We welcomed back our favorite rosarian in the world, Stephen Scanniello, along with his colleagues, our newest partners, the Heritage Rose Foundation (HRF). HRF members from all over the country – California, Texas, Florida – and all over the globe, including as far away as Uruguay, saw our parterre beds brimming with lush red and pink rose varieties and the arbor in its full splendor with hundreds of blush-hued New Dawn blooms cascading over its arches. Our awesome volunteers Anthony, Emma, Amy and Zonnia have pruned and trained the canes for four years now, most recently using tips from Stephen.
Observers noted not one, not two, but numerous bird nests atop the arbor which was recreated from archival photos. But in even bigger news, the Heritage Rose Foundation selected JHC for an exceptional grant to plant historic 19th century roses in our park. They made the first specimen donation today – an “Arnold” rose named for the legendary Arnold Arboretum where landscape architect Mary Rutherfurd Jay studied! Stephen and members of the foundation will help select additional specimens for us and work with us to expand our public horticultural programming about the sustainable attributes of OGR, old garden roses. Special thanks to Pam Smith for organizing the tour! We congratulated Stephen for his years of service to HRF and welcomed Mike Shoup who will succeed him.
