Author: NRS Webmaster

The first meeting of the Nashville Rose Society in 2024 will be held on February 4, 2024, in the the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Garden and Estate. We will have refreshments at 1:30 and the program will start at 2:00 PM.

Join us for a Buzz Session! This meeting will provide an opportunity for you to share what you love about growing roses, to present your challenges over the past year or so, and to tell us how the NRS can be helpful to you as you work to cultivate healthy roses. The meeting will begin with introductions, then we will have attendees call-off table numbers to balance the groups (remember picking volleyball teams in school!). The sessions will begin at approximately 2:30pm and will last about 45 minutes. Following the discussions, we will meet back as a group and each table will present any comments of note from their discussions. A CR will be assigned to each table and the table will appoint a “reporter” to note comments and report back to the entire group.

The Cheekwood Campus Map shows the location of Botanic Hall.

Note: Admission to Cheekwood is not required – let the gate attendant know that you are attending the NRS Meeting in Botanic Hall.

Enjoy the holiday spirit with your fellow Rose Society members and guests at the 2023 Nashville Rose Society Christmas Party! The party will be held on Sunday, December 3, from 6:00 – 8:00pm at Ellington Agriculture Center Ed Jones Auditorium, 416 Hogan Road,Nashville, TN 37220. This venue has excellent parking and easy entry.

NRS will provide turkey, ham, rolls and drinks, and dinnerware; members are asked to bring their favorite side dish or dessert. No one ever leaves hungry!

There is also a gift exchange if you would like to be a part of it. Bring a gift costing no more than $20 suitable for a man or a woman. One gift per couple or two, whatever you want to do. Give one, get one.

Please see Marty’s email for more information on the gift exchange and RSVP by Monday, November 27, if you plan to attend.

Finding the Center
From I-65: Take Exit #78-A east on Harding Place. Take a right at the second light onto Trousdale Drive. Travel south on Trousdale for approximately 1.5 miles. Turn left on to Hogan Road at the four-way stop. Hogan Road ends at the front gates of the Ellington Agricultural Center. Note: all buildings have identifying lawn signs for your convenience.

From I-24: Take exit #56 west on Harding Place to the Nolensville Road intersection at Walmart. Turn left onto Nolensville Road and travel south 1/10 mile and turn right onto Edmondson Pike. Travel 1 1/2 miles on Edmondson Pike. The east entrance to Ellington Agricultural Center is on the right.

Finding a Building
To the Ed Jones Auditorium: Enter the front gates from Hogan Road. Bear to your right. The Moss Building (antebellum style mansion) will be on your left at the top of the hill. Follow the drive until you reach the auditorium (a large white barn-like structure that sets at the end of the lawn behind the mansion.) It is located at 416 Hogan Road.

We hope to see you there!

Todd is an award-winning Nashville landscape architect who specializes in residential garden design. He has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia. Todd’s many projects and positions in Nashville include Cheekwood Botanic Garden (twenty years chairman Plant Collections Committee, Botanic Garden Committee, docent, fundraising, design projects), Nashville City Cemetery Association (past president, landscape and grounds coordinator, holiday party coordinator, Living History Tour, liaison to Metro Parks and Metro Historical Commission), Metro Beautification & Environment Commission (past county-wide Chair & District 24 Commissioner), Antiques and Garden Show (Board member, Gardens Chair), Nashville Lawn and Garden Show (event producer, garden chair, lecture coordinator, grants, event, PR & Media liaison), Friends of Richland Park Library (grounds committee chair & NPL Seed Exchange), Richland Park Farmers Market (garden designer, founder and organizational committee, litter abatement, plantings and grounds, liaison with Metro Parks) and West Nashville Community Festival.

It is also that time of year for our annual Chili Cookoff. Everyone will vote for the best chili and the best cornbread – a good chili needs a good cornbread! Cook up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it to the meeting. One thing is for sure, no one is going home hungry.

Our hostess this month is Janie Hagan. The meeting will be held in the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Garden and Estate.

Directions: Enter Cheekwood and drive up to the parking attendants at the top of the hill. If they direct you to park outside the stone gates and it is difficult for you to walk far, tell them that the Rose Society has spaced reserved in Lot A. If those spaces are full, there is a golf cart shuttle that roams the large parking area. Once you park, bypass the ticket booth and come into the first building on your left with a large, covered entrance, which is Botanic Hall. The Cheekwood Campus Map shows the location of Botanic Hall. Enter that building and proceed to Massey Auditorium. You do not have to purchase a ticket.