Country Garden Roses Blog

USA

ROSE SOCIETY CENTENARY YEAR

The Syracuse Rose Society will open a national conference today at the Sheraton Hotel to rose enthusiasts from around the country.

The society is hosting the National Miniature Rose Conference to coincide with its 100th anniversary.

Planning and preparation to bring the event to Syracuse has been under way for some time, said conference co-chair Pat Pohl. In 2007 the society submitted a bid to host this year’s conference. A 20-person committee spent the last 18 months working out the details.

The Syracuse Rose Society is one of the oldest such groups around and cares for the oldest municipal rose garden in the country. It was voted second most beautiful rose garden in America in 2010. However, it has been decades since the group last hosted a national event. The miniature rose conference is the newer and smaller of two national conferences held by the American Rose Society each year.

“It gives an opportunity for smaller cities like Syracuse to host the event,” Pohl said.

The group hosted a district rose conference at the Sheraton in Syracuse in 2009. Pohl said the society used it as a test to ensure the national event goes off flawlessly.

Presentations by rose experts and the miniature rose competition will highlight the conference.

The process of preparing roses for judging is somewhat arduous, Pohl said. Competitors bring their roses with them in buckets and then spend several hours readying them. From 4 a.m. until judging starts at 10 a.m., they are busy preparing and staging their roses.

“They try to plan this so the roses will be at their perfection for judging,” Pohl said.

After judging Saturday, Syracuse University head basketball coach Jim Boheim will help open the show to the public.

The conference will close with a tour of the E.M. Mills Rose Garden and a 100th-anniversary luncheon on Sunday.

Pohl said she and the other members of the rose society plan to relax and enjoy the conference.

“It’s quite an undertaking for us,” Pohl said. “It gets pretty intense, but it’s fun too.”

If you go:

The National Miniature Rose Conference will be to the public 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in the ballroom of the University Sheraton Hotel in Syracuse.. Jim Boheim will open the show with a ribbon cutting. Registration is required for other events.

Contact Ken Sturtz at ksturtz@syracuse.com or 470-2259.

Over 1000 roses to choose from

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

IRELAND

INTERNATIONAL ROSE TRIALS

A spectacular rose display can be found at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, renowned for its International Rose Gardens, on 13-17 July.

During the annual City of Belfast International Rose Trials a panel of international judges will visit the rose garden to determine which of the trial roses are best – the best flowers, the best growth, the best scent and the best at resisting disease.

On Thursday 14 July local judges will join judges from the Netherlands, Italy, China, Belgium, England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland to assess the 24 trial roses.

The winners of the major awards sponsored by Belfast City Council, the Rose Society of Northern Ireland, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Clive Richardson Ltd and the Lagan Valley Probus Club will be announced at a civic lunch in the City Hall on Thursday 14 July.

Around 45,000 rose blooms provide a spectacular array of colour and scent in one of the world`s leading rose gardens. An Irish Heritage garden displays many of the top varieties bred by Ulster`s two most renowned rose growers – the Dicksons and McGredys. A Historical Garden traces the development of the rose from the wild ramblers to the modern Hybrid Teas and miniatures.

The International Rose Trials are held during Rose Week which this year runs from Wednesday 13 July to Sunday 17 July inclusive. A programme of events takes place during Rose Week each year attracting thousands of visitors to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park. There is free admission to this event.

Over 1000 roses to choose from

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

USA

ROSE AND RASPBERRY SALAD

MORE ROSES, GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT.

One of the member-only sessions at the Western Pennsylvania Unit of the Herb Society of America’s event is “How to Eat a Rose,” led by Jim Long, author, gardening and herb magazine columnist, blogger and lecturer. He will discuss how roses — the 2012 Herb of the Year — can be used in sorbets, hors d’oeuvres, cakes and beverages. Long is the founder of Long Creek Herbs, Blue Eye, Mo. He has collected rose recipes from around the world and has created many new ones.

