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Rose Buzz: The Heritage Rose Foundation

Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

The Heritage Rose Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1986, devoted to the preservation of old roses.

The delightful and inspiring Peggy Martin, Vice President of the Heritage Rose Foundation, joined us this week to talk about the work of this organization and also about the incredible journey of hope and discovery she has experienced since Hurricane Katrina swept into her life and took her home, her roses and her parents. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss.

To listen to the podcast, click the logo below.

For additional information, visit the foundation’s website here. 

Many of the roses in my garden are old garden roses. I love their beauty, their fragrance and their stories. The oldest rose in my garden is the Gallica, Rosa Mundi–the earliest known stripped rose. This rose has everything I expect from an OGR … beauty, fragrance and a great story or at least a great legend…

Legend has it that Rosa Mundi was named after Fair Rosa-mund, a mistress of Henry II, England’s monarch from 1154 to 1189. In The Book of Old Roses, Trevor Griffiths tells the story of their tragic affair. Henry was forced to marry a princess who, brooking no competition, is said to have murdered the lovely Rosamund. By Henry’s order, Rosamund was buried at Godstow Nunnery near Oxford, England, and each year on the anniversary of her death, he ordered her tomb to be decorated with masses of Rosa Mundi. -Virginia Kean / Historical Rose Society.

My good rose friend, Ann Chapman, writes quite a different story  about Rosa Mundi in her beautiful book, The Women in My Rose Garden. If you aren’t familiar with Ann, watch this video…

 

Do you have old roses in your garden?

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