South Central District
Fall Convention
Dallas, Texas

The 2011 SCD Convention, jointly sponsored by the Fort Worth and Dallas Rose Societies, will be held from Oct. 21 to 23, 2011, in the city of Farmers Branch, Texas.  

Farmers Branch is located on the northern border of Dallas near the intersection of I-635 and I-35.   Farmers Branch is generously supporting the Convention in many ways such as of letting the South Central District use their facilities for most of the Convention activities.

The official hotel for the convention is the:

Holiday Inn Select, Dallas North
2645 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, TX 75234

The hotel will provide rooms, meals (e. g. buffet breakfast) and a hospitality suite.   The Convention banquet will be at the hotel. 

The hotel is located about a mile from the Farmers Branch rose gardens and three miles from the Farmers Branch Senior Center which will house the rose show, and meeting rooms for the SCD Board of Directors meetings and our guest speakers.

Farmers Branch is rapidly becoming the unofficial rose capital of Texas.  The Rose Gardens of Farmers Branch are situated along a trail which about a mile long and are a spectacular sight. 

Registration forms for the Convention and hotel along with detailed schedules and locations of activities will be on the SCD website shortly.  Below is a summary of some of the highlights of the Convention.

Farmers Branch Rose Gardens

Pam Smith, Parks Landscape Manager for Farmers Branch, manages the gardens and will be at the rose gardens Saturday morning to meet and discuss the gardens with Convention attendees.  Pam describes the Farmers Branch gardens below:

"The first garden on the trail is the National EarthKind Trial Rose Garden shown in Figure 1. One hundred different cultivars are being evaluated in a program that partners the Texas AgriLife Extension Service with four countries, seven universities and 27 states.

"Set out in four randomized replicated plots, the gently sloping garden in Gussie Field Watterworth Park along Rawhide Creek entices the visitor with an abundance of blooms, colors and scents. The most amazing aspect of these roses that one can get lost amongst is that these are being grown without any soil amendments, fertilizers or sprays.

"You soon realize that you too can add this ultimate landscape plant to your own landscape and be successful with roses!"

If however you long for the long-stem topped with a high center perfectly formed rose, don’t despair. The adjoining All America Rose Selection (AARS) Display Garden, shown in Figure 2, will bring an ahhh… to the lips. Included are award winners from the 1950s to the present. A selection of David Austin roses and miniature roses rounds out the gardens. 

Following a creek side path to the west will bring the visitor to an opening that is home to one of the 15 AARS Test Gardens in the United States. Unreleased roses from major rose growers are tested and one can be among the first to fall in love with next year’s award winner. In the midst of the roses, numerous daylilies and seasonal annuals provide a welcome diversity to the garden.

A short walk across the creek, the American Rose Society Award of Excellence Test Garden delights with the dainty blossoms of miniature roses. Once again the visitor is treated to a viewing of unreleased rose.

Continuing along the path, a butterfly garden of both nectar and larval host plants attract a multitude of colorful wings. The landscape then transitions to a woodland setting where roses climb through the hedges and birds serenade with their song. It is easy to reflect on the variety of roses and landscape plants that have been viewed to do some mental landscaping within one’s own garden.

The path soon emerges into a neighborhood and the Historical Park. The 27 acres trace more than the 168 years of proud Farmers Branch Heritage. Nestled in the park in the front lawn of the 1885 Queen Anne Victorian Cottage is the Ruthan Rogers Memorial Rose Garden shown in Figure 3.  Planted with roses appropriated to the Victorian era, this garden is a fully integrated EarthKind demonstration garden. Take a moment to reflect under the 'Reve d’Or' covered arbor and be transported to a slower time and contemplate the grounds. 

Tour of Member’s Gardens

The Convention tour of member’s gardens will start early Sunday morning with a Continental Breakfast in the garden at the home of Pam Smith located near the Hotel and the Senior Center. 

Pam’s garden is unique in that it combines many different types of well grown roses in a pleasing landscaping design as shown in Figure 4. 

There are several small coves throughout the garden where you can be somewhat isolated such as the location shown in Figure 5.

Speakers

We are very fortunate and pleased to have the following three outstanding speakers at our Convention:

• Dr. Jim Hering: Keynote Speech: “The Award of Excellence (AOE) Program - Past, Present and Future”.
  
  This program will outline the origin of AOE, how to enter the trials, current test gardens and seedlings and what to expect in the future.
  
