On September 10, 2023, a crowd of garden lovers eagerly attended a talk and hands-on workshop with Stephen Scanniello, rosarian and international authority on roses. The celebrated horticulturist, garden designer and author who has been called the “Rock Star of Roses” by Martha Stewart, serves as curator for both the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden and the Helen S. Kaman Rose Garden at the Elizabeth Park Conservancy in West Hartford, Connecticut. Starting with an engaging powerpoint presentation at the Jay Mansion, Stephen shared his extensive knowledge and passion for roses including old garden roses (OGR), classes of roses which existed prior to 1867 and are known for their incredible fragrance.
Stephen explained how he has created, preserved, or restored numerous gardens throughout his career, including the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Rotch-Jones-Duff Garden and Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Ruth’s Rose Garden on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, the Heritage Rose District of New York City that encompasses historic sites throughout Harlem in upper Manhattan, the new Heritage Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park established by the Connecticut Valley Garden Club, and the Remember Me Rose Garden in Stoystown, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the heroes of United Flight 93 on 9/11.
Since the early 1980s, Stephen has been advocating for the cultivation of roses in an environmentally sustainable manner and promoting practices that reduce the dependence of rose growers on chemicals and pesticides, a practice that is in keeping with JHC’s own sustainability message. He is the president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, and advancement of research on roses that originated in the nineteenth century or earlier, as well as roses with particular historical, educational, or genetic value. Additionally, he is an advisor to the Horticultural Sciences initiative at Texas A&M, which focuses on research related to Rose Rosette Disease, one of the greatest challenges facing rose growers in America today.
After the slide show, the group toured the newly revitalized Jay Gardens with Stephen focusing on the shrub roses and climbers. Stephen showed participants the proper tools and ways to prune and tie back canes securely using soft but sturdy twine. JHC’s volunteers who maintain the rose beds and arbor especially appreciated the invaluable tips they learned.
Photos by Kim Crichlow
