Tercentennial Rose Will Debut At Garden Club’s Plant Sale This Weekend

Several months ago Barbara O’Connor, a veteran of the nursery business who works at Planters Choice in Newtown, contacted Bailey Nurseries. Ms O’Connor was hoping that Bailey Nurseries, an Oregon-based business that is known around the world for its exceptional rose program, would be able to help wither search for an extraordinary rose that Newtown could use to promote and support the town’s tercentennial celebration.

This weekend The Newtown Rose will debut at the annual Town & Country Garden Club thanks to the efforts of Ms O’Connor and her fellow Town & County club members.

The Newtown Rose is part of the Easy Elegance™ Rose Collection. It was named exclusively for the Town of Newtown. It has deep pink, pointed buds that open to hot pink blossoms with just a touch of coral. Each bloom is at least three inches wide and casually ruffled.

The flowers mature to medium and then light pink before falling cleanly from the shrub. The plant’s foliage is semi-glossy and bluish-green, complementing the flower “extraordinarily well,” says Jon Ackerman from Bailey Nursery.

The rose is healthy and disease resistant. Bailey’s rose breeding program uses no chemicals for the control of disease or fungus during the breeding system.

A limited supply of the plants will be available.

The Town & Country Garden Club will be presenting its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 7, from 9 am to 2 pm, at The Inn at Newtown, 19 Main Street.

The sale will offer a wide variety of member-grown plants, unusual perennials and shrubs, and flower baskets – all suitable for immediate enjoyment or to give to Mom on Mother’s Day.

The funds raised on Saturday will go to support projects sponsored by the club such as maintaining several traffic islands in Newtown.

After the plant show and sale, The Newtown Rose will be sold at the garden club’s upcoming standard flower show, “Newtown – A Floral Heritage,” to be held at Newtown Meeting House the weekend of June 10-11. The roses will also be sold at Lexington Gardens, 32 Church Hill Road in Newtown.