The NRS Constitution and Bylaws have been updated and approved by membership at the February, 2026, meeting. The previous version of these documents was April 24, 2017.
Some of the changes were based on IRS requirements to other Rose Societies and others were made based on changes with the times. For example:
– verbiage was added that votes could be taken at virtual meetings, not just in-person,
– allowing co-presidents to be the same as an individual president (ie, Ron and John, and Janie and Liz)
– requiring that a financial audit be conducted every year
– requiring that a tax return be filed every year (we could lose our non-profit status if this is not done)
– specifying that membership expiration notices may be by email, not the label on the snail-mail
– meetings will be held monthly, not specifying the day of the month
For a copy of the Constitution of the Nashville Rose Society (Revised by NRS Executive Committee January 18, 2026 and approved by membership), click here.
Robin Jennings, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Heirloom RosesWe have a great line up of speakers including Robin Jennings, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Heirloom Roses (soon to be rebranded Heirloom since they sell much more than roses). Robin was recently a guest of Teresa Byington on the RoseChat Pod cast. Robin shares “Finding Your Bloomate, Lessons from the Philadelphia Flower Show”.
Listen to Teresa and Robin’s Podcast to get an idea of the excitement and energy that our speakers will bring to the Medley of Roses – 2026 American Rose Society Convention and Rose Show.
For the complete list of speakers, click here. Many of our sessions qualify for ARS Consulting Rosarian credit.
Another year of growing roses has passed and what a year it was for the local rose societies of Tenarky. There were nice rose shows in Bowling Green, Nashville, Louisville and a GREAT 2025 Tenarky Convention and Rose Show in Memphis. The Memphis Rose Society did a fantastic job with providing an outstanding venue for our members to show our roses. These shows are important for two reasons, showing new people how nice roses can be and the opportunity for rose growers to show and get rewarded for all their hard work tending their roses throughout the year.
Our Tenarky Mid-Winter Workshop & Photo Contest is to be held in Bowling Green on February 27-28, 2026. I have reserved a larger room so that we will be able to have the vendors in the same room as the meeting. We have speakers lined up for great programs.
Sonja Lallemand, Editor of Illinois-Indiana District, will be speaking on Old Garden Roses, and you will enjoy her French pronunciation of rose names. Natalie Carmolli from Proven Winners is joining us virtually as well as providing some roses, then we also have Joe and Carrie Berg as our last speakers of the day presenting a program called “He says, she says”.
I will be bringing some potted roses for auction and selling with all the proceeds going to Tenarky, I have a couple of Dave Bang roses that I bought from K & M Roses when they had them discounted that I will donate to Tenarky also. I look forward to seeing everyone.
The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn University Plaza at 1021 Wilkinson Trace, Bowling Green, KY 42103, phone 270-745-0088. The hotel has provided a link here for reservations. The room block name is “Tenarky District of the American Rose Society Winter Workshop”. The hotel cutoff for reduced rate is January 27, 2026.
by Liz Louie, Co-President, Nashville Rose Society Layout of new Rose Study Garden (thanks to Karin Bailey)Since 1981, Cheekwood has had a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to use Metro Parks land for overflow parking. The MOU will no longer be renewed after December 31, 2027.
As a result, the two rose beds that comprise the rose study garden needed a new location. Earlier in the year, Cheekwood reached out to inform the Nashville Rose Society (NRS) about the plans for the new Parking Pavilion and Welcome Plaza. Jane MacLeod, Cheekwood’s President and CEO, came to the September NRS meeting to present an informative history of Cheekwood and discuss the new plans for the Parking Pavilion.
The new location for the Rose Study Garden will be three smaller beds behind Massey Hall. However, the area is not new to roses, as there was a time in Cheekwood’s history when roses grew there. It is a beautiful, serene spot with benches that overlook the distant Bevins Japanese Garden.
The move was planned for the first day of December, which turned out to be a chilly morning. The NRS gathered at the Cheekwood Rose Study Garden to dig up, pot, and relocate about 60 roses. At least 20 members arrived bundled up with gloves on, pruners in their pockets, and shovels in hand, ready to dig up the roses. Participants brought their spare large pots, ranging from 7 to 20 gallons. Ron Daniels, past president of the NRS and founder of the Rose Study Garden, directed the group—from labeling and tagging the roses to bagging up cuttings from pruned bushes nearly five feet tall. The roses were pruned to about 12–18 inches before the rosarians dug around the roots and potted them in the large containers. In the end, the NRS moved and lined up 55 roses; some had to be “shovel pruned” due to disease or poor health. The newly potted roses were well watered and placed near their new home.
On December 15, with temperatures starting in the lower twenties and lots of sunshine, Ron rallied a group of 18 NRS members and some employees from Cheekwood to replant the roses in the new garden. The three new beds were laid out by rose color, type, and size. Holes were dug then amended with Holy Cow and Mills Mix. Once the roses were planted, they were mulched in order to protect them through the winter. Two of the Old Garden Roses, ‘Old Blush’ (1793) and ‘Caldwell Pink’ (1928), would have been available when the Cheek family lived at Cheekwood. By the time the garden was planted, the temps were in the upper 30s – a perfect day for working in the Garden.
See photos of the garden being moved, click individual photo for slideshow (escape to exit):
Janie Hagan, NRS Co-President, presents the 2025 Bronze Medal to Sandra FrankThe Nashville Rose Society Holiday Party was held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
NRS Members and their guests enjoyed a banquet of holiday food, including yummy desserts. Gene Meyer gave us a new insight on how to look at our gardens and to choose new roses. If you have trouble getting help in the Kroger meat department, call Gene and he can talk you through how to help yourself (as he recently had to do).
The highlight of the celebration was for Co-President Janie Hagan to present the 2025 Bronze Honor Medal to Sandra Frank. Sandra is a long-time member of the Nashville Rose Society, including serving as 2009 President. Sandra is a team player and is the first to show up whenever anything needs to be done. She makes certificates for the Nashville rose shows and works in the Cheekwood Rose Study Garden. She is a volunteer for Cheekwood and is a member of both the Herb and Perennial Societies. She is very deserving of this medal. Congratulations, Sandra!
