Ooh, this is so tempting!

I've been waiting for the announcement. We already have our flight booked and half the trip planned. I can't wait!

I can't go, but I sure envy all of you--enjoy that wonderful garden and bring us back some gorgeous pictures, please!

Kate

The HRF site says "details shortly". Does anyone know what that means? I don't know how long I can hold my breath...

Jackie

We've already booked our flight as well. We had to get our tickets before the end of December because of frequent flier miles expiring, so we just blocked out what we thought would work. If something went wrong, well, we would still have had a nice vacation. Fortunately our guess was a good one.

Rosefolly

Blimey - a rosey conference here in the UK!! Not that just anyone can simply rock up to Mottisfont, but it sure would be tempting to arrange a visit, simply to meet up with other rose fanatics.

Suzy, a visit would be wonderful!
Anita

yeah, i could lurk about outside, wearing a top-hat or summat!

Will give it some serious thought (and it is always worth a visit to see the roses, at peak bloom time).

Aside from a trip to England, which we are well overdue for, what can one expect from being in attendance at this conference? I mean, I am sure I will be absolutely enamored by the beautiful roses and the fragrance there, but I am really unfamiliar with HRF, and know that gardening in England is starkly different from that in my climate. Could you all refer me to a website or provide information?

Lynn

Lynn, the Heritage Rose Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting old roses. Headquartered in Louisiana but international in scope. A good group to look into (heritagerosefoundation.org or the FaceBook page). The Lakeland Florida meeting in November was the most recent HRF event.

This next year, David Stone, head gardener at Mottisfont, will be retiring, so this conference is part of the celebration of his years of great work there, in the garden that really was inspired by Graham Stuart Thomas. The program will likely emphasize all things GST and his huge influence on the world of old-rose growing.

The conference will likely have a series of lectures, as well as workshops in the garden itself, as well as one or more bus tours to nearby gardens.

These events are always great good fun, opportunities to meet many "famous" (or infamous) rosarians, hear some great talks, see some amazing gardens, and just enjoy the camaradarie of several great days with other rose folks. I've attended many of these, around the world, and they're always well worth doing.

Seriously, I could just nip down to Winchester and pay to go in to the Abbey, no? I did look up some of the details - I could stretch to joining the HRF but not to actually going to the conference (all those dinners and tours). It would be nice to say hello to forum chums (despite serial shyness).

Well Camp, please don't write it off just yet. At least here in Lakeland, we had ÃÂ -la-carte pricing, so you could eat or ride (or not) as desired. Perhaps something similar will happen in Winchester.

Does the HRF have a UK branch? Or, do you have British members? I am not really one for joining clubs and such - I don't even know if we have anything similar in the UK. I did briefly join the RHS (it was a birthday present) but, to be fair, I mainly wanted the monthly magazine (although they were pretty bad at sending copies, I only ever got about 4 of them). And as I simply download Rosamundi, what are the advantages of joining if everything happens in the US?
This sounds terrible but I am not that fussed about missing out on talks and that - I am completely amateur with zero expert credentials (despite having an loud opinion about everything) so it would mostly go over my head.....but I would definitely be happy to hang out in the rose garden and say hello to passing conference attendees.....or do you get locked up in conference mode all day?

malcolm_manners,

Thank you for the information. When I first became enamored with roses, I had a membership with the ARS and every catalog I could get my hands on. It was during that time period that laid eyes on my first Austin rose, GST, which led me to acquiring knowledge of Mr. G.S.T. This event seems to have the makings to be very special.
Based upon the images I have seen of Mottisfont, all that comes to mind is Wow!!

Lynn

From the little I know there will be one day of talks and a couple of days of bus tours. Probably no dinner banquet this time. I doubt the talks would be over your head Camp. One of the things that I enjoy most about these things is seeing my friends, some from all over the world. It's great to be at an event where everyone shares a love of roses. I've been dying to get back to England and Mottisfont and planned to go this year whether the conference came off or not.

I for one am hoping that there will be a dinner. Tom is going on a bicycle tour in Ireland while we have the conference, and we were planning that he would be back to join us for the dinner. Oh well, in any case he will come at the end to see old friends.

HRF doesn't really have "branches" or chapters; it does have numerous British members. Rosa Mundi and the in-between newsletters are the main products; otherwise we have these delightful meetings. Rosefolly, I'd think there will be a dinner, but if not, we GW folks could certainly create an event of our own! No one will go hungry...

