Spring blooms

At North Haven Gardens’ annual Rose Weekend, the experienced staff ensures you pick out the perfect roses

From a lush, striking peachorange ‘Rosie the Riveter’ to a classic red ‘Legends’ hybrid tea rose, North Haven Gardens’ Rose Weekend features a bloom for everyone. With more than 100 varieties, you’ll find a wide selection of roses in all shapes and colors.

A tradition for over 68 years, NHG’s Rose Weekend has been instrumental in keeping Dallas rose gardens vibrant.

Originally, this popular weekend event was held in October. In those days, original rosarian Ira Duncan and founder Ralph Pinkus trekked to the Tyler rose fields, selecting the rose varieties that would be displayed instore for customers to browse. Bareroot canes were brought in after orders were placed. North Haven Gardens grew the shrubs over the winter in recycled food cans, and customers returned in March to pick up their shrubs.

By the mid-1970s, commercial rose growing in the U.S. was largely centered in California, but today, North Haven Gardens continues the tradition of bringing in several thousand bare root roses each winter to grow out for the next spring. Bare rootstock comes from several reputable wholesale rose growers from around the country, says general manager Cody Hoya. Rose bushes typically start trickling into the nursery just as the holiday season is in full swing.

Now the last full weekend of March, North Haven Gardens sells an average of 1,000 roses during Rose Weekend — almost one-third of NHG’s yearly rose sales. It’s one of a handful of Texas nurseries that features fan-favorite David Austin English Roses.

The best way to select the perfect rose for your garden?

“Visit North Haven Gardens during Rose Weekend. Our garden advisors are ready and waiting to help select the best rose for you and your garden,” Hoya says.

Rose Weekend: March 25-26, 2023, 9am-6pm (opening 8am on Saturday)

ON THE COVER Beauty inside and out

At North Haven Gardens, enthusiasts can find a large variety of roses, attend classes such as Chic Home Plant Care, How Not to Kill Your Indoor Houseplant and “Swap and Sips” – opportunities for interested parties to trade cuttings and seeds with others.

Front cover The Poet’s Wife Roses (yellow) offers a wonderfully rich fragrance with a hint of lemon, which becomes sweeter and stronger with age. Image courtesy of David Austin Roses.

Left page: A ‘Benjamin Britten,’ bred by Davis Austin Roses, is a shrub known for its highly saturated color. Image courtesy of David Austin Roses.

Right Page : Rosarian Ira Duncan with the canned roses in front in 1959. An ad for Rose Weekend from 1967. Images courtesy of North Haven Gardens.

If your iconic neighborhood business would like an opportunity to collaborate with us on our cover photo package, please contact editor Jehadu Abshiro at jabshiro@ advocatemag.com.