  Dr. Hering is a retired thoracic surgeon living in Marion, Ohio with my wife, Anne.  Dr. served as the ARS Buckeye District Director (Ohio) from 1988-1994, Vice President of ARS from 1994-1997 and President of the American Rose Society from 1997-2000.  He is currently the Director of Region 4 (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky) and in 2005 was given the lifetime appointment of President Emeritus of ARS.
   
  Dr Hering has received the Outstanding Consulting Rosarian Award, the Outstanding Judge Award and the Silver Honor Medal from the Buckeye District and the Gold Honor Medal from the American Rose Society.
   
  Dr. and Mrs. Hering began growing roses and joined the American Rose Society in 1975.  They now have about 700 rose bushes of all types and enjoy exhibiting in rose shows throughout the U.S.  Dr. Hering currently is the Director of Region 4 (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky).
• Laura Miller: "Insects and Roses: Friends and Foes"
  
  Laura M. Miller is the Texas AgriLife Commercial Horticulture Extension Agent for Tarrant County. She provides informal educational programs and problem solving services to all aspects of the commercial horticulture industry, from green industry professionals to fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plant growers. Prior to taking on her present position in March 2008, she was a University of Florida/IFAS Extension Agent for seven years. 
  
  A sixth generation Texan, she’s a graduate of Eagle Pass High School who earned a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture and a Master of Education in Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University in College Station.
  
  Ms. Miller will describe common insect pests of roses and the beneficial insects that can help you control them.  She will propose an Integrated Pest Management to control the harmful insects without hindering the helpful by choosing your battles and the least toxic options to win them.
  
• Tommy Hebert: Rose Hybridizing for the Amateur
  The objective of hybridizing of any living species is to advance the species – principally through its disease resistance, its vigor and its productivity.  In the case of roses, hybridizers hope to also increase their beauty and fragrance as well.  The search goes on for the perfect rose, probably never to be realized.
  
  But, ever the optimists, rose hybridizers energetically pursue these lofty goals.  Any accomplishments, not matter how minor, are met with increasing vigor in the quest for that perfect rose. 
  There are undoubtedly hundreds of amateur rose hybridizers across the country, arguably even thousands. “If a bee can do it, why can’t we,” is their battle cry.  Professional hybridizers, although
  
  comparatively less numerous, are understandably more knowledgeable about the technical aspects of hybridizing and are generally much more efficient in their successes. Tommy Hebert is passionate about his efforts in his VERY amateurish hybridizing efforts, but is nevertheless encouraged by minor successes.  He will discuss his techniques, obviously influenced by procedures practiced during his career as a research chemist.  Both chemical and botanical reactions are similar in basis and their successes are generally predictable.
  He believes that the ability to create “new” rose varietals is within the ability of anybody with patience and a few (or many) different rose plants.  Absolute knowledge of rose genetics, although useful, is not required.  Indeed, rose hybridizing brings as many surprises as victories, which makes the process much more interesting and gratifying.  We will look at a few of each in this session.  And a few of his successes will be shown.  Questions will be very welcome from those in attendance.
  
  Tommy is a resident of Beaumont, Texas and a long-time member of the Golden Triangle Rose Society.  He has a half-century rose growing experience and is a twenty-plus year member of the American Rose Society and the South Central District.  He presently serves as the Prizes and Awards Director of the SCD and formerly served as its President and Deputy Director.  He is a Horticultural Rose Judge and a Consulting Rosarian.  His awards include the Local Society Bronze Medal, the SCD Silver Honor Medal, SCD Outstanding Judge, and SCD Outstanding Consulting Rosarian He is also is a Master Rosarian. 
  He is also an enthusiastic rose exhibitor and a frequent faculty member in rose judging and consulting rosarian schools conducted around the SCD and Gulf District.  His rose addiction has now taken him into the fascinating field of amateur rose hybridizing and is proudly registering some of his products with the American Rose Society.
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dallas Rose Society' newsletter, Rose Petals; the Fort Worth Rose Society's newsletter, Rose Prose; and the American Rose Society South Central District's newsletter, The Rosarian, will provide updates as the Convention date nears.

Please contact Convention Chairman John Allen at 972-727-3007 or at johnann@airmail.net for information.

Rose Show Forms

Entry forms for the Rose Show are not yet available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inception Date: January 30, 2011
Last Update: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 3:03 PM