Wot, no dinner? I'm only going for the dinner!

Best wishes,
Jon

Jon, you are one of the old friends Tom will be coming to see!

Rosefolly

Jon, you are one of the reasons that I am going.

Someday.... Sigh! :-)

Slight realignment of the dates (1 day later) due to the hotel not being able to do the original plan. I hope that doesn't mess with anyone's already made reservations. But these dates should be final

June 22 -- evening reception
June 23 -- lectures in Winchester
June 24 -- a day of tours and workshops at Mottisfont Abbey
June 25 -- bus tours. See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: HRF website with conference info.

Hmmm... I am not sure I want to go all the way to England to stay in a Holiday Inn for 4 nights - the last time we were there we stayed inside of the gates at Stourhead, which is a National Trust property which has old parts of a village still there, so there are places you can stay. It was amazing to be able to get up in the morning before they opened the gates and go for a run around the ornamental lake & gardens with no one around except ducks.

I still am thinking about this, but yesterday my DH got an offer to go to Hawaii for a week and race sailboats in a gorgeous venue, so we are now considering 2 competing vacations. I hope we get all of the details about the HRF conference soon, so we can do a real comparison. 11 hours in a plane vs 5 is also a consideration...

Jackie

We are thinking of going. The air fare is expensive, but hubby has a free companion ticket coupon, so we might be able to swing it. And then do a few days in London.

Hello everyone!
I'll be there!! A big BIG thank you to Stephen & Co. for inviting me :)

Maurizio

Just came across this blog by the Craftsman Gardener at Mottisfont and thought I should share.
Nik

Here is a link that might be useful: Mottisfont Gardener Blog

jealous, jealous, stuffed with envy...... if you don't all come back with huge numbers of pictures there will be serious trouble.....

Ingrid

Looking forward to meeting you, Maurizio!

By the way, Mendocino Rose pointed out to me that it is now possible to register. Just in case anyone has been waiting with bated breath.

Folly

Yes, register at heritagerosefoundation.org

If you are a UK National Trust member or a member of Royal Oak, you can get the discounted price; otherwise, choose the "nonmember" pricing (which means not NT or RO member, rather than whether or not you are a HRF member). Or join one of those organizations first (UK residents would do NT; we in the USA would join Royal Oak). If you plan to visit numerous other National Trust properties while in the UK, it can save money. If you don't then it's probably cheaper to pay the non-member registration price.

If you book the official Holiday Inn in Winchester, be sure to tell them up front that you are with the Heritage Rose Foundation conference, and if the clerk seems a bit clueless, assure them that we have a block of rooms already set aside. Do NOT let them transfer you to a call center in some unknown country on some unknown continent!

This post was edited by malcolm_manners on Mon, Feb 24, 14 at 16:39

The conference was an extraordinary event! Excellent weather, great gardens, beautiful roses, good people, fascinating talks; it would be hard to imagine a better event! Thanks to all who made it so.

I've posted photos. It may take me a while to get them labeled, but you can see them without labels now.

Malcolm

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of the HRF Conference

Great photos- and I love the 'Croplifters will be Propagated' sign...

Thanks,
Virginia

What a treat to view! My son and almost daughter in law leave for Paris and England in a couple of weeks.

Your photos sure make me wish I could go too

Thanks for all the photos Malcom. Now I can be there vicariously.

Diane

Thanks Malcolm. It really was the "not to be missed" conference. Great photos!

Malcolm thanks for sharing! It took me back to my visit to London last year. I was only able to see Queen Mary's garden. So glad you shared the photos. Is the Mottisfont conference an annual event?
And what is Woad?
Susan

Woad, Isatis tinctoria, is a yellow flowered dying herb, IIRC producing a blue color.

Cath

Yep, What Cath said. Woad is famous for what the ancient Scots wore as body paint. Mel Gibson wears it in Braveheart, but that's an anachronism -- they quit wearing it long before the days of Wallace. It is claimed that they scared back the Romans by riding into battle naked, painted blue with woad, on ponies, and carrying pitch forks. The Romans thought they were blue demons. Ha.

Malcolm, those pictures are simply wonderful. I'd forgotten what the color green in nature looks like. Gorgeous flower and garden shots; I just couldn't get enough. I don't think anyone does gardens like the English do. Of course they have the rain to pull it off, but also the grand architecture and old and huge plants as a background to their gardens.