“If you travel to India, Pakistan or countries in that region, you will find roses in food as often as you do other herbs,” he says. “While in India, I enjoyed rose cakes at weddings, rose ice cream and rose milkshakes in ice cream parlors, and rose jams wrapped in flatbreads. The rose is as common as chocolate, vanilla or strawberry in ice cream varieties.”

Long says interest in herbs is increasing, and, according to The National Garden Bureau, there were 7 million new gardeners last year.

“Many of those grew vegetables for the first time, and found that a tomato is wonderful, but with fresh basil, it is awesome,” he says. “What is exciting to me is the big growth in new gardeners, and in the interest in growing herbs, in the just-out-of-college and young marrieds. For a lot of people, it isn’t enough to grow vegetables; they want flavor from seasoning herbs that make their meals exciting and flavorful.”

A few of Jim Long’s rose recipes:

Lemon Balm Rose Cream Cake

For the cake

• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped Lemon Balm leaves
• 2 leaves Lemongrass (the leaf, not the bulb), snipped fine with scissors — don’t use a food processor in place of the scissors
• 1 package Lemon Supreme cake mix
• Eggs, according to cake mix directions
• Water, according to cake mix directions
• Oil, according to cake mix directions

For the filling:

• 1 large package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon rose syrup (find at liquor stores or Asian markets) or 1 tablespoon dry strawberry gelatin powder
• 1 small carton Cool Whip
• Fresh strawberries, blueberries, rose petals or pansies

To prepare the cake: Combine the liquid ingredients called for on the box — usually 11/3 cups water and 1/3 cup oil.

Put the liquid in a blender with the lemon balm leaves and lemongrass. Pulse-blend until the herbs are fairly well pulverized.

Add that to the dry cake mix and eggs, beating well, and pour into two oiled, floured round 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool.

With a cake slicer, slice each cake in half, making 4 thin layers.

To prepare the filling: In food processor, pulse blend the ingredients, then stir the Cool Whip in by hand.

Fold together well and refrigerate for several hours.

Spread about 1/2-inch layer between the first and second layers of cake. Place the second cake on that, and cover the next layer with the filling.

Put a layer of fresh, edible rose petals over that, add the third layer, repeat with filling and roses, then place the fourth layer on top.

Cover it with filling and dot liberally with fresh strawberries or blueberries and fresh rose petals or pansies. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Rose and Raspberry Salad

This is an elegant, yet simple, salad to serve before a main course of salmon or other seafood, or as a simple, healthy lunch with your favorite crackers.

For the salad:

• 6-8 cups torn spring lettuces
• 1 cup fresh red raspberries
• 1/2 cup freshly picked, fragrant rose petals
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds or local pecans
• Balsamic vinegar or rose salad vinegar, to taste

For the rose salad vinegar:

• Edible rose petals
• White wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

To prepare the salad: Arrange a helping of salad greens on each plate and top with the remaining ingredients. Drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar or rose vinegar over each and serve.

To prepare the rose salad vinegar: Gather enough fragrant rose petals to fill a quart jar, pushing down a bit to fit plenty of petals in the jar. Be sure to snip off the bottom white tip of each petal if it tastes slightly bitter.

Completely fill the jar with white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar, making sure all of the petals are covered. Cover the container with plastic wrap and set on the kitchen counter. Give the container a little shake or stir once each day for 4 days. On the fifth day, strain out the petals and discard them.

To the liquid, add 1 level tablespoon of brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Store the vinegar in the refrigerator for as long as a month. Use the rose salad vinegar on any summer salad. It’s also good on grilled seafood.

Makes 4 servings.

By Candy Williams, FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Over 1000 roses to choose from

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

UK

WELL WORTH A VISIT. 

MOTTISFONT ABBEY

The famous collection of roses at Mottisfont Abbey is enjoying a longer than usual period in bloom thanks to the cool June weather.

