Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
June 14, 2002

Reiman to hold rose festival

by Linda Charles
The rose, that regal queen of any flower garden, will take center stage during a weekend festival.

Reiman Gardens will hold a rose festival Saturday and Sunday, June 15-16. The two-day event will feature a flower show, displays, book and rose plant sales, children's activities, a concert and workshops.

Gov. Tom Vilsack proclaimed 2002 the year of the rose, and Reiman Gardens staff are seizing the opportunity to show off more than 2,000 rose plants (consisting of 250 cultivars or varieties).

Reiman Gardens has five rose collections, including the All-American Rose Selections (AARS) Trial and Display Garden, which has earned AARS awards the last seven years. Newly developed roses are tested in the Trial and Display Garden (one of about 26 in the country) and rated for their form, color, fragrance, vigor, disease resistance and hardiness.

The other rose collections are the Hybrid, Heritage, English Rose and Buck Rose gardens. The Buck roses were developed by Griffith Buck, an Iowa State alumnus and horticulture professor from 1948 to 1985. Buck spent his life developing about 90 roses that could survive Iowa's cold winters and resist disease. (Photos of Buck roses may be found online at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/cad/rose1.html.)

Although one variety, "Carefree Beauty," had some commercial success, Buck didn't patent or market most of his roses. He gave them to friends and rose lovers, which ensured most varieties survived.

Buck, who died in 1991, probably is best known for his "Blue Skies" rose, a bluish-blossomed flower that Buck reportedly never cared for much.

Many of the Buck roses will be offered for sale for $20 during the Reiman Gardens rose festival.

The festival fee is $2 per adult and $1 per child for Reiman Garden members and $5 per adult and $2 per child for nonmembers. Weekend family passes (good for both days) are available for $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Food and drinks also will be sold during the festival. (See complete schedule on page 8.)

Reiman Rose Festival

June 15-16, Reiman Gardens
4-2710

Saturday, June 15

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Book sale, new books from University Book Store, featuring children's books, books on roses and their care, Mahlstede Center.
10 a.m.-8 p.m., Ames Garden Club flower show (judged competition), Mahlstede Center.
11 a.m.-4 p.m., Rose sale, 250 rose bushes (Buck roses $20, 'Love and Peace' rose $15), behind the Hunziker House.
11 a.m.-4 p.m., Children's activities, includes a story time featuring A Rose in My Garden by Arnold Lobel (for sale at the book sale) and making paper roses and rose sachets, Children's Garden.
1-4 p.m., Rose workshops, free, preregister by calling 4-2710, Hunziker House.
- 1 p.m. Workshop, Planting roses, Nick Howell, Reiman Gardens (held at the Display and Trial Garden).
- 2 p.m., Flower arrangements, Brian Smith, Everts Flowers and Gifts, Ames.
- 3 p.m., Rose potpourri, Linda Naeve, Ames.

Sunday, June 16

10 a.m.-noon, Concert, Music in the Morning series, Perfect Fifth String Ensemble, local group, outside Mahlstede Center.
10 a.m.-5 p.m., Book sale, see June 15.
1-2 p.m., Workshop, planting roses, see June 15.
1-3 p.m., Children's activities, see June 15.
2-5 p.m., Iowa Rose Society display, Mahlstede Center.

Admission:

Nonmembers: $5/day adults; $2/day children; $15 family pass (good for both days)
Members: $2/day adults; $1/day children; $10 family pass