The Medley of Roses – 2026 ARS Convention & Rose Show was honored to have as one of our speakers Dr. Mark Windham. Dr. Windham was a Distinguished Professor of Ornamental Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For the last 14 years of his career, Mark worked toward developing management plans for Rose Rosette Disease (RRD), studying the virus’s mite vector, and searching for disease resistance. He was part of a multistate team that discovered genes for resistance to RRD in roses.
Most recently, on October 4, 2026, at the Medley Convention he received the 2026 American Rose Society Gold Medal of Honor. His presentation is entitled “Holistic Rose Care”. He graciously shared his presentation with us to post on the website.
A rosarian must be a nutritionist, soil scientist, pathologist, entomologist, and expert of many other professions to successfully grow healthy, vibrant roses. Often actions we take to solve one problem leads to other challenges. In this presentation, he explores a holistic approach to rose care to maximize rose health and vigor without breaking the bank or robbing us of our most valued commodity: time.
Dr. Mark Windham receives the 2026 ARS Gold Medal from Craig Dorschel, President of the American Rose SocietyDr. Mark Windham received the 2026 American Rose Society Gold Honor Medal at the Sunday, October 4, 2026, banquet of the Medley of Roses – ARS 2026 Convention & Rose Show.
Dr. Mark Windham is a wonderful speaker and teacher—informative, engaging, and entertaining. His research on Rose Rosette Disease, one of the most destructive diseases affecting ornamental roses in the United States, has been invaluable to rosarians and rose growers across the country. Through district meetings, educational programs, and articles, Dr. Windham has generously shared his research findings and helped rosarians better understand and address this devastating disease.
For many years, Dr. Windham presented classes at the Tenarky District Consulting Rosarian (CR) schools, as well as at CR schools across the country. When travel was no longer possible, he continued sharing his knowledge through virtual presentations. His dedication to rose education has made a lasting impression on his students and on rosarians nationwide.
Much beloved by his students and fellow rosarians, Dr. Windham retired in June 2022 from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture after 37 years of teaching and research. During his distinguished career, he served as a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Ornamental Pathology.
Although much of his research focused on Rose Rosette Disease, Dr. Windham also contributed significantly to research addressing plant health issues in hydrangeas and flowering dogwoods. His research interests included:
Virus and eriophyid mite resistance in Rosa species
Ecology of eriophyid mites associated with Rosa species
Cultural and chemical controls for Rose Rosette Disease
Management of Cercospora leaf spot in cultivated roses
Powdery mildew resistance in flowering dogwood
Reintroduction of dogwoods as a nursery crop in the Deep South
Resistance to fungal foliar diseases in hydrangeas
Throughout his career, Dr. Windham has authored and co-authored hundreds of articles for rose publications at the local, district, and national levels. He has been a frequent and highly regarded speaker at rose society meetings and conventions, inspiring and educating generations of rosarians. Even in retirement, he remains a sought-after speaker and continues to share his expertise. He also writes monthly articles for distribution to American Rose Society newsletter editors for inclusion in local and district publications.
Retirement has not slowed Dr. Windham’s commitment to the world of roses. He continues to study rose diseases and contribute to the development of sustainable roses, helping advance the future of rose growing for generations to come.
In 2023, Dr. Windham received the American Rose Society’s Klima Medal for Excellence in Rose Education. Now, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to rose research, education, and the rosarians he has inspired throughout the country, the American Rose Society proudly honors him with the 2026 Gold Honor Medal.
This prestigious recognition is a fitting tribute to a dedicated researcher, gifted educator, and cherished friend to the rose community. Congratulations, Dr. Windham, on this well-deserved honor!
Medley of Roses was an awesome convention and rose show! With such crazy weather this summer, we were concerned that we would not have a lot of roses; but our exhibitors came through!
There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of roses in the horticulture division, 34 arrangements, and 272 photos! Thank you exhibitors for sharing your roses with those attending the convention and the public! You made our show a huge success. Nicholson Bowl won by John Smith
Congratulations to all those who won national, district, and open classes in the three divisions! And thanks to our national chairs, the judges, clerks, runners, tally team, placement, recording/certificate teams, setup and dismantling helpers, banquet table bouquet makers, vendors, speakers, volunteers, and our show committee who made our 2026 convention a huge success! Top Gun Award won by Ray & Diane Guillebeau
For a complete list of the Rose Show Results, click here.
It has come to our attention that not all Medley of Roses certificates were placed. If you had a winning entry in Classes 21-60 and did not receive a certificate, please email Mary Ann Hext. Classes 1-20 will be mailed soon as will ARS arrangement certificates. We apologize for this oversight. Mary Ann Hext – mhext@outlook.com
Nashville, Tennessee, is right smack-dab in the middle of the country, so you have options for how to get here. Most people will probably chose to drive or fly.
