I walked into the big, warm, lighted greenhouse this morning and was thrilled with what greeted me! The roses that I have been growing since December are beginning to bloom! February roses are so beautiful. Of course, the first thing I did was to put my nose into the blossoms and breathe deep. Ahhhh…sweet, sweet rose fragrance delighted me! But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s the story.

Suffield Agriscience

Years ago, I met the director of Suffield High School’s Agriscience department at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show. CT Rose Society has a small committee that builds a display every year, and we used to hire a guy to force our roses for us. He just wasn’t able to deliver us blooms, which was really frustrating. When I was introduced to Laura Laflamme, she offered me her greenhouse to force our roses as it wasn’t in use during the winter months. I was thrilled and mightily grateful for her kindness. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between us, the other teachers, and the high school kids.

Obtaining February Roses

For years, my Weeks Roses representative brought me roses at the end of the season. I would then take care of them until the end of October. I would then cut them back, strip off the foliage, water them, and put them in our cold barn to rest until December when we would bring them over to the greenhouse. With the onset of Covid 19, all that changed. I found myself searching for roses for the flower show from last July on. The rose companies have tightened their belts and are growing fewer roses and so most of them are no longer making donations for projects like this.

As October rolled around, I found myself writing to Dave Alm, my Star Roses representative. He checked with Tom O’Connell, his supervisor and an old friend of mine. They offered us 50 fresh-dug roses which would arrive the second week of December. I also contacted Karen Dean at Certified Roses. I was looking specifically for ‘Queen Elizabeth’ roses, as we are dedicating our display this year to Her Majesty. Karen’s donation of ten roses showed up the week before.

Getting Started

My husband, Bob, and I headed over to the high school after the ‘Queen Elizabeth’ roses from Certified arrived. We worked with Laura and her Intro to Horticulture freshmen. I pruned the tops and roots to fit the containers and Laura and the kids tucked them into the pots with fresh potting soil. We got them on the benches and filled the pots with water. The next week, when the Star roses arrived, the kids were having pre-holiday happenings. So, Bob and I got all 50 roses pruned and potted up with the help of our friends, Bruce and Tim. We got them installed just a couple of days before the school closed for the winter holiday season. I breathed a sigh of relief!

Growing On February Roses

When I came back in January, after the kids returned to school, I began my routine of watering a couple of times a week. Always before, I had roses that were established in containers and all I had to do was wake them up with water, light, and warmth. These roses, however, were building their root systems. Those great big anchor roots put our small white feeder roots which collect nutrients from the soil. Growth was a little slower than I was used to, but I knew why and so I tried to be patient. Also, here in northern Connecticut, we had a pretty sunless January! And so, I asked Laura to please put on her big, warm, yellow grow lights. Growth started to pick up! We had about three weeks left for the roses to grow and bloom before the show which is February 23-26th this year.

Last week, some of the buds split and started cracking color! And, this morning, when Bob and I arrived, we were thrilled with fragrant blooms! There are plenty more left to open. They will have one more weekend in the greenhouse before we sleeve them and bring them to the Connecticut Convention Center next Monday morning. Tomorrow, we begin the set-up of our display and our adventure begins!

My thanks to Dave Alm, Tom O’Connell, and Star Roses for their kind donation of 50 roses for our display. Kind thanks, also, to Karen Dean and Certified Roses for their donation of Queen Elizabeth’s own rose, introduced in 1955. Love and thanks to Laura LaFlamme and Suffield Agriscience for allowing me to wake up our roses during the darkest time of the year.