Despite a very warm spring bringing the flowers into bloom early, the recent cool temperatures has slowed flowering down. The collection of old-fashioned roses has yet to peak, and should be looking their best over the next three weeks, say the National Trust.

“The prolonged warm dry weather in May resulted in blooms appearing earlier than they have in 30 years and we were concerned that many rose lovers who make the annual trip to our walled rose garden in mid-June may miss out,” said Howard Brisland, a senior gardener at Mottisfont.

“This cooler weather is just what we needed in order to slow down the growing process, and the result is a longer flowering period than we have experienced in many years. There will be exceptional rose displays throughout most of June.”

Mottisfont’s gardening team are running an informal “Gardener’s Question Time” every day from 2pm to 3pm in the Gardeners’ Information Room.

Mottisfont is extending its opening hours to to 8pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout June. On Mondays to Thursdays, the garden is open from 10am to 5pm.

 

Over 1000 roses to choose from

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

CHINA

ROSES.  GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT. 

Rosa Chinensis

It’s Beijing’s city flower and brightens the capital’s major roads with a blaze of color. The rose also creates tourist attractions and is pretty good to eat, too, according to Pauline D. Loh.

The Chinese rose, rosa Chinensis, blooms with great abandon each summer. White, yellow, pink and red blossoms are a large part of the landscape in the sunniest season of the year from Beijing to Guangdong province’s Shenzhen city.

But roses also grow wild in China and botanists acknowledge that there are at least four or five species in the genus that come from this country. If you are around Beijing, you would have also heard of Miaofeng Shan Rose Valley, the scenic attraction nestled on the Mentougou foothills in the northwestern suburb of the capital.

Every year in June, day-trippers flock to the area to admire the blooms and smell the roses on weekends and holidays during the annual Rose Festival.

They visit the ancient mountaintop shrines and pay homage to deities that have been worshipped for thousands of years. They stop at the farmhouse restaurants for an organic country meal and return with souvenirs like rose-petal jam and conserves, little rose-scented cakes and memories of a flower paradise.

The Mentougou rose petal jam is famous for its lasting floral scent. According to the flower farmers, flowers that are just starting to bloom are the best for making jam. They are harvested in the morning, just after the morning dew has evaporated and before the sun gets too strong. These blossoms are then slowly cooked with traditional brown sugar or white sugar.

These days, however, the best jam is made from cane sugar. The brown sugars are no longer pure, according to the farmers, and may have flour added, which makes the petal jam murky.

It’s a long, slow process, and the cooking darkens the petals but retains and concentrates the perfume. I find that the best jam is very thick and almost caramelized, and not at all watery. There is also rose petal jam made with honey, and that’s good with toast and butter but not so suitable for baking or cooking.

There are lots of uses for the rose petal jam, and I have baked with it, made sweet soups with it and even made a layered cake with it in the style of the flaky spring onion pancakes.

You can also fill little glutinous rice balls with it, making the famous yuanxiao or tangyuan that is served at festive occasions, such as weddings and birthdays.

But my favorite recipes are shortbread with a rose petal jam filling and thumbprint cookies filled with a thimbleful of jam. There is something about the combination of good butter and the scent of roses that will turn teatime into an occasion. The tub of cookies my husband brought to the office disappeared so quickly he came back asking for more.

The cookies are now part of my weekly baking cycle, at least until I run out of my supply of rose petal jam. But there is always more waiting at Miaofeng Shan every year.

Recipe | Rose Petal Jam Shortbread

Ingredients (makes 24 large or 36 small cookies)

200 g chilled butter

2 egg yolks, beaten

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons rose jam

1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

Sesame seeds

Method:

1. Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and drop them directly into the bowl.

2. Using cool fingers, gently rub the butter into the flour, tossing them in the air as you go to “aerate” the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. Add the beaten egg yolks to the bowl and stir to bind the mixture until it just comes together. Do not knead as that will raise the gluten and make the shortbread tough.

