Garden Highlights
- One of 23 All-American Rose Selection Test Gardens in the United States
- The only all-volunteer operated AARS test garden in the United States
- Three consecutive years of test roses including 500-600 test cultivars
Tour: Click Here for a Tour of the Test Roses Garden mp3 Audio File
ARS (All-American Rose Selection) is a Chicago-based non-profit promotional organization for rose hybridizers, growers and sellers. The growers are dedicated to the introduction and promotion of exceptional roses.
Each year they introduce new roses as “Roses of the Year”.
In 2003, the AARS President visited the district meeting hosted by the Tri-City Rose Society and suggested that this location, with its committed rose gardening community, should apply to become a test garden. Master Gardeners gained the approval of the Tri-City Rose Society and the AARS and initiated the Test Garden in 2004. The raised beds were installed and the first 200 roses were planted.
Each consecutive year, rose producers submit approximately 50 new roses to the test gardens. Four of each kind are planted in each garden, designated by their AARS number. Careful records are kept which ensure that only the most successful roses growing in all regions of the country will be designated AARS Roses of the Year.
After the winning roses are selected, they can be planted in the AARS Selection beds. The remainder of the test roses are destroyed to make room for the next year’s test roses.
Six types of roses are being grown and tested:
- Miniatures
- Hybrid Teas
- Grandiflora
- Floribunda
- Landscape (shrub)
- Climbing
If you love roses, consider becoming a member of the Tri-City Rose Society.