Author: NRS Webmaster

March 3, 1:30 – 4:00pm – “A Blooming Success Story”

Ricky Lockhart
The March meeting of the Nashville Rose Society will be held on March 3, 2024, in the the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Garden and Estate. We will have refreshments at 1:30 and the program will start at 2:00 PM.

From just one bed of roses planted over thirty years ago, Ricky Lockhart’s passion and love for roses has grown to nearly 250 rose plants. While he grows multiple types, he mainly focuses on exhibition-style roses including Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora Roses, as well as Floribundas. He is planning to build two new beds this spring.

In addition to tending his beloved roses, Lockhart manages 98 acres of land, cattle and crops, which he says “makes a great hobby for retired folks and is an excellent way to pass the time.”

Ricky and wife Mary Ann, Team Lockhart!
An active member and former president of the Bowling Green Rose Society, Lockhart regularly participates area rose competitions and often wins. During the Southeast TENARKY District Rose Show in Knoxville, Tennessee last year Ricky was awarded the prestigious McFarland Rose award for the second time. This top award, named after the famous rosarian John Horace McFarland, is the highest award to be achieved at our regional show. Ricky consistently places in a variety of classes when he shows.

To ensure that his roses are properly grown and cared for, Lockhart has developed a specific watering and fertilizing system for his rose beds and a tried and true method for transporting and showing roses. We are excited to have him share his tips and tricks with the Nashville Rose Society at our monthly meeting on March 3.

The Cheekwood Campus Map shows the location of Botanic Hall.

Note: Admission to Cheekwood is not required – let the gate attendant know that you are attending the NRS Meeting in Botanic Hall.

Learn How to Maintain your Pruners

A virtual presentation by FELCO General Manager, Ryan Amberg

Baby, it is cold outside! It is a good time to get ready for the spring weather that will come to Middle Tennessee soon. One item that you may have on your TODO list is to sharpen your pruners. Ryan Amerg, General Manager of FELCO North America, joined Diane Summer, President of the American Rose Society, to teach us the basics for maintaining our pruners.

Ryan Amberg began his career at his family’s nursery, where he first got his hands on FELCO red-handled tools. After attending Cornell University to study business management, marketing, and agricultural science, he was recruited by the FELCO team in Switzerland to further develop the business in North America.

Ryan worked his way up through various facets of the company, from product management to marketing and business development. He has traveled around the world working for FELCO, developing different markets from Australia to South Africa. Today as the company’s General Manager, he continues to work on and develop the FELCO business in the USA, striving to introduce more consumers to the iconic Swiss brand.

Click here to watch Ryan’s virtual presentation on the American Rose Society YouTube channel.

Looking Forward to the NRS 2024 Program Year!

The Nashville Rose Society Programming Committee is working hard on our monthly meeting calendar for 2024.

A few programs to look forward to in the next few months include our first meeting on February 4, which will be a fun and informative roundtable discussion, “Buzz Session: Rose, Thorn and Bud”, led by our own Consulting Rosarians. On March 3, Ricky Lockhart from Morgantown, Kentucky, and Consulting Rosarian member of the Bowling Green Rose Society, will share his 25-year rose story – which has been a blooming success! Bette Fields will share her tips and tricks for creating beautiful flower arrangements for family and friends on April 7. We are excited to announce our “Rose Garden Crawl and Progressive Picnic” on June 2, starring our very own rose gardeners and their beautiful gardens in East Nashville!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the coming year!

February 17 – 2024 Tenarky District Winter Workshop

Are you ready for an exciting winter workshop in February? Are you ready to see your friends from around the district and catch up on news and see what new roses they have ordered? If your answer is yes, then you will want to hurry and register for the upcoming event.

The Winter Workshop will be held on February 17,2024, at the Hampton Inn, 2606 Hwy 49 W, Pleasant View, TN 37146. The venue has moved to a new location for several reasons. As you know, traffic, high hotel prices, and high rental for space have been major concerns. The hotel is about 30 miles from Nashville so traffic is not a problem. The price of the hotel is reasonable, and the hotel is new. If you have a new puppy (or other pet) you don’t want to leave at home, no problem; the hotel is pet friendly! We will also have several great speakers.

Dr. Nar Bahadur Ranabhat, from the University of Tennessee Crossville, is in the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department. He will be discussing his research relating to advances in Rose Rosette Disease.

Ken Schmidt, from the Carolina District, will be judging our photo contest and will give us valuable tips on how to take quality photos of our roses.

Dr. David Zlesak, Professor of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls and has had many accomplishments. He has been the coordinator of the Northern Earth-Kind trial and the director of the American Rose Trials for Sustainability ®. He has published numerous articles on diseases and hardiness of roses and other plants. Dr. Zlesak is also is well-known rose breeding. He has had numerous successful introductions you are familiar with including the “Oso”® series, the Pretty Polly® series, and numerous other roses. He will be discussing his sustainable roses and his goals of producing plants that are hardy and disease resistant.

Photographs must be entered by 9 a.m. with a welcome from our director. Seminars will be at 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Following lunch, our district business meeting will be held with the final speaker after it. We plan to conclude by 3:30-4 p.m. Click here for the Photography Schedule.

Click here for the registration form and the schedule of events. Information can also be found on our district website at www.tenarky.org on the home page. This is your opportunity to hear some outstanding rosarians share their rose knowledge, enjoy lunch with rose friends from across the district, enter in our 5th annual photography contest, purchase some new roses, and have an enjoyable winter day!

MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND!!

February 4, 1:30 – 4:00pm – “Buzz Session: Rose, Thorn and Bud”

The first meeting of the Nashville Rose Society in 2024 will be held on February 4, 2024, in the the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Garden and Estate. We will have refreshments at 1:30 and the program will start at 2:00 PM.

Join us for a Buzz Session! This meeting will provide an opportunity for you to share what you love about growing roses, to present your challenges over the past year or so, and to tell us how the NRS can be helpful to you as you work to cultivate healthy roses. The meeting will begin with introductions, then we will have attendees call-off table numbers to balance the groups (remember picking volleyball teams in school!). The sessions will begin at approximately 2:30pm and will last about 45 minutes. Following the discussions, we will meet back as a group and each table will present any comments of note from their discussions. A CR will be assigned to each table and the table will appoint a “reporter” to note comments and report back to the entire group.

The Cheekwood Campus Map shows the location of Botanic Hall.

Note: Admission to Cheekwood is not required – let the gate attendant know that you are attending the NRS Meeting in Botanic Hall.