A special Rose Exhibitors’ Workshop will be held at the next Rose Society of Tucson meeting Tuesday, April 2 in the Tucson Botanical Gardens at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
Everything you need to know about exhibiting roses at our upcoming April 20 Rose Show at Trinity Presbyterian Church (400 E. University Blvd.) will be covered. Long time exhibitor Matt Derrig and Krystal Schmich will explain the tools they utilize to groom roses to perfection at shows along with many other time-honored tips that are utilized by elite rose exhibitors.
To see a copy of our show schedule, CLICK HERE.
This is the first time the Rose Society of Tucson has ever held a Rose Exhibitors’ Workshop to help Tucson rose growers learn the tricks of the trade of great rose exhibitors. We know everyone will enjoy this special presentation. We are only aware of one other Rose Exhibitors’ Workshop that has ever been held in Arizona before, and that was in Phoenix over 40 years ago by Dr. Tommy Cairns of Studio City, Calif., the top rose exhibitor in the world at the time along with his partner Luis Desamero.
This dynamic exhibiting team, with over 1,000 rose plants in their garden, not only dominated local southern California rose shows for decades, as well as district and national shows. They also flew their miniature roses to the United Kingdom as they entered the Rose Society UK National Shows some 5,437 miles away and won Show Champion 10 times in the span of 15 years. Their go-to entry was typically an English Basket made with more than 100 mini roses.
It was a huge technical challenge to transport these roses. They not only had to be in containers that kept the minis at an ideal temperature (35 degrees). But they had to be packed so well that it wouldn’t matter if the box was turned upside down by a baggage handler or came tumbling down a luggage shoot several times.
The key was utilizing special EndoTherm insulated cardboard containers (19.5 inches x 23 inches x 19 inches high) and special ice packs that kept the interior temperature at 35 degrees for the entire trip. Each mini was painstakingly placed in small orchid tubes with a barbed pick on the bottom that pierced a square piece of Styrofoam that fit snugly on the bottom of the box. A special rubber cap with a hole in the middle fit perfectly over stems while sealing in the water. Over 100 minis were packed this way in each box. Eight boxes were taken on their flights to the UK which meant more than 800 roses ready to exhibit.
Learn more about how it was done at the April 2 meeting at this Rose Exhibitors’ Workshop, plus much more.
