Do You Love Roses?

On Sunday I went along to the Rose Society of Victoria Rose Show, "The Autumn Rose Spectacular" at Gardenworld Nursery. I love all flowers but roses are a particular favourite of mine. At the Show, I was pleased to meet the first female President of The Rose Society of Victoria, Veronica O'Brien. What a lovely woman!

 

She was kind enough to pose for a snap for my blog and of course I told her how much I loved flowers - in fact, I think most quilters do. I know so much of my own applique and original designs are floral based and I'll listen or watch almost anything garden and flower species related.

 

And it's got me to thinking about how unusual it is that none of my quilting groups have ever had (as far as I know) a Rose or Flower Society Guest Speaker. Have we? Have I missed it? I know that I would love to hear from someone like Veronica O'Brien guest speak about such a favourite topic of mine at meetings, would you?

 

What I really loved about this Show was how friendly and approachable it all was. I was actually expecting an outdoor show with roses hedged in groups, so I was suprised to see rose cuttings arranged in bottles on a large long table. What an excellent idea. I really enjoyed getting a good look at the variety displayed. As they were in bottles, I was able to pick up a few for a really close look or smell. So many caught my eye, I'd love to share the whole lot with you - but I'll limit myself for the sake of this blog post to the ones that really spoke to me:

 "Red Cross" such full, red, roses

my favourite rose of all, the peony, was not at the show - because it's not the right season for them, but this rose came somewhat close, it's called Prunella

 

 Then this warm apricotish/yellow is China Sunrise

this bunch is called Annie's Song which I think is so fitting,

looking at the heads, they look like they are singing with colour

This bunch took my eye, it's called Playboy

 

 and this one is called Australian Sunrise

 

Now I think you can tell, just by looking at this head,

that it is a beautifully scented rose - it attracted me immediately, and

it's scent is wonderful, it's aptly called Perfume Perfection

and there's going to be room in my garden for this beauty for certain

 oh, you look familar, a lot like my Wild Rose block

but you're called 65 Roses

This is the Dame Elizabeth Murdoch rose and it's a stunning yellow into pinks colour

it's a WOW rose for sure, the head is magnificent

my favourite of the lot, it's called Heaven Scent. My goodness, that name is perfect. It's the classic rose scent as I know it, the type of rose I have made rosewater, cordial and elixirs from. Of course, those roses were many years ago and I don't know what their specific names were, but this rose is the closest I've found to matching them and along with Perfume Pefection, this rose will be planted in my garden this year. How could I resist?

 Maurice Otrilla

Alfred Sisley

Aspirin

Marilyn Monroe

 Firefighter

Black Jade

 Diana, a Shropshire Lad

 

 Savoy Hotel, I think these make one of the best cutting roses for bringing indoors

they cluster beautifully all on their own

Double Delight - such vibrant colours!

Of course, all this showing of roses has me thinking about my own designs and how strongly floral motifs have influenced me. In my last BOM, Forget Me Not, I covered many different types of flowers, but I do wonder if I have an exclusively rose deisgn in me? Possibly... it would be a wonderful project (but I might end up a gardener rather than a quilter!).

were two rose blocks enough???

 

 

The next Rose Society of Victoria Show is the

Spring Show 2013

at the Mount Waverley Community Centre

on Saturday 9th  and Sunday 10th of November 2013

 

Visit the Rose Society of Victoria Website to stay updated.