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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2009
CONTACT
Leeann Lavin: 718-623-7289, leeannlavin@bbg.org
Kate Blumm: 718-623-7241, kateblumm@bbg.org
Celebrate June Is Rose Month at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
June Is Rose Month at Brooklyn Botanic Garden's world-class Cranford Rose Garden. (Photo: Barbara Alper)
Sarah Owens Named Curator of the Cranford Rose Garden
Brooklyn, NY—May 27, 2009—Visitors to Brooklyn Botanic Garden's (BBG) world-famous Cranford Rose Garden will find their senses and imagination ignited with a brilliant bounty of fragrant blooms during June Is Rose Month—a celebration of events and tours to honor the enduring beauty of the rose.
The heart-stopping beauty and diversity of the Cranford Rose Garden collection will kindle awe along with thoughts of romance and love that the rose has come to symbolize. One of the most diverse rose collections in the country, the Cranford Rose Garden preserves the rich and vast legacy of the rose, from old garden heirlooms to modern hybrids. Home to more than 5,000 plants of nearly 1,200 Rosa species, cultivars, and hybrids, the collection includes All-America Rose Selections winners, wild species, old garden roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, climbers, ramblers, and miniatures. In early summer, tens of thousands of roses cascade over arches, climb up lattices, clamber over the Eileen Duggan Pavilion, and pose in formal beds.
Visit bbg.org/rosemonth for more information on the Cranford Rose Garden and June Is Rose Month. View visitor photos—and upload more—at the June Is Rose Month group on Flickr.com.
Curator of the Cranford Rose Garden Announced
Brooklyn Botanic Garden has named Sarah Owens curator of the Cranford Rose Garden. As rosarian for one of the country's finest gardens, Owens oversees a team of gardeners and volunteers responsible for the stewardship of BBG's unparalleled collection of over 5,000 roses.
Only the ninth rosarian to be appointed in the Garden's history, Owens brings experience and an unmatched enthusiasm to the rose garden, and she has already made distinctive improvements. Mark Fisher, director of Horticulture at BBG, noted "that due to Owens's incredible management and hands-on work this year, the Cranford Rose Garden has never looked better." Fisher added praise for her sense of design and attention to maintaining the overall health of the garden. Owens will be seen on TV on The Martha Stewart Show in July demonstrating the proper care and pruning of roses.
Prior to joining BBG, Owens worked as the head gardener at the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City, where she contributed to the selection of the garden's plant material, installed and maintained the seasonal plantings of annuals, perennials, and bulbs, and attended to the garden's seasonal pruning in the museum's historic English-style garden. At the Battery Park Conservancy garden, located in lower Manhattan, Owens performed plantings, cutbacks, and removals to improve the garden's aesthetics according to Piet Oudolf's design; she also designed and installed the native plant meadow and edible garden there.
Owens and her team of gardeners and volunteers have been hard at work preparing the Cranford Rose Garden for June Is Rose Month, BBG's annual celebration of this historic jewel box of a garden.
June Is Rose Month Events
June 1–30
Great Rosarians of the World Lecture Series IX
Saturday, June 6, 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
This year's program honors rosarians Stephen Scanniello and Marilyn Wellan. The day begins with a panel discussion: "Grow Easy Roses," followed by an award presentation and lectures by Stephen and Marilyn. A reception follows in the rotunda. Fee and registration required.
Free with Garden Admission
Cranford Rose Garden Self-Guided Tour:
Pick up a brochure at the admission gates or Visitor Center to explore the rose collection, and see why artists and poets have been immortalizing this enchanting flower for centuries.
Gardener's Resource Center:
View roses in botanical literature and art, and have questions about roses answered by resource center staff.
Everything Roses:
Visit the Everything Roses shop within the Gift Shop for a unique selection of rose items, or visit online at shop.bbg.org.
Seasonal Highlights Guided Tour:
Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. in front of the Visitor Center, ongoing. Indulge in the Garden's exuberant display of early-summer perennials and annuals, including violets, poppies, marigolds, and blooming rosebushes.