Author: NRS Webmaster

August 4 – Karen Snyder, “Hybridizing Daylilies”

Karen Snyder will speak at the August meeting of the Nashville Rose Society at 2:00pm in Potter Hall at Cheekwood. Karen will share her experience of becoming a “pollen dabber”, as hybridizing is fondly called, of daylilies.

The modern daylily has developed to heights no one could have foreseen 40 or 50 years ago with pleating, doubling, cresting, bearding, and carving on the petals. The color palette of the modern daylily is equally exciting with color combinations or kaleidoscope patterns that have produced a mania similar to that of tulips in the mid-1600’s. The possibility of creating something striking that other gardeners would crave struck Karen’s creative gene with a vengeance, and thus began her hybridizing career.

Karen’s hybridizing program is not as methodical as the mass producers who line out 15,000 seedlings every spring, but there is a method to her madness! Her daylily “babies” are tucked into special beds where they are observed for three years before registering, if they make it that far. There are over 70,000 registered daylilies now. Karen registered her first two in 2018 and plans to register 12 more next year.

Bring your rose questions and your daylily questions to this informative meeting of the NRS!

July 14 – Mary Steverson, “How to Create Beautiful Arrangements Using Flowers From Your Own Garden”

At the July meeting of the Nashville Rose Society, you will learn simple and easy techniques that professionals use to create beautiful flower arrangements. Mary Steverson, owner of Rebel Hill Florist in Nashville, will show how anyone can build their own flower arrangements with roses as well as other flowers and plant material that members bring to the meeting from their gardens. So, join us and bring your roses, flowers, and other plant materials!

Don’t forget – The July meeting will be the SECOND Sunday of July, due to the 4th of July holiday.

June Rose Growing Notes

by Marty Reich, Master Rosarian, Editor of the Rose Leaf

Louis Philip, one of the OGRs planted in the Adelicia Acklen Rose Garden at Belmont University, Photo by Pam Graves Brown
By now you have done spring feeding and have enjoyed the first bloom cycle. Be sure to dead-head everything, meaning to cut off the spent blooms, to make the bushes look better and to encourage them to re-bloom. You should go down to a strong part of the cane where there are 5 leaflets from an outward facing node and cut 1/4″ above it. Sometimes a node has a dark spot on it signaling that new growth will not come from there so you may need to go up or down to avoid it.
Continue reading “June Rose Growing Notes”

June 2 – Peter Grimaldi, Cheekwood Vice President of Gardens & Facilities and the NRS Grand Prix

Peter Grimaldi
Peter Grimaldi, Cheekwood Vice President of Gardens & Facilities
The June meeting of the Nashville Rose Society will feature Peter Grimaldi presenting “A Horticultural Vision for Cheekwood” plus “Principles of Landscape Design at Cheekwood”.

Peter joined Cheekwood in July 2017 after five years of service as the director of horticulture and facilities at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in North Carolina. At Daniel Stowe, Peter focused on establishing a greater emphasis on horticultural best practices and elevating the design and execution of seasonal displays and exhibitions.

Peter’s early tenure at Cheekwood has focused on organizing the Gardens Department to maximize the potential of an excellent team and working to implement Phase I of the Master Plan via renovations at the Frist Learning Center and planning for the children’s garden and sculpture trail.

Peter has a Bachelor of Plant Science from Cornell University with a concentration in ornamental horticulture and floriculture.

The 2019 Spring Grand Prix will also be held during the June meeting. Click here for more information.