What they
are Saying About -
Showing
Good Roses
American Rose Rambler
News & Viewpoints from the World of Roses
November/December 2001By Peter Schneider
SHOWING GOOD ROSES
Since I wanted to exhibit my roses, I went to the library and checked out a copy of Roses: Growing for Exhibiting by Harold H. Allen. I felt immediately at home with this book. Allen grew his roses in Ohio, his backyard looked similar to mine, and he wrote in a friendly, accessible style. Exhibiting wouldn't be so difficult after all, I decided.
Today, Allen might be best known in his home state as the namesake of the trophy that exhibitors at the district show settle for when they don't have the roses to deliver the McFarland. But his book was important in its time, and probably the best rose book ever written by a trombonist in a circus band.
Unfortunately, by the time I picked it up in 1981 much of its information had become dated. However well 'Saturnia' and 'Rex Anderson' did for Mr. Allen, they weren't going to win anything for me. 'Golden Wings,' I discovered, was not "technically a hybrid tea" anymore. Making friends with your milk man, as Allen suggested, might indeed be a good idea, but, I wondered, "What's a milk man?" And as for his suggestion to enliven a challenge class calling for five hybrid teas with two or three blooms of 'Dainty Bess'&emdash;well, let's not go there.
Many things hadn't changed, of course, and from Roses: Growing for Exhibiting I learned the importance of entering clean roses, the value of a having a dedicated rose refrigerator, and the fact that no amount of good culture will turn an unsuitable rose variety into a winner. I also sought out and found one of Mr. Allen's favorite roses, 'Narzisse,' which has over the past twenty years become one of my favorite roses, and has won several "Classic Hybrid Tea" trophies as well.
Forty years after the publication of Allen's book, exhibitors, and would-be exhibitors, finally have an up-to-date reference in Bob Martin's Showing Good Roses. This is not just the most comprehensive rose exhibiting manual anyone could imagine, it is one of the best rose books I have ever read. From the moment the rose gardener begins to contemplate exhibiting to the afternoon when he walks into a national show to discover one of his entries up on the trophy table, this book will be a invaluable guide. All along the way, Martin remains in complete command of his subject, anticipating&emdash;and answering&emdash;every question that might arise.
Showing Good Roses is organized into thirty-two chapters and five useful appendices. Longtime readers of The Pasadena Rose, the Los Angeles Rose Society's Rose Parade, and Rose Exhibitors' Forum will recognize some of Martin's vintage articles from those publications woven into this book. In every case they have been meticulously updated.
This book begins with the show, its schedule and organization, its judges and its exhibitors. After a detour into the Artistic Division and the mysterious world of rose arrangements Martin considers rose varieties for exhibition and their propagation. This is followed by a thorough section on "Growing Show Roses." Then, "Entering Roses at the Show" (including a comprehensive chapter on "Getting Roses to the Show"). Finally, "How to Win" as Martin reveals the tribal knowledge of the rose exhibitors, with detailed strategies that have worked for him. I particularly admire this section, because Martin treats old garden roses, shrubs, and climbers as roses that are worth winning with, too. Too often top exhibitors have a "Professor and Mary Ann" attitude toward any rose that is not a hybrid tea or miniature. Any other rose is reduced to "and the rest." There is no such bias here.
Like nearly all successful exhibitors, Martin understands the importance of the show schedule. The exhibitor who thoroughly understands the schedule has a tremendous advantage over one who doesn't. A poorly written schedule is a recipe for controversy and misunderstandings at the show. Societies who have not recently updated their schedule will find an excellent sample schedule here.
Martin believes that roses with twelve or fewer petals should be called "Single Roses" and not "Single-petaled roses" since there are no roses with just one petal, unless all of the others have fallen of. I am guilty of calling for "Single-petaled Roses: 12 petals or less" in schedules I have written, and in areas where older exhibitors still remember schedules that called for either "single roses" or "spray roses" this wording might still be helpful.
The section on exhibition rose varieties is backed up by exhaustive statistics on which roses have actually won in every part of the country.
Because Martin lives in Southern California, where it is easier to grow roses than in many other places, he has gotten advice for pests and disease control from top exhibitors in other parts of the country as well. We are well served by their contributions. Martin points out the devastation that a hard winter can do to an exhibitor's rose garden, but does not present a thorough discussion of winter protection.
Things I particularly like about this book:
Martin understands that not all exhibitors, and not all judges, will behave in an ethical manner. But he knows that the few unethical ones aren't having as much fun as the rest of us.
This fall I was chairman of the ARS National rose show held in Cleveland, and one of the phone calls I received in the wake of the events of 11 September was from an out-of-town exhibitor who wanted me to fax her a note, giving her permission to take her rose grooming tools into the cabin of the plane that would bring her to Cleveland. I didn't think the authorities would be too impressed by any such note, or that this is what any of us should have been worried about at that point. So I said "no." Exhibitors, like any other enthusiasts, can get their priorities mixed up. But not from reading and studying this book, which is rooted firmly in the ground of common sense.
In addition to the sample show schedule, the appendices include national and district challenge classes, rose sources, an excellent chemical guide, and a useful glossary.
It is hard to find anything I don't like about this comprehensive book. If I could have one thing more, it would be an index. This is not a big problem&emdash;chapters are divided into logical subsections, all of which are charted in a five-page "Contents" section at the front of the book. And if you open to the wrong section, you are sure to find something else that is interesting and informative.
After I realized that Harold Allen's book was a little out of date, I was lucky to find four real life rose exhibiting mentors: John Loksa, Helen and Steve Purcell, and Wilbur Hruby. Today, for anyone who is an exhibitor, or who wants to be one, Bob Martin's Showing Good Roses is the ideal portable mentor.
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