In order to qualify for ARS awards, the entry must be arranger grown (AG) and so stated on the entry tag. Other than than, florist roses can be used in a design, it just isn't considered for the top honors.

What Meg said. Now, if the class explicitly stated that all of the roses must be "Arranger Grown", that's a different story. And, is it acceptable to allow arrangers to use roses grown by other people (usually exhibitors with left-overs), especially if it's been a difficult season.

A quibble: roses from Equador aren't grown outdoors but in massive greenhouses. Likewise Colombia.

No quibble Ann, but while 'some' roses from these countries 'might' be produced in a greenhouse, it would be impossible for them to produce 600 million roses for export to the US if all of them were produced in a greenhouse.
The 'greenhouses' that are used are little more than sun shelters to control bloom time.
Take a look at the link for additional information about rose production and how it impacts the US rose market.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Trade in Colombia

Thank you Ann ,Meg and Diane! After reading the link on rose trade in Columbia I don't think I would ever buy them, Let alone put them in my arrangements! I have used other club members leftovers as well as roses from our society garden in arrangements. This is accepted practice in our club. And only tags marked A. G. are eligible for the certificates. I just feel it is not fair to exhibit roses which are not grown locally in a local show. Unless there was a separate class,just for purchased florist rose designs. Am I wrong to feel this way? Do people in your areas use these roses? Lee

Looking at the show schedule for the Los Angeles Rose Society coming up on Oct. 16/17, in Rules for Arrangement Exhibitors it states that " All roses must be OUTDOOR GROWN and of high quality. To be eligible for Medal Certificates, the roses must be ARRANGER GROWN and so designated by placing an "AG" in the upper right hand corner of the entry tag".

As an accredited arrangements judge I can tell you that there are only two grounds for disqualification of a rose arrangement. To quote the ARS Guidelines:

"There are but two causes for disqualification of an arrangement:
1. Rose not outdoor grown.
2. Use of artificial plant material."

Florist roses from Ecuador are not outdoor grown and the entries should have been disqualified.

Sometimes arrangements are not ARS rules, but National Garden Club rules. NGC rules call for use of fresh plant materials. I think that is about it! People here use florist roses or roses from their gardens - not much differnce in quality - except garden roses might be a little fresher. However, if someone wants to use Leonidas - here on the east coast, it does not grow well - it must be a florist rose to be big and attractive.

Kathy

I am a horticultural Judge, not an arrangement Judge. I do exhibit in arrangement section and my arrangements have received several troiphies including the Royalty award in local and National shows. Once a lovely arrangement of mine was disqualified simply because the name of the rose was not in the ARS publications. ARs do not update rose registerations e very day. It is simply ridiculous in my opinion considering that the rose had the corret name. I do disaggree with judging quite often. A number of judges do not even follow the rules strictly. When the judge is not a rose arrangement judge, he or she does not even know the correct name! However, if I were an arrangement judge, I would request modifications of several of the ARS rules. Not many people use store- bought roses. Considering the fact that the quality and condition of roses get the highest marks in the scoring system, it is not fair to allow these roses to be used in the show. Judging is not always fair. Do question the judges. Sure some of them do notlike being questioned. Answering questions is a part of the job as a judge.

I have a question regarding the store bought roses in the show? Did the exhibitor identify the name? These roses carry no label. A judge can disqualify if the roses are misnamed-why DQ- mislabelled roses are simply out. Since there are thousands of roses in the ARS publications, you cannot expect the judges to know all roses. Exhibitors do cheat. They simply pick up a name from the little ARS guide for selecting roses. I have seen exhibitors doing it. I am just curious. I do not know whether these roses are registered with ARS>

When the arranger walked in with 1 dozen bright orange HT's and 1 dozen white with deep pink edge HT's. We could all tell they were florist roses!( New England in September, very hard to come up with that many top condition roses!)I asked her before judging if she had grown them.She said no,she had purchased them as certified outdoor grown. And the florist had told her the names( which she had on the tags)She told me it is common practice to do this in Canada. I thought the judge would surely know they were not locally grown, and would disqualify the 3 arrangements she made.Instead the judge commented on the exceptional condition of the roses! She is a very talented arranger and she would have done as well had she used local roses. I love arranging , but this day left a very sour taste in my mouth! Lee

I thought this was a very intersting thread and sent it to my district's arrangement chairperson and the following is her reply.

The official rules of the ARS are "that roses must be outdoor grown and correctly named."

Outdoor grown roses may be grown by the exhibitor, and so stated on the entry card by writing AG on the top of the card. The design is then eligible for the ARS Certificate Awards if it is a blue ribbon winner scoring 92 points or more.

Outdoor grown roses may also be grown by another amateur grower - either someone you know or from left overs from hort entries. In that case, AG is NOT written on the card, but the design is eligible for Style Awards, (Royalty, Oriental etc.) The exception is if the rules for that show specifically state that all roses must be arranger grown. This is not recommended as it is hard to know what roses people will have.

Unless the show schedule states differently, designs in the same class may be made with arranger grown, other amateur grown roses, or a compination of arranger grown and other amateur grown roses. The schedule is the law of the show as long as it is in compliance with ARS rules. To make sure that the schedule is in compliance, the schedule should be reviewed by the District Chairman of ARS Arrangement judges PRIOR to publication.

Please note that in National Challenge Classes all roses must be arranger grown and so stated on the entry card.

Commercial roses i.e. those purchased - whether or not grown outside, under shade houses or what ever - are only allowed in classes so stated that they may be used and are NOT eligible for top awards, i.e. STYLE awards, they never would be awarded Certificates as those specifically state ARRANGER GROWN.

If a show uses a passing committee, the passing committee should question if the roses were purchased. If the exhibitor says they were, then the passing committee should explain that this is against ARS rules and give the arranger a chance to find roses from the hort people. If the arranger says they want to use them anyway, the card should be marked for display only not to be judged. This will make the exhibitor very mad and they will never come back.

The committee can ignore the situation, allow the entry and speak to the judges, who should write on the card beautiful roses but ARS rules require outdoor grown roses and not award a ribbon. The exhibitor will then also be mad and not come back, but at least they are mad at the judges and not the local committee.

If the committee does not inform the judges of the problem and the judges recognize the use of purchased roses, they then can do several things,
1. write on the card like above, not score the design
2. score the design too low to get a ribbon and write that outdoor roses are required
3. score the design too low to get a ribbon and not write anything, which no one will understand if the design is very good