood campus (not the Massey Center used in previous years).
* Enter 1st Floor of Frist Center from Lot C – Turn left and you will find the elevator.
* Take the elevator to 3rd floor and enter Bradford Room on the Right.
The meetings are free to guests, as is admission to Cheekwood for meetings. Simply tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nashville Rose Society meeting.
Dr. Ranabhat received his Ph.D. from Kansas State University and his M.S. from Montana State University. His research and Extension program focuses on the diagnosis, biology, and management of diseases affecting ornamental nursery crops, landscape plants, and turfgrass.
With more than a decade of experience studying mite-transmitted viruses, Dr. Ranabhat is actively involved in a multi-state collaborative project focused on developing sustainable rose cultivars with resistance to Rose Rosette Disease.
His lab is currently investigating the mechanisms behind virus-rose and mite interactions, while also developing Extension and Outreach programs to increase public awareness of early symptoms of Rose Rosette Disease and strategies for prevention.
Please join us for our April 2026 meeting of the Nashville Rose Society in the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. The evening will begin with time to mix and mingle at 6:30 PM, followed by the program at 7:00 PM.
This will be an informative and timely program for anyone growing roses in the Mid-South. Guests are welcome! Simply tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nashville Rose Society meeting.