I still remember to this day my first three roses. They were Pristine, Olympiad and Crystalline. I purchased them from my local garden center, and they took their place in the back garden of the duplex in Los Angeles where Pam and I lived. I continued to purchase roses from that garden center over the years, but it wasn’t long before my rose colored glasses started looking for roses that were rare or unusual. Perhaps I’d seen them in a book, read of them in an article or in the case of Sombreuil seen it in a slide show.

I sought out mail order nurseries, ordered catalogues (I’m dating myself here!) and poured through them once they arrived. Lists were made, orders placed and those hard to find roses began living in my garden.  These days there are fewer small rose nurseries dedicated to offering those gems and so they are getting harder to find.

Enter Rose Auctions and the internet.

Many rose societies always sold roses as a fund raiser to members or local gardeners at a rose show. The Ventura County Rose Society took this to another level with a rose auction that truly offered some rare and one of a kind roses.  But, unless you lived in the same town these roses were unavailable to the rest of us.

Now many rose societies are extending these auctions to the entire United States via on-line bidding through their websites. This opens the sale to everyone and it’s a great way to find unusual roses.  One such auction is coming up this Sunday and I advise you to check it out.

The California Costal Rose Society is having their auction on Sunday, Nov 4th and they are offering over 230 great roses.  Details on the auction and how you can participate can be found at their auction website by clicking here, but here are a few details.  There are two auction formats. A silent and live auction. You can download the bidding form in Excel format from the auction website. Someone from the society will “bid” for you and if you win, the rose will be shipped to you. It’s really that easy!

Proceeds from these auctions go directly to the rose society and help fund their education, community planting projects and more.  As a former President of a local rose society I know how important these fund raising activities are. Rose Auctions like this one are a great way you can help and purchase some rare roses at the same time.

Let the gaveling begin!

Happy Roseing
Paul

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