Author: NRS Webmaster

Monday, September 14, 6:30- 8:30pm – Katie Schaaf, “Hand-Tied Bouquets: Blending Garden & Market Flowers”

Floral designer Katie Schaaf
Join the Nashville Rose Society for an evening with fellow rose lovers and our special guest speaker, floral designer Katie Schaaf. Katie will demonstrate how to create beautiful hand-tied bouquets by combining flowers and foliage from your own garden with fresh blooms from Trader Joe’s. She’ll share tips on selecting complementary flowers, adding texture and color, conditioning stems for longer vase life, and the simple technique that creates a professional-looking bouquet. Whether you’re cutting roses from your garden or picking up a few market flowers, you’ll leave with ideas and inspiration for creating stunning arrangements at home.

The meeting will be held on Monday, September 14, 2026, from 6:30-8:30 PM in the Frist Center Bradford Room at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. The evening will begin with time to mix and mingle at 6:30 PM, followed by the program at 7:00 PM. Guests are welcome! Simply tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nashville Rose Society meeting.

Katie worked as a floral designer for Wildflora in Los Angeles, California, for two years before moving to Nashville in 2022. She created market bouquets and floral arrangements for both the Studio City location and the “grab-and-go” floral shop at The Grove.

While attending college, Katie also owned and operated her own floral design business, KC Floral Co., here in Nashville for two years. Although she has lived out of state for the past two years, she continues to create arrangements for several of her longtime customers whenever she is back home.

Katie sources her flowers from local growers and suppliers, including Trader Joe’s, Wholesale Flowers in Nashville, and her mom’s garden.

LOCATION NOTE: This meeting will be held in the Bradford Room at the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens Frist Center on the Cheekwood campus.

* Address to enter: Back Gate, 111 Cheek Road, Park in Lot C or D
* Enter 1st Floor of Frist Center from Lot C – Turn left and you will find the elevator.
* Take the elevator to 3rd floor and enter Bradford Room on the Right.
The meetings are free to guests, as is admission to Cheekwood for meetings. Simply tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nashville Rose Society meeting.

San Diego Rose Symposium

After the 2026 Nashville Convention, don’t miss the

San Diego Rose Symposium:
2027 World Federation of Rose Societies Regional Convention
AND
The 2027 ARS National Convention & Rose Show

combined into one spectacular 5-day Event from April 30 to May 4, 2027.

The Symposium will be the first WFRS Convention to be held in the United States in over 25 years.
Speakers will cover a variety of topics including rose care, hybridizing, garden design to ensure diverse rose culture, the benefits of rose gardening to rose growers and even some rose history and lore. Tom Carruth, Ping Lim, Tyler Francis, Paul Zimmerman, Mike Shoup, Ray Martin and Carrie Bergs will be among the speakers.

To enhance your immersive rose experience, there will be 4 different one-day tours that include gardens and cultural attractions that you can add to your adventure in the San Diego area. And in the WFRS tradition of convention tours, an optional once-in-a-lifetime 8-day Post-Symposium Tour of Southern and Central California gardens and attractions, curated and led by Paul Zimmerman, is also being offered to Symposium registrants.

Go to www.sandiegorosesociety.com/2027 for more information about the Symposium,
hosted by the San Diego Rose Society in celebration of its 100th Anniversary.

Contact & Convention Chair: sandiegorosesociety@gmail.com

Howard Carman’s “Propagating Roses From Cuttings” Presentation

Howard Carman, ARS Tenarky District Director
On Sunday, July 12, 2026, our special guest speaker Howard Carman shared his experiences with propagating roses from cuttings, hybridizing, and the journey that turned a hobby into a lifelong passion for roses. Howard is kind enough to share his presentation with us.

Click here to see Howard’s presentation.

Howard has lived in Big Spring, Kentucky his entire life and began growing roses in 1997 after being inspired by the Kentucky State Fair. What started with a few roses quickly turned into a lifelong passion that led him to join both the Louisville Rose Society and the American Rose Society. Over the years, he expanded his garden to more than 200 roses, built a homemade greenhouse, became a horticulture judge in 2004, and today still grows around 125 roses including hybrid teas, floribundas, shrubs, miniatures, and minifloras.

One of Howard’s Seedlings
Howard is a past president and current treasurer of the Louisville Rose Society and currently serves as the Tenarky District Director, beginning his term in 2024. His love of roses has also led him into propagation and hybridizing, with two roses now registered with the ARS — the miniature “Miss Paula,” a sport of Miss Flippins, and the miniflora “Anna Mae,” named in honor of his mother.

Monday, August 17, 6:30-8:00pm – Understanding the Medley of Roses Show Schedule

Whether you’re planning to exhibit or just curious about how a rose show works, you won’t want to miss this special Zoom presentation by Mary Ann Hext, ARS Master Rosarian, member of the Bowling Green Rose Society, Nashville Rose Society, and Rose Show Judge. This meeting is in addition to our regularly scheduled August monthly meeting.

Mary Ann will walk us through the Medley of Roses Show Schedule for the upcoming ARS National Convention, explaining:

  • The three show divisions
  • Show rules and how they apply
  • Selected classes in Horticulture, Arrangements, and Photography
  • Tips to help you understand the schedule and feel more confident about participating

This is a great opportunity for both first-time exhibitors and experienced rose growers to become familiar with the show schedule before the convention. We hope you’ll join us!

Click here to download a pdf copy of the Rose Show Schedule (2026 02 27).

The Zoom link will be shared with members of the Nashville Rose Society by Marty Reich email. If you are not a member of the NRS and wish to attend, To receive the Zoom link, send an email to diane@medleyofroses.org.

Save Cheekwood Petition: Help protect our history and culture

For 66 years, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens has been a treasured place where art, culture, history, and nature come together for families, students, and visitors from Tennessee and around the world.

For the Nashville Rose Society, Cheekwood has been our home for as long as most of our members can remember. It is where we gather for many of our meetings, host our Nashville Rose Shows, and share our passion for roses with the public. Through its partnership with our society, Cheekwood helps educate visitors and members alike about our national flower—the rose.

Today, Cheekwood faces a significant challenge. A formal legal appeal has been filed with the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals seeking to require the city to issue a Stop Work Order that would halt further work and public use of portions of the property. The appeal stems from Cheekwood’s plans to construct a new parking garage, a project that has been opposed by a group of neighbors.

If you would like to learn more about the issue and support Cheekwood, please click hereto read about the situation and consider adding your name to the petition.