Three experts on roses will arrive in Bermuda later this week as part of the Bermuda Rose Society's 50th anniversary lectures scheduled for Saturday at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

Dr. Charles Walker is the founder of the Heritage Rose Foundation and will speak on the topic “The Mystery of the Smith's Parish Rose”.

Dr. Malcolm Manners, who like Dr. Walker has visited Bermuda before, is Horticulturist and Professor at Florida Southern College.

He will speak on the topics “A Glimpse at Bermuda's Roses in the US” and “Rose Culture in Bermuda's Climate and Soil”.

Ann Bird completes the panel and her topic is “A Rose Journey”. Mrs. Bird is the deputy President of the Royal National Rose Society and a founder member of the Historic Roses Group of Great Britain.

The lectures will be illustrated and are free to all rose lovers as an anniversary gift from XL Capital and the Bermuda Rose Society. The lectures will take place from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and the topics of discussion will provide some valuable information for those attending.

“Our roses that we call mystery roses are roses that have never been identified, there is a lot of speculation as to what they might be but they don't put a name on it until they can be absolutely sure,” said Margaret King, a past president of the Bermuda Rose Society.

“This one is one that was found growing down in Smith's Parish and is an unusual rose because it is a white rose that can be plain white or be white with red stripes or can have more red than white... all growing on the bush at the same time. Dr. Walker will speak on that.”

The other topics will be interesting, too, and rose growers are urged to turn out to learn more about the characteristics of roses in general. “It has taken a while, both here and overseas, to get the general public interested in this particular type of rose,” she stated.

“They are different to what you see in florists, the modern rose, the Hybrid D, are very beautiful with startling colours but they don't grow here in Bermuda very well. Some people have but only for two, three, five years if you are lucky and then the bush is finished. They are beautiful roses but just not suitable to Bermuda.”

Mrs. King estimates there must be between 100 and 150 species of roses growing in Bermuda. “That's just off the top of my head,” she stressed.

“Some are maybe once a year bloomers and we have got others that everybody here calls the red rose that you see in everybody's garden and that blooms all year long. Some are very good for cutting for the house and others are just fine for looking at in the garden.”

The season for growing roses in Bermuda is October to Easter. Mrs. King acknowledged that Hurricane Fabian had some impact on this year's roses. “Everything takes it easy for the summer, they have a very light pruning, and then picks up in the fall, October, November, when they really start to put out again,” she explained.

“Having said that, since Hurricane Fabian the whole cycle seems to be cockeyed. We've all said the same thing, that the gardens have taken such a terrible beating.

“But I've got roses blooming now that have a dozen or more roses on the bush and I haven't seen that many in years. So something happened, I don't know what.”

Many people usually only pay attention to roses, especially the red ones, on thoses special occasions like Valentine's Day, but others have a year-round fascination with them and think about them constantly.

“We (Rose Society) have a rose sale every year and have a minimum of 500 roses and they are gone within, at the most, an hour,” Mrs King revealed.

“We've got quite a good membership. These particular lectures will be informative but not too much for growing, although these people will be answering questions if anyone has any questions.

“The two gentlemen have been here before, Charles Walker came during my presidency and he was the one who got the Rose Society interested in doing Waterville Garden.

“Dr. Manners is a professor in Florida (Florida Southern College) and he's got one whole section of the rose garden there devoted to Bermuda roses.

“They (Bermuda roses) have become very well known and the Society has done two books on the Bermuda roses and have had a lot of publicity overseas.

“Now we are members of the Heritage Rose Group in the United States and the British Heritage Rose Group, so we're exchanging information and ideas with these people all the time.”

The Society's monthly meetings will begin again in October and are open to the general public. An exhibition bench is set up where members take in roses to be judged for prizes.

“That is a worthwhile thing to see because you get an overall view of the type of roses being grown here,” Mrs. King encouraged.