I agree that there should be more classes for old garden roses at ARS rose shows, but I think that there are just too many classes (and not enough exhibitors)to have a a separate class for each one. However, I think having a Queen, King and Princess for each of the Dowager, Victorian and Modern Shrub classes would be a good idea. It would only add 6 new catigories to rose show schedules, and recognize the shift towards shrubs and old garden roses that has taken place in the rose industry during the last 20 years.

At Pacific Rose Society, we used to arrange the OGR classes into subclasses with all the chinas together, bourbons, HPs, etc. I suspect that was one reason we required the Date and type to be on the entry tag.

We have since stopped that and just arrange them alphabetically. But remember, its an alphabetical show, so each variety is judged on its own merits and only when they are being evaluated for Dowager or Victorian are they judged against each other. Cream usually rises to the top and the best usually makes it to the trophy table.

Ventura County Rose Society tried to separate out some classes in 2001; given that roses that prospered particularly in the area, we offered a class restricted to
chinas, teas, and noisettes (IIRC). The new class didn't burn up the tables, but a decent showing was made for that class. I think the idea of separate classes would be highly dependent upon what types of roses grow well in the particular area; a china, or tea class class in Ventura County would be exceptional. But trying HPs would be a disappointment because of the disease prone types for VC in that class; gallicas, etc would be devoid of entries for lack of a sufficient chill factor. We also tried a category restricted to organically grown roses, but that occasioned more comment than entries....JimD

JimD

Here is a link that might be useful: The Ventura County Rose Society