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The Central Louisiana Society meets at 2:00 PM on the second Sunday of each month in the Gallery Room of the Medical Terrace at Rapides Regional Medical Center. As this location occasionally changes, it is best to consult the District Calendar for the time and location.

Our Rose Sale at the Kent House Spring Herb Day is scheduled for April 7th, 8AM-Noon.

3601 Bayou Rapides Rd

Alexandria, Louisiana 71303

CENTRAL LOUISIANA ROSE SOCIETY

The Central Louisiana Rose Society was organized in 1979, and has remained one of the largest and most active rose societies in the ARS Gulf District. Our success can be attributed to good leadership, interesting and informative programs, an award-winning monthly bulletin, a social atmosphere that encourages rose friendships, member participation, and community involvement. We offer garden visits and tours, field trips, picnics and garden workdays at the Gardens of the American Rose Center and at Kent Plantation House, all of which are learning opportunities for members. Our outreach extends to the Gulf District where our members have always been active, holding offices, attending rose shows and conferences, judging, teaching, and recently helping develop a list of recommended roses that are reliable in our area.

OUR ANNUAL ROSE SALE

Members grow roses from cuttings of non-patented roses, which are made available at our very successful annual rose sale. We make a point to select easy to grow and hard to find varieties because we are trying to make the everyday gardener fall in love with roses. This has been a popular society activity, is looked forward to by the public, and has been a source of new members and revenue to support the society’s educational activities.

 

KENT PLANTATION:  A GARDEN TO VISIT AND OUR COMMUNITY PROJECT

The Kent Plantation House, an authentic Creole style plantation house built prior to the Louisiana Purchase showcases the history and culture of a working Louisiana plantation. The homestead features flower and vegetable gardens that demonstrate the garden practices of that era.  A 2007 request for help in identifying the old garden roses planted by our rose society decades ago developed into an interesting, long-term service project. Since then, most of the 55 roses have been identified and the bushes rejuvenated. Our group of volunteers still have a great time pruning, starting cuttings, “dead heading”, discovering, and making plans for additions to the rose collection to fit in with the 1795-1855 history of the house. We have prepared a rose guide to accompany garden visitors and use tours of the roses to inform the public about the care of old garden roses. This partnership has become a great opportunity to grow our society and give back to the community.

http://www.kenthouse.org/home.html

 

GROWING ROSES IN THE HOT AND HUMID SOUTH

In Louisiana, pruning takes place around Valentine’s Day and again in mid-August. Probably the most challenging thing about growing roses in central Louisiana is controlling blackspot. The high humidity of our climate makes it hard to do without spraying fungicides. However, some of our members are opting out of spraying chemicals on their roses and are experimenting with disease resistant varieties. One of the benefits of growing roses in central Louisiana is the long growing season in which all varieties grow well.

 

OFFICERS:

President: Kelly Texada

Treasurer: Marie Bartlett

Secretary: Lynn McDonald

Rosebud Editor: Billie Flynn

 

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