Denver Rose Society

06/05/2026

Denver rose lovers - you won't want to miss this!

06/03/2026

Garden Tour: The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse Gardens

Sunday, June 7 | 10:00 a.m. to noon
1770 13th Street, Boulder

Join us for a morning at one of the most distinctive rose gardens on the Front Range. The Teahouse itself is a gift from Boulder's sister city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan — handcrafted by more than 40 artisans, shipped to Boulder in 200 crates, and assembled in 1998. That same year, the Boulder Valley Rose Society planted the rose garden that now surrounds it.

The garden is BVRS's Hardy Rose Demonstration Garden — around 45 varieties of own-root, cold-hardy, disease-resistant roses, designed by Eve Reshetnik-Brawner and Mikl Brawner of Harlequin's Gardens. It's been maintained for more than 25 years without chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides. It's one of the best living examples on the Front Range of what's possible with the right varieties and consistent care.

Volunteers from the Boulder Valley Rose Society will be on hand to walk the garden with us, talk through the varieties, and share what they've learned from a quarter century of tending the plantings.
If you'd like to make a morning of it, two nearby gardens are worth a self-guided visit afterward: the Colorado Shakespeare Gardens on the CU campus and Harlequin's Gardens just north of town.

Parking notes: there's a parking garage at 14th Street and Canyon Boulevard, and the lot behind the Teahouse is open to the public on Sundays. The Teahouse sits on 13th between Arapahoe and Canyon.

Free and open to anyone curious about roses, gardens, or the Teahouse itself. No RSVP needed — just come.

Thank you to our friends at the Boulder Valley Rose Society for hosting us.

06/02/2026

The snow is gone. The heat is here. Here's what your roses need from you this month.

Barbara Kemp, Master Consulting Rosarian, walks through her June checklist for Front Range growers — feeding, watering, watching for pests, and what to do when temperatures start climbing into the 90s.

Swipe through the carousel, then read the full article on our blog:
https://denverrosesociety.org/june-rose-care-advice/

05/27/2026

A Boulder bouquet, courtesy of Sue and Sheldon.

Three first blooms, all submitted May 10.

'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' — Sue Longhini, Boulder.
"I grow many English roses but ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ definitely takes the title of THORNIEST! But dealing with the thorns is worth it when the bush is completely covered in these beautiful magenta blooms. Because of the May snow/freeze, many of my other shrubs’ new growth died, but the buds on this rose managed to survive and are already blooming!"

'Party Hardy' — Sheldon Drobot, Boulder.
"Also known as Nouvelle France, this shrub stops traffic every Spring! We get a ton of people just stopping by to see it.The rose bush is 8 or 9 feet tall and has a spectacular bloom every spring, with repeat blooms throughout the year."

'Fireworks' — Sue Longhini, Boulder.
"How cute is this miniature rose, ‘Fireworks’?!
It is always one of the first roses to bloom in my Boulder garden. The plant stays small, no more than 2’x2’, but always blooms like crazy. The variety of colors in the bloom certainly reminds me of fireworks! "

📷 Sue Longhini, Sheldon Drobot, Sue Longhini.

What's opening in your garden this week?

05/23/2026

NEW EPISODE!🌹 2022 A.R.T.S. ROSE TRIAL WINNERS
Dr. David Zlesak

On this episode, Dr. David Zlesak, Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin and a very accomplished Rose Breeder joins us to discuss the 2022 Rose Trial Winners of the American Rose Trials for Sustainability also known as A.R.T.S.
Listen at RoseChatPodcast.com

05/23/2026

05/22/2026

Sage advice from our Master Rosarians.

Thanks to everyone who came out for this year's annual pruning demo and workshop, and to Dave Ingram for teaching us the right way to prune and clean up our roses — with Mike Wood lending his expertise alongside him.

A special thank you to Sheriff Duane, his officer staff, and his crew for their help at the event and for the dramatic difference they've made in the garden.

Stop by the Jeffco Rose Garden sometime this summer to enjoy the beautiful blooms — and the updated garden with its lovely new waterfall.

05/21/2026

Mark your calendar: the 2026 Denver Rose Show is Sunday, June 21, at Denver Botanic Gardens. Free with Gardens admission and open to everyone.

This year's theme is Stars and Stripes: Red, White and Bloom — a nod to the season and a fitting frame for a show that's been part of Denver summers for decades.

Here's what to expect: Front Range gardeners bring roses they've grown themselves — cut blooms, arrangements, and photography — to be judged by certified rosarians. The public viewing runs from 1 to 4 p.m., with hundreds of blooms on display and awards announced at the end of the afternoon.

You don't need to be a member to come. You don't need to know anything about roses. If you've ever wondered what's actually possible to grow on the Front Range, this is the afternoon to see it.

More details:
https://denverrosesociety.org/event/2026-rose-show/

We hope to see you there.

📍 Gates & Mitchell Halls, Denver Botanic Gardens, York Street
🗓️ Sunday, June 21 · Public viewing 1–4 p.m.

All rose show photos by our photographer and historian, Gordon Holmes. Thank you, Gordy.

05/20/2026

'Louis Odier' is blooming at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Matt and Grace discovered it earlier this month and sent it in for our First Bloom series. It's a Bourbon rose bred by Jacques-Julien Margottin in France in 1851 — deeply fragrant, with the quartered, cupped form typical of Old Garden Roses. Still grown on the Front Range nearly 175 years later.

If you're at the Gardens this week, it's worth finding.

05/16/2026

Meet one of the best friends your roses have this summer.

DRS member Susan Tamulonis sent in these photos of syrphid fly larvae — also known as hover flies or flower flies — working a rose bud on the Front Range. The handsome adult in the first photo is the grown-up version: a slender, bee-mimicking fly with a single pair of wings (true bees and wasps have two), often seen hovering over blooms for nectar and pollen.

The real story is the larvae. As Susan puts it, "they eat aphids better than humans eat pizza" — and she isn't exaggerating. A single larva can put away a few hundred aphids before it pupates, and they're especially effective in the cooler edges of the season when other predators slow down.

Susan's field notes for fellow rosarians:
- Avoid mistaking them for pests.
- Aim the anti-aphid jets of water away from them.
- Remember that their small-as-rice-grain eggs can be washed off with jets of water.

Save the assisters!

The longer you grow roses on the Front Range, the more you notice the garden doing a lot of the work itself — if you let it.

Photos and field notes: Susan Tamulonis. Thanks, Susan!