4. Pinch off a small ball of dough and place a pinch of rose petal jam in the middle. Roll up again into a ball and place on a papered baking tray. Press to flatten the ball slightly.

5. Brush the tops of the cookies with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

6. Bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 20 minutes, removing the shortbread when it turns a light golden color. Cool and keep in airtight containers for about a week.

Recipe | Thumbprint Cookies with Rose Petal Jam

Ingredients (makes 24 cookies)

200 g butter, softened

150 g castor sugar

2 whole eggs, beaten

0.5 cup milk

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons rose jam

Method:

1. Sift flour and baking powder together.

2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

3. Fold in sifted flour and add a little milk in between. Chill dough until it is firm.

4. Pinch off chestnut-sized pieces of dough and roll into a ball. Press down the center with your thumb, creating a depression. Fill with rose petal jam.

5. Place cookies on a papered baking tray and bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 20 minutes. Cool and keep in airtight containers. Eat quickly as these are richer cookies and may not keep for too long

Recipe | Rose Petal Jam Pancakes

Ingredients(makes 6 pancakes)

200 g plain flour Water

100 g softened butter or vegetable oil

6 tablespoons rose jam

Method:

1. Add enough water to the flour to make a soft dough. Knead until it feels silky and soft. Allow it to rest for at least an hour.

2. Divide the dough into six pieces.

3. Roll out a piece of dough as thinly as possible and brush with softened butter or oil. Spread a spoonful of jam on top.

4. Roll up the dough from the furthest edge, gently stretching the roll as you go.

5. Curl the roll of dough like a snail shell and flatten with the palm of your hand, keeping the tabletop floured as you go. Roll out the flattened disc to a thin pancake.

6. Lightly oil a non-stick frying pan and fry the pancake over medium heat, flipping it as the pancake turns color.

7. Dust with icing sugar and serve quickly. Great with a hot cup of Chinese tea.

Recipe | Red and White Sweet Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

8 dove or quail eggs

4 teaspoon rose petal jam

100 g lotus nuts, soaked

50 g sweet apricot kernels or nanxing

Honey to taste

Rose petals for garnish

Method:

1. Place the eggs in a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Let them cook for 10 minutes and immediately rinse the eggs under cold running water until totally cooled. Peel carefully and set aside.

2. Wash soaked lotus nuts and check to remove the bitter shoots, which hide in the middle. Place the cleaned nuts and sweet apricot kernels into boiling water. Turn down the heat once the pot boils and simmer until the lotus nuts are soft.

3. Add the rose petal jam and stir to dissolve. Add the eggs and a little honey to taste.

4. Serve in small bowls with fresh rose petals for garnish.

Food notes:

In traditional Chinese medicine, dove eggs are believed to have detoxifying qualities. Both the lotus nuts and the apricot kernels clear the lungs and nourish the bronchial system. If you do not like the aroma of roses, you can substitute with candied osmanthus.

Over 1000 roses to choose from

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

 

 

 

UPDATE ON RNRS ROSE GARDEN

The Gardens of the Rose in Chiswell Green, which has been locked in a parking battle with the neighbouring Butterfly World for the past couple of years, has planning permission to use its overflow car park in Chiswell Green Lane for visitors until July 31.

And to show her support, the new Mayor of St Albans, Cllr Aislinn Lee, officially opened the gardens on Saturday and spent a couple of hours looking around the site.

The gardens, owned by the Royal National Rose Society (RNRS), have had a chequered recent past which included a lot of money being lost on a project which did not materialise and the ongoing problems with parking and access from Butterfly World which is built on adjoining land sold by the RNRS.

But chief executive Roz Hamilton said this week that the gardens could still raise thousands of pounds from opening just for seven weeks and she was very hopeful that by next year, they will be able to open for four months.

She explained: “We put in a planning application last September for car parking and that was turned down.

“We were given three reasons and what we have done is deal with these points so we are putting another application in again, probably for the end of July.”

