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Report on the trip.
The trip to the Renzie Park rose garden was one of the most enjoyable trips that we have ever participated in. This was in no small part due to John, who was the McKeesport Garden Club and Pittsburgh Rose Society member manning the garden at the time. This is one of those gardens that is maintained by a local garden club. They have a large two story building, complete with a fireplace, kitchen, workshops and a store where they sell crafts. There is also a small greenhouse where John propagates roses for sale. Most important of all are the fantastic rose gardens; 40 beds containing over 1800 roses.
The gardens are arranged in beds with the roses arranged by types; minis in one bed, bush roses in another, award winning roses in a separate bed, etc. The roses are planted in groups of 6 both for effect and to insure the survival of each type. The gardens contain many roses that are no longer available for sale, as well as roses that are the newest of the new. There are also other perennials, a butterfly garden and a water garden. We found a wisteria that had been trained into a tree and Pat spotted a patch of horseradish, which we suspect was being grown for someone’s Easter dinner. Lisa found her autumn clematis, although it was not the vine that she first spotted. That one remains unidentified as John was a wiz on roses but claimed to know little of the perennials.
We came home with a number of roses. Pat fell in love with one of the mini roses that bloomed with a red and yellow flower. The flower is starts out red and yellow with the flowers tuning solid red as they age. It was aptly named ‘Rainbows End’. Lisa and I both picked up another mini rose that is called ‘Flawless’. It is a pink rose that fades to white as it ages. These roses are called “mini” but they are not the tiny bushes that we think of as mini. They grow to approximately 2-3 feet tall.
At the other end of the scale I bought an absolutely perfect pink rose named ‘Queen Elizabeth’. It is a floribunda that reaches a height of 5-8 feet. ‘Queen Elizabeth’ is one of the older roses having been on the market for over 40 years and remains one of the most popular for its vigor and perfectly formed flower. Lisa also purchased “Freedom” a hedge rose that produces bright red roses from summer into fall.
Also, in bloom was an English rose named ‘Evelyn’. These are the roses that, as Linda put it, resemble peonies. They are also known as cabbage roses, although John did not seem to think that the title did them justice. He was right in the case of ‘Evelyn’. It is a gorgeous peach colored rose with a heavenly odor. ‘Evelyn’ was created by David Austen, the renowned English rose breeder. I later discovered that the rose was commissioned by Crabtree and Evelyn as an inspiration for a line of products known as Evelyn Rose. They describe the rose as “An elegant rose with subtle nuances of peony and a velvety peach accord.” It is interesting to note that the rose on the Crabtree and Evelyn webpage advertising the Evelyn Rose collecting does not appear to be ‘Evelyn’. It doesn’t even look like an English rose.
I rhapsodized over this rose and asked where I could purchase it. John kindly gave me a cutting and in the process gave us a demonstration of how roses are vegetativly propagated. He made it look very easy. I’m hoping that it will root and thrive but have never had much luck with rooting things.
On the way home we stopped at an Italian restaurant, Luciano’s, that Lorraine recommended. We stuffed ourselves on excellent food. The group split on the way home with one car stopping for ice cream and the other stopping at Dean’s Dinner for pie.
We thank Lisa for arranging this trip and we also thank her and Lorraine for driving. We were joined by Linda, Jan, Pat, Sandie and Lisa’s friend Rose. Some of you will remember her as the person who conducted the stepping stone workshop.
There were many pictures taken of the roses. They are currently available in the gallery area.
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