He's funny! I am glad you posted about him being at Buchanan's because it spurred me to e-mail ARE & ask when he was going to be in my area--& I got to hear him a couple of weeks back. He was big on emphasizing "feed the soil" to feed plants.

Great talk--& free!

He's funny, and he's smart, and he's dedicated to roses, and he does a good job. We've been fortunate enough to hear him speak a couple of times, and would again.

About that quote.
Once, when we were giving a talk about collecting and preserving old roses, I was asked whether we asked permission before collecting cuttings in an old cemetery.

I honest to God, without thinking, replied:
"But everyone there is dead!"

Jeri

That's very good, Jeri!

BTW, he says, when you find an old rose in a cemetery, take care of it - cut out dead wood, remove grass and other plants around it, then if it's healthy enough, take a cutting.

The drought we had year before last killed a lot of the roses in local cemeteries. They have unfortunately been replaced with red Knockouts.

That's funny, Jeri. My response would have been, "FROM WHOM!?" Kim

He began the talk I heard with: "how many of you have planted tomatoes? It's fun to kill the first plant of the season".

And, in the western states, as our drought spreads, WATER THEM!

Jeri

Great thread....we have often used that same terminology when it comes to the old roses and where often they are found. Many times it takes a turn to the cemeteries and who cares for them there. I have never met Mike Shoup but look forward to the day I do!

Cydney
"Preserving History One Rose at a Time"

Here is a link that might be useful: The Old Garden Rose Blog

The quip attributed to Michael Shoup (a southern gentleman) about dead folk growing roses brings to mind other southerners' irreverent remarks about the departed that I've found entertaining.

When I moved well south of the Mason-Dixon, I was surprised (and kind of fascinated, to tell the truth) to learn that in some quarters of southern society there persists an adherence to certain rigid, rather baroque rules of etiquette -- including funeral etiquette. Among genteel southerners, the expectation is that one always comports oneself, and carries out ALL one's social duties, with decorum. That expectation extends to the rites, rituals and, of course, attention to southern hospitality that must properly accompany one's final exit.

As an aid to pre-planning the inevitable, two southern women (Gayden Metcalfe & Charlotte Hays) have written a kind of funeral primer to assist in departing with grace, and with one's dignity and reputation intact for eternity. The title of their very instructive book is BEING DEAD IS NO EXCUSE. It is, of course, written in a very humorous vein. But those ladies are kidding on the level, and don't you forget it . . .

Very funny! I grew up here in Texas and we don't have that kind of etiquette, fortunately. I guess we're too much pioneer and frontier here. I would find it very stifling, frankly.

Oh, I don't know Eahamel. As a native Californian (4 generations, both sides, homesteaders), I didn't grow up with much of that kind of etiquette, either, but I can appreciate it, very much.

As I point out to my students when teaching them how to write a scientific paper, all the rules and conventions governing how scientific papers are written seem rigid and uncreative. In reality, they are liberating. You do not have to sit around wondering what information to put where. More importantly, it saves immense amount of time for the readers of scientific papers: the information needed can be found in the prescribed sections.

In the same way, rules of etiquette for stressful events like funerals and weddings (and garden layouts, even -- e.g., "don't obstruct view lines") can be of immense help and I wouldn't consider them "stifling". Innovation isn't always desirable.

Debbie

Eahamel, You sure ya'll don't have that kind of etiquette in Texas? Maybe you should have a heart-to-heart chat with that Midland/Martin County gal, Laura Welch Bush, and get back to us on that, OK? (Who can forget her detailed explanation of a "house party" on the lead-up to Jenna's wedding?)

I protest only because I spent a few years in Lubbock as a debauchee masquerading as a scholar at Texas Tech, and I TOTALLY understand why Princess Margaret -- even in her wildest dreams -- could never have hoped to be a Kappa Kappa Gamma (now there's another book for you -- and it's Texas-based!) :-)

Can you think of anything more ghastly than chiffon before 6:00 PM? Neither can I . . .

Windeaux, you're funny! Lubbock, of all places??? I've never been there and never will. I'm sure that sort of etiquette exists here, probably in among the wealthy and the Junior League crowd, sorority gals like KKG, people like that. Those of us with more humble upbringings in a refinery town like Baytown aren't familiar with that lifestyle, except in movies or PBS shows such as Downton Abbey.

When I was growing up there were strict rules about when to bring out the winter wardrobe, and don't mix plaids and stripes, that sort of thing, but that's about it.