If that is successful, the gardens would be able to open for four months next summer which would make its turnaround from a loss-maker to making a small profit complete.

Despite the short period of opening, the gardens have a tea room run by students who have Food Hygiene Certificates and are able to make sandwiches to go alongside the cakes which are brought in.

There are rose sales to the public and in Roz’s own words, “The gardens look fabulous, they have really matured now.”

The transformation in its fortunes has not happened without having to part with some staff but the gardens are now getting help from students at Oaklands College and Capel Manor. In addition, the international aspect of the RNRS attracts students from overseas.

Although the gardens have only been opened a few days, Roz has already welcomed three coach parties, two from Japan and one from Germany, and said that even though they were open for a similar length of time last year, visitors brought in £52,000 which matched the income from RNRS membership.

A four-month opening period would boost income significantly and also enable Roz to apply for a wedding licence for civil ceremonies.

She said: “Even if we don’t get the car parking, I don’t want to make millions but break even and continue with some of our projects. I would love to have the car park situation resolved by our 50th anniversary in 2013.”

Admission to the Gardens of the Rose, which is accessed from Chiswell Green Lane although tourist signs are still suggesting entrance from Butterfly World, is £5 per adult, £4 for parties of 20 or more and children free up until the age of 16.

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

 

WELL WORTH A VISIT 

SAVILLE ROSE GARDEN

Windsor Great Park

The contemporary Rose Garden, created in 2010 in The Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, is reaching its first magnificent peak of the summer earlier than expected. With 2,500 roses planted within a palette of colours radiating out from an intense centre of deep plum purple through soft pinks fading to white and subtle apricots to tangerine orange, together with the heady mix of deep perfumes, the Rose Garden is a joy to the senses.

Mark Flanagan, The Keeper of the Gardens, says:

“The roses have benefited from the warmer and drier conditions, particularly in April and, as a consequence, they have come out two to three weeks earlier than usual. The roses are also stronger and more robust as a result of a year’s growth in the Garden which means that the overall display will be even more stunning than last year.”

A Celebration of the Rose (24 June to 3 July) marks a week of events celebrating this glorious collection of roses in the Rose Garden. Opera Novella will perform two special nights of music with opera highlights on 24 June and Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto on 25 June. A special Rose Watercolour Workshop run by local artist Anna Knights will help students to express their creative side on 29 June. On 1 July, the Cambridge Touring Theatre will perform the children’s classic Wind in the Willows, with a children’s theatre workshop before the performance. Other highlights include an exclusive tour of the new Rose Garden, a delicious rose-themed menu in the restaurant and a wide variety of roses for sale in The Savill Garden shop. For more information about the events and how to book tickets visit www.theroyallandscape.co.uk or call 01784 435544.

Visitors to the Rose Garden from June to September will experience the intensity of perfume and colour as they enter the Garden and their senses will continue to be stimulated at every turn with different scents, colour combinations and views. The walkway in the centre of the design appears to ‘float’ above the Rose Garden, giving stunning views within the Garden and further out into other areas of The Savill Garden. As the deep aroma of the roses naturally rises, visitors will also be able to enjoy the perfume at its best from the walkway.

For more information about events and how to book tickets visit www.theroyallandscape.co.uk or call 01784 435544.

1. The Savill Garden is part of The Royal Landscape, which also includes the Valley Gardens and Virginia Water. It is one of England’s finest woodland and ornamental gardens with 35 acres of trees, shrubbery, ponds and streams, lawns, meadows and formal beds which are home to some of the world’s most decorative plants.

2.  The Savill Garden is open all year (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Admission prices to The Savill Garden Summer 2011 (March-October): Adults £8.50; Seniors £7.95; Groups (10+) £6.95; Children (6-16) £3.75; Coach Driver Free; Carers Free; Blue Badge Guides Free; Group organiser/leader Free (1 per group and Garden admission only).

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk