'Barn Dance'
Q. What is the difference between the Earth Kind and Earth Kind National Rose Brigade you sell?
A. The question has been asked about the differences of “Earth Kind” roses and the “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade”, roses that we sell at Herb Day – the first weekend in May. The list that members can preorder from includes both. Some are “Certified Earth Kind Roses” and the rest of them are part of the Texas A&M “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade”. The Certified Earth Kind Roses are cultivars that have been tested for more than five years and selected as truly worthy of the low maintenance Earth Kind designation originally in the southern states. The “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade” is a group of roses, including some of the certified roses that Dr. Steve George of Texas A&M has selected as worthy, low maintenance roses to be tested and grown in Earth Kind test gardens nationally. Even though he feels many of these may be selected as “Certified” there are still several more years of testing and evaluation to be done before he modifies his lists.
Some of the Certified Earth Kind Roses by Texas A&M are NOT rated for our growing zone in Wichita (zone 6) – they were originally for the south. I try to offer the ones that are rated for zones 5B or higher. I also purposely leave out a couple of the cultivars from the Earth Kind National Rose Brigade because of my conversations with Dr. George and viewing his trial, which may not eventually make the certified list. These are the roses that Dr. George has selected for disease resistance, own root, no fertilizing, continual flowering, easy care, etc for National Earth Kind testing across all zones of the Midwest including his test gardens in Ohio, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska. Not all of these will be certified Earth Kind after years of testing, but Dr. George sees enough promise in them to be planted, tested and evaluated in his national trial gardens. I have given two joint talks with Dr. George about Earth Kind Roses including the Earth Kind National Test Brigade Roses and he feels great with what we are offering to the public here in Wichita.
Mark Chamblee, of Chamblee Roses has a page in his catalog for Earth Kind Roses and he only shows the certified ones for the south. He also carries all of the Earth Kind National Test Brigade Roses in his catalog. When I talk or when we print our list of Earth Kind Roses, I always try to explain the difference – Dr. George and Mark Chamblee agree that because it advances and supports the Earth Kind program of quality low maintenance roses.
I also preorder and bring in some of the more unusual Knock-Out Roses that are a bit harder to find in town to buy. But we only do that for our members unless we have a few extras because we don’t want to compete with the local nurseries – we want to support them. Our goal is to provide some of the easy to grow roses that usually can not be purchased locally to encourage people to start growing roses. Hopefully that will spark more interest and give them confidence to proceed to trying to grow hybrid teas and maybe even showing roses with us.
-Don Suderman
The Petal, September 2009
A. The question has been asked about the differences of “Earth Kind” roses and the “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade”, roses that we sell at Herb Day – the first weekend in May. The list that members can preorder from includes both. Some are “Certified Earth Kind Roses” and the rest of them are part of the Texas A&M “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade”. The Certified Earth Kind Roses are cultivars that have been tested for more than five years and selected as truly worthy of the low maintenance Earth Kind designation originally in the southern states. The “Earth Kind National Rose Brigade” is a group of roses, including some of the certified roses that Dr. Steve George of Texas A&M has selected as worthy, low maintenance roses to be tested and grown in Earth Kind test gardens nationally. Even though he feels many of these may be selected as “Certified” there are still several more years of testing and evaluation to be done before he modifies his lists.
Some of the Certified Earth Kind Roses by Texas A&M are NOT rated for our growing zone in Wichita (zone 6) – they were originally for the south. I try to offer the ones that are rated for zones 5B or higher. I also purposely leave out a couple of the cultivars from the Earth Kind National Rose Brigade because of my conversations with Dr. George and viewing his trial, which may not eventually make the certified list. These are the roses that Dr. George has selected for disease resistance, own root, no fertilizing, continual flowering, easy care, etc for National Earth Kind testing across all zones of the Midwest including his test gardens in Ohio, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska. Not all of these will be certified Earth Kind after years of testing, but Dr. George sees enough promise in them to be planted, tested and evaluated in his national trial gardens. I have given two joint talks with Dr. George about Earth Kind Roses including the Earth Kind National Test Brigade Roses and he feels great with what we are offering to the public here in Wichita.
Mark Chamblee, of Chamblee Roses has a page in his catalog for Earth Kind Roses and he only shows the certified ones for the south. He also carries all of the Earth Kind National Test Brigade Roses in his catalog. When I talk or when we print our list of Earth Kind Roses, I always try to explain the difference – Dr. George and Mark Chamblee agree that because it advances and supports the Earth Kind program of quality low maintenance roses.
I also preorder and bring in some of the more unusual Knock-Out Roses that are a bit harder to find in town to buy. But we only do that for our members unless we have a few extras because we don’t want to compete with the local nurseries – we want to support them. Our goal is to provide some of the easy to grow roses that usually can not be purchased locally to encourage people to start growing roses. Hopefully that will spark more interest and give them confidence to proceed to trying to grow hybrid teas and maybe even showing roses with us.
-Don Suderman
The Petal, September 2009