Ingrid

Yay. I need some Woad! Set my teenagers to rights!
Ingrid I completely agree. When I saw OGRs and Austins green and thriving it just made me swoon. The sun is so much gentler.
Heaven is an English garden.
Susan

Malcolm's description of this conference is perfect ... I was so glad to be part of it, to learn so much, meet so many wonderful new people, and reconnect with folks that I already know! This once was truly once in a lifetime, as we saw David Stone in his element, as the outgoing head gardener at Mottisfont, along with meeting and seeing the vision of his replacement, Jonny Bass. For me and my traveling companions from Florida, it was seven days full of gardens and food and laughter. I am so glad that I went!

I will be chronicling the trip with my photos on my blog. Today, I posted some stories and photos from Day One.

(For those of you who were unable to join us in England, mark your calendars for the next HRF event in New Orleans in November 2014. Details coming soon on the HRF web site.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Mottisfont HRF Conference, Day One.

Great blog, Connie, It was fun to relive the day with you, by reading it. Malcolm

Tom and I spent a week in Edinburgh before coming home so I am just seeing your pictures now. It was wonderful to see all your pictures and make it all vivid in my mind again. What a wonderful time we all had!

Rosefolly

I have to say that I am thrilled that we didn't miss this event. The memories will stay with us and I am so glad that we can share them with some of our friends.

I loved the photos, and I LOVED seeing the roses at Mottisfont Abbey in 2011 when we visited. But didn't anyone else love the soft rose brick 8 ft. high walls of the walled gardens? A perfect backdrop for many of the roses, but didn't anybody take pictures including it?

Carol

Here's a photo for you, Carol! It's one of the few that I took of roses on the walls, however. I took lots of photos of them when I visited four years ago. It was exactly the same time of year, but in 2010 they had a late season, and the climbers on the bricks were at peak. This year, they had "gone over," as the English say. The peonies were done, too. Some roses that weren't yet peaking or blooming at all in 2010, such as many Gallicas and Debutante, were in full bloom or slightly past this year. As we gardeners know, the weather is really in charge. They had a really mild, wet winter and were having hot, dry weather while we were there. I've never seen such big leaves on roses or such huge blooms on roses like Gallica Officianalis. I wish I'd seen the garden a week or two earlier, but it was still lovely, and the four different guided tours led by Mottisfont gardeners were wonderful. I'll be putting together some albums of the gardens that we visited and will share them as they are ready.
Anita

Thanks, Anita. I took only a couple of photos, so yours is a good supplement. When I was there, the eremurus (foxtail lilies) were also in bloom, waving their soft yellow tails above the roses. When I got home I looked into them, found I could order bulbs/crowns -- whatever -- and put them near some roses. But here in New England they are probably slower to grow and so far, are short plants. I remember the Mottisfont combo of delphiniums, foxtails and roses as a perfect painting in pastels.

Carol

HI, Carol - I took many more and better photos four years ago. Here is one with the eremerus (foxtail lilies) and the brick wall in the background. I don't find any photos with delphinium in them too - while they did have it, my photos mostly show campanula in various forms and some salvias providing the blue tones.
Anita

Blairii #1 on a Mottisfont brick wall in 2010. This year, it had "gone over."
Anita

Your photos are much better than mine, Anita. Thanks!

Carol

I also admire the eremurus. I wonder if they would grow here in California, or if they prefer cooler climates? I am looking for a few more spiky plants to contrast all the mounding plants in the garden. I have some white foxgloves for spring but would like to find some other spiky ones for summer and for fall. Hollyhocks rust badly here so they won't do. I've tried several varieties. Delphiniums die out fast for me, even the Dowdeswell kind. They are less than annual here.

I actually planted two dwarf columnar junipers for exactly that purpose, 'Pencil Point'. Not only will they give me a couple of nice exclamation points in a few years, but they also introduce a good dark green. One of the things I learned from visiting the White Garden at Loseley Park was just how important good greens are. I think I knew that before, but I know it better now.

I enjoyed all four of the guided tours of Mottisfont, learning a lot from each and every one. Joan Taylor's tour in particular taught me a lot about their design considerations. I do wish I had it on repeat so I could go back over it again and absorb more!

Folly