History of Heritage Roses and Fairmount Cemetery
By Stephen Scanniello
Found roses are an important ingredient in the palette of rose lore and garden history. Their names, easily identified by double quotation marks to distinguish them from known varieties, fill pages of rose nursery catalogs. At times, the temporary names given to found roses (also referred to by some as mystery roses) end up being the permanent name, for the original identity may be lost, forever. Several of these found roses are in Denver's Fairmount Cemetery, provenance of "Fairmount American Pillar".
In the 20th century, as the hybrid tea and other modern rose groups became popular, many of the old hybrids fell to the wayside. Due to the efforts of the members of the Heritage Rose Foundation and rose preservationists (most notably the Texas Rose Rustlers and the Heritage Roses Group), many have been saved from extinction and once again grow in gardens, public and private, throughout the United States.
Stephen Scanniello is best known as a hands-on gardener who transformed the Cranford Rose Garden of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden into one of the world’s most acclaimed rose gardens. Stephen is the president of the Heritage Rose Foundation and has co-authored several award winning rose books. He lives and gardens in Jersey City and Barnegat, New Jersey.
NOTE: Mr. Scanniello is also signing his latest book: 'One year of Roses'
Denver Botanic Gardens - Morrison Center, 6:30 p.m.