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Royal National Rose Society

The Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) (1876–2017) was a specialist horticultural organization in the United Kingdom dedicated to the cultivation and appreciation of roses. Founded in 1876 as the "National Rose Society", it was the world's oldest plant society. It was a membership organisation, with members drawn from professional and amateur gardeners and horticultural businesses. Originally based in London, the rose society moved its headquarters to Chiswell Green, near St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1959, where it created the Royal National Rose Society Gardens. In 1965, the society changed its name to the "Royal National Rose Society" (RNRS). At the height of its popularity, the RNRS had 100,000 members and its gardens contained 30,000 rose shrubs. The organisation was dissolved in May, 2017 and the gardens were closed permanently.

History
The National Rose Society The Royal National Rose Society, originally named "The National Rose Society", was the inspiration of Rev Dr Reynolds Hole, an Anglican priest, author and horticulturalist. In 1858, he founded the first National Rose Show at St James's Hall on Piccadilly, London. The show was considered a great success with 2000 attendees. By 1860, the popular rose exhibition was being held at the Crystal Palace, with 16,000 rose enthusiasts in attendance. Because of the growing interest in roses by the general public, a meeting of leading rose enthusiasts, including Rev Hole, was held on 9 December 1876, and the "National Rose Society" was created. Rev Hole was elected the society's first President. The Rev Henry Honeywood D’Ombrain was appointed the society's first Secretary. From 1877 to 1902, D'Ombrain edited the society's yearly first publication, ''The Rosarian's Yearbook. The organisation initially opened an office in central London. Rose exhibitions were the primary focus of the society for its first twenty-five years. It also provided advice to its members with rose related questions, such as finding a specific rose or identifying roses, as well as providing general and specific rose care advice. Rose breeder and former wheat farmer, Henry Bennett, won the first and second Gold Medals awarded, with Rosa'' 'Her Majesty' (Hybrid Perpetual) in 1883 and Rosa 'Mrs. John Laing' (Hybrid Perpetual) in 1885. In later years, an important role of the society was to supervise trials of new rose varieties that were submitted to the society's test gardens by rose breeders from around the world. A committee of twenty judges evaluated the rose cultivars periodically throughout the season from June to September over two or three successive years. The Gold Medal was generally awarded each year to two or three roses of exceptional quality. There were several years when no roses would meet the strict guidelines for the award and no gold medal is awarded. Royal patronage In acknowledgement of the Society's important work, Queen Alexandra established the first Royal Patronage in 1888. The society's membership grew steadily from 900 in 1888 to 16,000 in 1926. The annual journal sponsored by the society, The Rose Annual was first published in 1907, and was issued yearly until 1984. In 1925, Queen Mary was appointed Royal Patron of the society. Membership dropped to 11,500 during World War II, but increased to 15,000 by 1947. When Queen Mary died in 1953, the Princess Mary became the society's Royal patron. ==See also==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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