January 2022

HRF to Curate Heritage Rose Garden at American Rose Center

This spring, the American Rose Center (ARC) Committee invited the Heritage Rose Foundation to participate in the Great Garden Restoration—a project that promises to turn the Shreveport headquarters of the American Rose Society into a world class garden destination. The focal point of this new design is the Clockworks Garden composed of four overlapping circles meant to evoke the inner workings of a clock. The overall theme of the Clockworks Garden is the history of roses in America with each circle featuring a different period of roses grown in America.

The Heritage Rose Foundation will curate the largest circle known as the Fourth Circle Garden. Our garden will feature pre‑1900 heritage roses, a perfect fit for the Foundation. A local Shreveport philanthropic foundation is funding the circle. Our responsibilities as curator include designing the garden using the best heritage rose varieties for the Shreveport region (usda Zone 8b), assisting in procuring the roses, and creating educational and informational content for signs that tell the stories these roses bring with them.

A committee of HRF trustees will guide this project to its completion. HRF trustees Peggy Martin and Pam Smith along with long time member Claude Graves will work with both the HRF committee and the ARC Committee to complete the project on schedule. Our goal is to begin installation in February of 2022. We are reaching out to our general membership to become involved. For starters, you can send us recommendations of heritage rose varieties to include. Remember they need to be of pre-1900 vintage and do well in northern Louisiana. Found roses as well as known varieties will be accepted for consideration. Sources would be greatly appreciated. To send suggestions simply reply to designated button for the Fourth Circle Garden. This information will be compiled by the HRF Committee under Stephen Scanniello’s guidance.

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