Rose Database

TasV who lives in Tas and whose name begins with V has a forum for exchange and has just put up a database of roses, with the objective of exchanging cuttings. He is inviting people to list their roses so he has a record of what is available for self propagating. The link is
http://ozgardentraders.forummotion.com/cuttings-exchange-f5/rose-keepers-data-base-t76.htm#223
If you are a member of that forum, you can just put your list up, otherwise you will have to register first. Some of you are already there I see.

Hi Everyone

Thanks for bringing the Rose Keeper's Database up here Linda Thought I'd drop in and say hi and explain what the database is for.

The Rose Keepers Database is an idea I had to give people a place to list the rose varieties they have so others may trade cuttings with them. It is so frustrating to look through books like Macoboys Roses and the Britannica Rose book and know that there is next to no hope of finding one in the shops because it will have disappeared from the catalogues altogether. I fear that gardening in Australia is going in a direction where stock is becoming more and more homogenous and there is too much of an 'out with the old and in with the new' mentality. I feel a lot of the older rose varieties at at risk of disappearing and with them the amazing genetic heritage they represent and that rose lists like this one may end up being the only place you can find them. Undoubtedly the best place to find these older varieties, that we rose growers covert so much, is in other rose-lovers gardens. So I've published my list there (what I can remember of it anyway) and as time goes on I will either add or remove roses from the list and if anyone would like cuttings of a variety that I have then they can PM me and ask. Anyone is welcome to join and also publish their list to particiapte with the understanding thta they may be contacted by other fourm members to obtain and exchange cuttings. The underlying philosophy of the whole website is to trade/barter or give away (in fact selling is against the forum's terms of use policy), and I don't know many rose-lovers who would knock back cuttings of a rose they didn't already have in their collection. So if you see something that you have been looking for or something you would like to try then it is good forum etiquette to offer something in exchange. As time allows I hope to sort my rose list into categories such as miniatures, climbers etc to make browsing easier but for now it's a straight alphabetic list. Quarantine issues dictate in part what can be sent and where and their are resources on the website so that people can familiarise themselves with these constraints.

I hope to see you there and hope the list will become a valuable tool for rose-a-holics to obtain those rare and beautiful old roses we all love so much.

Cheers,

Simon