By Jan Eastman, Chair PRHRiA
What a delight to have Jos Henley and Shane Law talk about their love of roses and their gardens at our May meeting at Falls Farm.
Gruss an Aachen Historic Rose
Jos first spoke on growing up in the town of Geleen, over the border in Dutch Limburg near the town of Aachen. Jos spoke of how her Grandfather took her regularly to horse events, where many Gruss an Aachen roses grew in abundance in the manicured gardens. She said she was not interested in the roses at that stage of her life and was more interested in the horses. Today unfortunately the masses of Gruss an Aachen roses have been replaced with modern roses, but when Jos moved to Australia she came across this rose again and now absolutely adores it. She marvels at the masses that edge the roadway and entrances to the carpark at Araluen Botanical Park.
One of our newest and very enthusiastic members Shane Law gave a brief history on the different areas of work he has been involved in, before speaking about his love of Damask Roses. Some of his work included overseas jobs in botanical areas such as bananas, pineapple and cocoa, but he had a great interest in Damask roses. This wasn’t just for the beauty of the flowers but also for the medicinal benefits roses have. Shane now grows a number of Damask roses and continues to collect different types. Shane picks his blooms in the morning and then dries them to make tea that he loves to drink. As his roses are used for consumption he is passionate about creating a natural ecosystem to repel pests. Shane has visions of growing more of these roses in public areas and getting people to understand how these old roses are a great benefit for us all.
PRHRiA would like to thank both Jos and Shane for their very informative and inspiring talks.
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