The Midlands Rose Society hosted the 21st ROSA National Convention over the weekend of 16-18th October at Hebron Haven Hotel . Delegates from the Western Cape Rose Society,Knysna & Garden Route Rose Society and the Heritage Rose Society attended the event as well as members of the Midlands Rose Society. We were honoured to host the President of the World Federation of Rose Societies, Sushil Prakash to the Convention as well as Rosaria Algoria from Uruguay.
Our floral arranging members who used to produce award-winning exhibits at the Garden shows in Pietermaritzburg, pulled out all the stops and created some magnificent displays , including the Howick Falls, Dairy Farming and others, filled the Conference centre and the hotel with roses.
Formalities got underway with Annual General meetings and in the evening a Meet and Greet evening where delegates and members met the President, Sushil Prakash who presented an interesting talk on Roses in Bhutan.
The Speaker’s Morning was attended by 145 people. Our Mayor, Chris Pappas opened the Convention and introduced his grandmother, Susan van Zuilekom who had given him a rosy tie for the occasion. Tanya Visser had to cancel but the President stepped in and we were able to hear his talk on the life of roses from 3000 years ago to modern times in Asia. Sally Earl and Sandra Trethwey also gave great presentations.
At 1230 , we boarded the bus to visit 3 beautiful gardens: Gordon Stuarts Garden, Gill Wilsons Garden and our Heritage garden. On the Saturday, we were back on the bus and visited Brahman Hills where we were met with a glass of Bubbly. Liz Steyn, mother of the designer of the garden, Tim Steyn, graciously took us on a guided tour of the garden. We ended off in the restaurant where the staff of Brahman Hills presented Sushil Prakash and Rosario with the newly published book on Brahman Hills. Then it was off to see William and Claire Meyer’s magnificent garden in Mooi River where we were served lunch. Our last garden was in the Dargle Valley, Millford Farm gardened by Kate Baynes.
We ended the day with the Gala dinner where we were entertained by Sarah Harrison. As President of ROSA, I awarded the Zoe Gilbert Award to Alta Nel from the Western Cape Rose Society and the President’s Trophy to Cathy Esterman.
Gail Birss
