Gardeners share knowledge freely, and get rewarded in a thousand ways. Rose gardeners appear to be the exception to this, to a troubling extent.

I have spoken with so many young rose lovers, and found their enthusiasm to be exciting and refreshing. Gardeners share knowledge freely, and get rewarded in a thousand ways. Rose gardeners appear to be the exception to this, to a troubling extent. A very close friend of mine, came to gardening and roses, after the birth of her 5th child. Like so many new and curious novices, she asks tons of questions of almost every other gardener she meets. Thankfully, everyone is extremely generous with their advice. Except for the rosarians. I’ll not soon forget touring a local rose garden. Merry found an absolutely lovely rose, and asked the owner what the name of the lovely tea rose was. This personage informed her coldly it wasn’t a tea but a floribunda, tone of voice and demeanor saying very clearly “you are an idiot”. Unforgivably rude and arrogant behavior.



My own experiences follow much the same lines.25 years ago, I called my local ARS chapter just brimming with questions. The frosty old bat who answered the phone, listened for a minute, said “one minute please”, cupped her hand over the receiver loosely, and asked someone to” help this annoying person with her trivial questions” I hung up, and never went back. A neighbor of mine, 3 years ago, had dropped by to visit. As she inspected my roses, she told me she was a local rose society member, and for a basic gardener, I certainly had beautiful roses. I asked her what basic meant. She calmly replied, “Why untrained!” Gee I hadn’t realized growing roses had a thing to do with “training”. It’s this unspoken attitude of vast superiority over other gardeners that bothers me the most.



In no other area of gardening, do newcomers find this level of elitist unkindness. The attitude seems to say, if you don’t show roses, then you can’t grow them properly. If you don’t attend exhibitions and shows, you are not, I guess, a “real” rosarian. This is, in my opinion, purdee BS. Roses are plants-period. There is no mystery to growing healthy bushes. This attitude is very like some dog show breeders. They are dedicated and exclusionary. But… at the end of the day, the championship dog, just like the winning rose, is still a 4 legged canine.



One of the few exceptions to the elitist rosarian group, is my Scots friend Hugh Boyd. He is always helpful, and down to earth with his advice on growing roses. This man, who is a frequent lecturer at Glasgow University, and once worked the Royal gardens, has more innate knowledge of roses, then many experts this side of the pond. Yet he never once talks down to people who come to him for advice. I wish more would follow his example.



There are no “dumb” questions concerning roses or any other type of gardening. This is an ongoing, constant learning process, that never ends. We grow in knowledge by making mistakes, asking questions and trying new and different things. We all have to start somewhere. If you have any questions on general gardening, English gardens or roses, ask Hugh Boyd. You can find him here at Webseed at: www.EnglishCFlowerGarden.com