Greetings. As I write this we are feeling the first blasts of the impending winter. As rose growers in the north, I have mixed feelings about winter. While we dread the long, cold hiatus from the garden, the break from the toil is appreciated. Also, I’ve always thought our long winters made us appreciate spring so much more.

This is The Year of The Rose and so much is going on and there are some really great events this year. There’s much more about that elsewhere in this newsletter. Events of last September seem to have affected almost everything about our lives and I sense that our simple rose growing hobby is no different.

When we visit with family, friends and neighbors we hear them speak about wanting to stay closer to home and family. The big trip to “Disney World” is being replaced with home swimming pools and gardens. Maybe this is a predictable reaction. What surprises me, and my close rose friends, is the number of people who are inquiring about planting roses and building gardens for the first time.

There are a few things to report about The American Rose Society. Money and cash-flow are never ending sagas. Comments about the American Rose Annual 2002 have been generally positive but I miss the statistics. The new Consulting Rosarian manual is available from the ARS but the new judging manual is on indefinite hold.

In the spirit of The Year of the Rose I’m asking all of our good rose friends to make sure they do one simple thing this year with roses to bring pleasure or joy to someone. The specific details are not important. It could be something as elaborate as making a speech about roses to a club or group. Or, it could be as simple as taking a bouquet of beauties to a shut-in senior citizen.

The most important part of The Year of the Rose is showing people what a joy and happiness growing roses can be. Let’s share that joy!