Likewise here, Anita, as soon as you mentioned the Sacramento cemetery all the sadness of that event came back to me. Your roses are lovely, and I too love the old roses best.

Lovely roses: what happiness that you grow them at home. Ours are still gearing up.

They broke my heart.

It is nice to see some familar names in response to this post. Melissa, I was wondering about you recently! This forum was a big part of my life and I really enjoyed talking to fellow old rose lovers around the world. As Jeri and others know, the city of Sacramento broke my heart too by pushing out the volunteers and whacking back/removing roses. I gave 17 years and a tremendous amount of energy and love into the Sacramento cemetery, and many, many others contributed greatly and loved it too. I think of it as Camelot - so lovely, but it didn't last. The memories and friendships endure.

It is a sad fact that what we honor and celebrate is meaningless to many people. I don't think I'll ever get over what was done, even though it's now so long ago. All we can do is grow what we love in our own private spaces, and at the same time expect that when we're gone the roses might be gone too. For now, though, I feel so happy that I have Wild Edric, Xenna, Coles Settlement, Sweet Frances, Aloha and a few others to grow on. I realized today how terribly weak I've gotten and that I can do nothing for the roses. Oh well, they're all planted now and this will be a test to see how well roses (and most of these have old rose ancestry) can do without human intervention other than drip watering (and of course my loving thoughts).

Ingrid, I remember your garden with a lovely view. I'm sorry you have gotten weak. I am spending a lot of time in my friend Bill Harp's garden, trimming and tidying it in preparation for the house going on the market in a couple of weeks. It will be full of large (many would say overgrown) heritage roses, and I hope that people see it for an asset to the property. It's been my magical place to visit for nearly 50 years - he was my first heritage rose mentor. Now, somebody new will own it - and who knows what will happen to the roses....

I sincerely hope, Anita, that the new owners will be delighted to have wonderful roses already growing in their garden. One never knows, though, as tastes differ so much. How wonderful that this garden has been a part of your life for so many years and, that, in and of itself, has made it incredibly worthwhile and important. Do you by chance have photos to share of this garden; I would so love to see it.

It‘s a travesty that the cemetery no longer honors the old garden roses that graced the grounds for over a century, and those who lovingly tended them as beautiful treasures.

@Anita, the rose bouquet you shared is reminiscent of a Victorian Valentine’s Day picture postcard! So very pretty!!!

Thank you for sharing the early spring flowers from Sacramento. I greatly enjoy my plants of Enchantress, Golden Ophelia, Souvenir de Pierre Notting, and White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth from the cemetery garden sales of years past. Memories of the splendor of the cemetery garden make me happy.