hundredpetals,

Two MUST haves:

1. Purchase and read - Bob Martin's book "Showing Good Roses"
2. Subscribe to the Rose Exhibitors' Forum - you will see what is winning in your area.

(Find both on the link below)

Are you a member of a rose society? You can learn tons from members who exhibit roses. Attend shows, bring your roses, enter the novice classes and let the fun begin!

Calvin is absolutely right, Marilyn Monroe and Cajun Moon are great HT's in Southern California. Study your own garden and see what has exhibition potential. What may be good for you may not do well just a few miles away.

Keep us posted of your progress and know NO QUESTION is stupid! :~)

Best of luck and FUN to you!

Here is a link that might be useful: roseshow.com

I'm trying the same thing. BL was right , get the book. Learning how to show the roses you already have will help you when the newer roses get to the exhibition quality stage. I'm still working on it. Lots of 2 year roses that are looking better and better but not up to par yet. Show what you got and you won't believe all the help you will get from others. It is not an overnight process where you plant the best roses and they turn into winners. There is always a suprise on the show table when someone enters a rose not on the exhibition list of regular winners that gets the call that day.

I would like to invite you to visit the Pacific Rose Society and possibly become a member.

We meet in Ayres Hall at the Los Angeles Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia. Our next meeting will be Thursday, June 2. Potluck dinner at 7:00 p.m. and meeting at 8:00 p.m.

This months meeting will be on fertilizers with a representative of Kelloggs presenting a timely program.

We have a number of good judges that attend and we can give you a lot of great information on what's winning at shows around the Southland.

Hope to see you there.

Wow, thank you very much!

BLSmith, thank you for the sage advice, pointers to the resources, and the friendly welcome. I'm looking forward to this hobby and I really appreciate the advice to start with what I have and begin to have fun, rather than worry about what other roses I need.

Woodroid, I really appreciate the encouragement and to know that there are others travelling on this journey of rose discovery.

Chris, thanks for the welcome to the Pacific Rose Society. Your meeting place is definitely close by, provided traffic on the 210 has calmed down by then, and I'm definitely interested in the best way to feed my roses. So, do I just show up to the pot luck with a hot dish in hand? Is it okay to show up at 8 if I can't make it for the potluck?

Thank you very much. I was kinda scared that this question might just languish ignored, but I guess that was misplaced fear :-).

hundredpetals:

Welcome to the world of exibiting roses! We need some new exhibitors. Visit my web site for more info on exhibiting.

Some suggested hybrid teas for SoCal:

Gemini
St. Patrick
Veteran's Honor
Hot Princess
Black Magic
Cajun Moon
Big Time
Affirm
Signature
Marilyn Monroe

Here is a link that might be useful: Lots of Info on Exhibiting

hundredpetals,

Kitty has two of the most informative award winning sites I have ever seen. Chris and the Pacific Rose Society are a terrific group - if we lived up that way we would LOVE the be part of their society. Their show is beautiful with such a friendly group of hard workers.

Bob Martin, Kitty and Chris have been great mentors for me -I can not count the times I have asked for advise and they have taken the time to educate and encourage me. You are in excellent company with these gems of the rose world.

Another aspect about rose exhibiting is you will get together with people from other societies at various shows and develop some great friendships all the while learning more and more about roses. And like woodroid from TX :~)...even on the web, we make buddies from all over the country/world. One of my best rose buddies I have not met yet in person lives in another state and we share a special relationship via email -- and on another rose message board for the past three years, we exchange photos of our kids growing up...etc.

Glad you are here!

Thank you Kitty. What an excellent list!

I must confess that in scouring the web, I have already discovered the SCVRS website and the great information you have on it. In fact, since April I've been following your super-secret Exhibitor's Rose Care Calendar as closely as I could.

However, the link to the Rose Show section is something I have not discovered, so I'm looking forward to devouring it tonight.

BLSmith,

Thank you for such encouraging words and insight. I really appreciate seeing how complimentary people are here. I guess perhaps a hobby built around bringing out the best in roses also bring out the best in people as well.

I would second the idea of finding a good rose society in your area and joining it. I would also suggest that you obtain a copy of the current "Guidelines for Judging Roses" which you can get from the American Rose Society headquarters in Shreveport, LA. Then, it wouldn't hurt if you were to audit, as in sit in on without taking the judging tests, one of the judging schools. You can also volunteer to help clerk at the society's rose show where you can listen in on and observe the judges haggling over which roses they think are the best. You can detect what the judges like or dislike.

I have been a judge since 1988 and have seen judges do some strange things from time to time. I have also seen them do a good job as well. Sometimes I have agreed with the majority, and sometimes I haven't. But, that is the way it goes. I am not a believer in rewarding the latest fad show rose just because it is the latest and newest. There are plenty of older varieties that are capable of beating Moonstone hands down. I do not grow Moonstone, but I have seen it growing in public gardens and in other people's yards. It can be beautiful, but it doesn't have consistently good form. You have to go through a lot of flowers to find that good one. Many others are in that same boat. I have also seen some exhibitors really get upset over the way things have turned out. I would say to not get to where you take it all too seriously especially since the current Guidelines has been changed, and not all for the better, at least to my thinking. Some of it was improved, but some leaves me scratching my head. You will, however, find a new use for Q-Tips. Just wait.

"You will, however, find a new use for Q-Tips."

That's really funny. I realize I have a lot to learn :-).

Thanks, Bustopher, for your advice. I do plan on checking out the Pacific Rose Society. And thanks for recommending the Judging Manual and perhaps auditing a judging school. I've recently been reading the "Showing Good Roses" that Bren recommended and it also advised the Manual for Judging roses and learning to see the roses from the judges point of view.

I realize I'm appreciating my roses differently already. I was looking at the blooms of my Double Delight and noticed the symmetrical spiral centers they was displaying. That made me really happy, and I cut a couple of blooms for our secretary. Tomorrow, she's getting Full Sail opened at the 1/2 to 3/4 stage :-).

I'll be practicing with what I have, but I do know that they were mostly chosen for their fragrance and not their form. So, I'm clearing out some plants, picking some roses from Kitty's list and perhaps experiment with some new varieties -- not so much because they are fads, though I'm certainly not above being seduced by fads, but because I think cultivating uncommon roses would make me most happy.

I really second the bustopher's suggestion to serve as a clerk. You get a whole new appreciation of the judging process and you'll hear their reasons behind the decisions. I learn a lot from clerking, and I still clerk when I have the chance.

Thanks, Diane. That sounds like good advice. I think when show season begins, I'll see about doing that.

Its very interesting listening to the judges. Its a good idea to clerk in multiple shows so you can listen to more than one pair of judges. And if you can catch other judge's ears and go back over one or two areas your team judges with them, you can hear some additional thoughts that way, too. I know the latter was very insightful when studying arrangements.

Suz

Thanks, Suz. It appears all the great advice are pointing me in the direction of the judges. I do intend to clerk some shows -- I'm going to ask Kitty if I could clerk for her Santa Clarita Valley Rose Show in the Fall. I think I would like to clerk, not just to learn more about exhibiting, but also to spend time with beautiful roses. I was at the Pacific Rose Sciety meeting last night and they had a mini rose show and I just loved being in the midst of those roses and talking to people about them.