This winter, talk to your closest librarians. Do they have a public meeting room (for free). Offer to give a talk that will highlight the library garden books and rose books and advertise it this spring by taking bouquets of roses to the closest libraries as well as the main (depending on how willing your city is to driving.)

If you get a turn out of five or even seven people, you have the beginnings of a group. Let the group define itself. it could just be a internet group with two in person meetings a year.

Lots of clubs have problems getting together: conflicts with church, children's activities, don't like to drive after dark, can't meet on_____, don't want to pay for babysitters.

By letting the group decide if they are interested, then define what works for them, you may have a core group. Then reach out through the newspaper (if it still exists), garden centers, and even the Farmer's Co-op.

Thank you Ann. Our library is open until 8:00, and does have a meeting room. This is a good start. Have you done an internet group? Is it Facebook or just internet? The problem I see off the top of my head is that if people don't meet monthly, the social part of the club (the most important) will not keep it going. Good thoughts, though.

Sammy

Haven't done either. I considered doing a rose group, but then RRD came along and that would have been too depressing...just talking less than healthy roses.

At one time we were very active in one of our local rose societies. We added sixty members to the forty we had by advertising at the local home and garden show. The members got an eight page monthly newletter by mail for their money.

The newsletter kept them.
Certain local more esteemed and aged members disapproved of my trying to interest people in lower chemical impact roses, and the newsletter became a single page after we left, and the new members left as well. We had hoped that they would be interested enough to become more active as their lives progressed.

With digital cameras and the convenience of the net, I'd think that a Picture Gallery of 'Middle of Nowhere' roses might be the 'what it would take' to keep a group interested.

If you go more organized, affiliation with a rose club with ARS affiliation is almost a necessity to get the insurance certificate that many venues require, even from not-for-profits.

You can also use Craigslist to find rose gardeners. My riding club got some new memebers that way.