Category Archives: American Rose Society

07/29/09

2009 Palm Springs International Rose Photography Show

The Desert Rose Society of the Palm Springs, California, area is sponsoring a very exciting rose photography show this coming November. Judging will take place on the evening of November 12, and the show will be open to the public on November 13 and 14.

Entries are invited from around the world, and entrants do not have to be members of any rose society. In other words, it is open to anyone, anywhere, who likes both roses and photography. The entry fee is $20.00 US.

The complete schedule is here, along with rules, registration form, etc.

Note that entries may be mailed in, with a deadline for receipt of two weeks before the show. Prints may also be entered, with prior reservations, on the morning of November 12. Entered prints will become the property of the Desert Rose Society and will not be returned, but the photographer otherwise retains full rights in the submitted photos.

The rose photography show will be held at the same time as the American Rose Society Fall Convention and Rose Show, also sponsored by the Desert Rose Society. Complete information about that can be found at www.desertrosesociety.com

07/26/09

2009 Palm Springs Rose Photography Show

The 2009 American Rose Society will have its Fall Convention and Show in Palm Springs, California, this November.

Being held in conjunction with this is the 2009 Palm Springs Rose Photography Show. Entries are being invited from all over the world.

Judging will be held on Thursday, November 12, and show will be open to public from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14.

For all the details, see the Photography Schedule.

07/10/09

Palm Springs International Rose Photography Show at the 2009 ARS Fall Convention

At the 2009 Fall Convention of the American Rose Society, there will be a separate Photography Show.

Details and a final Photography Schedule are not yet available (7/10/2009), but a link will be posted here as soon as those are available on the official website of the convention.

The Rose Photography Show will open for public viewing at 9:00 am local time on Friday, November 13, and again on Saturday, November 14 at the same time. Each day the Show will be open until 5:00 pm.

Watch for updates, and plan to enter your rose photographs.

07/10/09

Judging of Photographs at the 2009 ARS Fall Convention and Palm Springs International Rose Photography Show

Judging will take place on the evening of Thursday, November 12, 2009, starting with the Judges’ Meeting at 5:00 pm. The judging will last until all entries have been judged and the results recorded.

06/8/08

PSWD Horticulture Judging School In Palm Desert, June 7 – 8, 2008

This weekend the Pacific Southwest District had a great Horticulture Judging School and Seminar in Palm Desert, California.

Click HERE to view a PowerPoint slide show from the school/seminar.

05/31/08

One Rose with Two Names

“Yoyo” is a sport of “Gizmo,” which is the bright orange blossom in this photo. Yoyo has a range of expression, from solid red (mainly in cooler weather) to red with “hand painted” orange stripes (mainly in mid-summer).

Yoyo was registered in 2003. In 2006, the same sport was registered in its solid red phase as “Spring Fling.” At the present time, the ARS considers these two phases of the same sport to be two different roses. This was a political decision based on expediency, not on science and not on the rules for registering sports.

So, listen up, exhibitors. If you are really lucky and have a branch that reverts to Gizmo, you potentially have three entries for a rose show from one plant: Yoyo, Spring Fling, and Gizmo. The ARS is aware of this problem, and has chosen to allow the two different registrations of the same sport stand.

Go figure. Or, better yet, have a good laugh!

In the meantime, the ARS needs to develop a written policy for how the same sport independently discovered by different people will be appropriately handled. Until then, the credibility and integrity of the ARS in rose registration can fairly be called into question.

05/29/08

The American Rose Society at the Crossroads: The Cost of Gas and Other Odds and Ends

Yesterday, one of the moderators asked a great question over at Rosarians Corner; “will the cost of gasoline affect your attendance at rose shows?”

In my opinion, the American Rose Society (and probably a lot of other volunteer hobby societies) was in some trouble before the ever-increasing cost of gasoline even became an issue. But I think that additional cost is going to force the hand of many such groups in general. I will speak to the ARS only, though, because it is what I know best. This is what I wrote in response to that question:

I think your concern is valid, and those concerns have implications not just for exhibitors but also for judges, and in some ways, for the ARS.

Most of the answers here in this thread suggest that long-term exhibitors will continue to exhibit, when they have roses, no matter what the cost. That is excellent. But, will we be able to develop enough new, young exhibitors who will be able to carry on when today’s exhibitors reach an age at which they are no longer able to do so? Today’s young people are caught in a time and money crunch raising families, more often than not with a mom who works full-time to make ends meet. What, as a society, do we have to offer these people, who have lots of people and concerns competing for their time and money? What do people envision for the future of exhibiting 10 years from now? 20 years from now?

Then, there is the issue of judges for shows. I am no spring chicken, and yet I often feel like one of the younger judges at shows. Our judges are aging and dying (no point in beating around the bush, no matter how thorny!), and many wouldn’t travel more than 50 miles to judge a show even before gas prices started to soar. Will we have adequate judges to maintain the number of shows to which we have become accustomed?

Hopefully the PSWD Horticulture Judging School in Palm Springs weekend after next will produce some new apprentices. We need more up-and-coming judges willing and able to travel if we are to maintain our current number of shows.

Which brings up another point. I have heard through the grapevine, so hopefully it is not really correct, that the plan is to make the judging test harder. I cannot help but wonder what the thought process behind that is. I thought the practical portion of the horticulture judging exam was harder than any practical gross anatomy exam in medical school! If TPTB feel a different process is needed to produce better judges, fine. I can see a user-friendly mentoring process, or something of that sort, to encourage people, rather than increasing the fail rate at a time when we need to be encouraging young judges. JMHO.

Continue reading →

04/20/08

Albuquerque Rosarians Honored at District Convention

On April 19, 2008, some of the Albuquerque Rose Society’s members were honored at the Pacific Southwest District Convention in Mesa, Arizona.

Leah Watterberg was named Judge Emeritus in recognition of the years and hard work she spent as an ARS Accredited Rose Judge.

Claudia Bonnett was awarded the Silver Medal for outstanding service to the PSWD. This is the highest award a district can bestow.

Carroll Sue Wagner was named Outstanding District Consulting Rosarian. If you have ever attended one of the Albuquerque Rose Society’s pruning demonstrations in March at the Wyoming Library, you have undoubtedly met Carroll Sue.

Ron Feurer was named Outstanding District Horticulture Judge. Ron is a member of the Palm Desert Rose Society. However, Ron is graduate of Albuquerque’s 2005 American Rose Society National Rose Arrangement Judging School, and we are very proud of him!

Congratulations to all for these honors!