Flying into Nashville International Airport
If you fly, you will likely land at the Nashville International Airport (BNA). The Sheraton airport shuttle runs daily from 4:00am-12:00am every 20 minutes – on the hour, 20 minutes past the hour, and
40 minutes past the hour.
To be picked up at the airport by the shuttle, follow signs to Ground Transportation (lower level) – Hotel Shuttles Zone 3. No need to call the hotel. Again, the shuttle operates from 4:00am-12:00am.
To return to the airport on the shuttle, check in with the valet at the front of the hotel.
Driving to Nashville and Parking at the Sheraton
For guests staying at the Sheraton, overnight self-parking is discounted to $10 per vehicle per night. When you come into the parking lot, you will get a ticket from the automatic gate to pay for parking. Take the ticket to the valet booth at the front of the hotel to receive the Medley of Roses parking passes for the discounted rate.
For guests coming to the Medley of Roses – 2026 ARS Rose Show on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning (see the Schedule of Events for times), the discounted parking rate is $10 per vehicle per day. Again, when you come into the parking lot, you will get a ticket from the automatic gate. Take the ticket with you to the Hermitage Lobby area where the Convention is being held. The valet will be next to the Registration desk and will exchange it for a discounted parking pass you will use to exit the parking lot.
We wish you safe travels to Nashville!
See you soon!
If you would like to visit local gardens around Nashville before the Friday evening reception, we have three gardens that will be open – Becky Willoughby, Ron Daniels, and Lisa Schaaf, all members of the Nashville Rose Society. Lisa’s garden will be open from 10:00am to 3:00pm, and Becky’s and Ron’s gardens will be open from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.
A bus going to Becky’s and Ron’s gardens will be leaving the Sheraton Music City Hotel at 12:30 and will be back by 3:30. The first 25 people who sign up (see below) will have seats on the bus. John Wendler, Nashville Rose Society member and former co-president, will be the tour guide on the bus. Directions to all three gardens will be available at the Registration Desk for those who have their own transportation.
Becky’s Willoughby at Willoughby FarmThe Willoughby Farm in Gallatin, Tennessee, is where “A Rose Named David” sits on a hill overlooking the farm. What began for Becky Willoughby as a love of roses has grown into a garden of more than 320 bush roses, representing many different types and varieties, all planted in a self-designed, English-inspired garden setting. As you walk through the garden, you’ll find numerous arbors, trellises, and obelisks supporting an additional 36 climbing roses. Each rose seems to have its own personality.
Growing roses in Zone 7b has certainly come with its challenges. Freezing temperatures and unexpected cold snaps, pest pressures, and late summer heat waves can take their toll. But every season brings something new to learn and enjoy, which is part of what makes this garden so special. Roses bring endless inspiration, opportunities to stay active, and many dear friendships and mentors. Becky says, “I’m grateful to share my garden with you, and I hope it is able to bring you inspiration and joy like it has brought me”.
Ron Daniels’ Gadwall AbbeyRon Daniels’ garden, known as Gadwall Abbey Rose Garden, is a carefully designed landscape of beauty, learning, and hospitality that has earned admiration among rose enthusiasts and visitors alike.
Established in 2013, Gadwall Abbey is Daniels’ third rose garden. Rather than simply planting roses wherever space allowed, Daniels approached the project with clear priorities: accessibility, strong plant performance, and ease of care. The result is a garden that balances serious rose growing with thoughtful design.
Today Ron’s garden has more than 150 roses spanning an impressive range of classes. Visitors will find climbers reaching upward, sturdy shrub roses, exhibition hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures, and mini-floras. Old garden roses and species roses share space with modern varieties, including beloved selections from David Austin. Even tree roses add a vertical element to the display.
Lisa Schaaf’s “Uptown Girl”Lisa Schaaf’s garden in Franklin, TN, will be open from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Lisa has 280+ roses, slightly neglected, poorly pruned roses, weeds and all (but overall happy). A garden with an attitude!
Directions to all three gardens will be available at the Registration Desk on Friday, October 2, 2026.
To sign up for the bus, send a message to diane@medleyofroses.org. There is not charge for the bus, but tips for the driver will be appreciated.
My husband and I were living in Mexico City in 1989 and each Saturday we shopped at the local fruit and vegetable market near our apartment. On one of those visits, I purchased a wide-brimmed palm hat that I thought would be great for gardening in the hot sun back home in Texas.
My family has a history of skin cancer, so the strong sun protection was important – and I knew other gardeners would also love this sun protection. After consulting with the commercial hat factories in Mexico, we were eventually introduced to the village in Mexico where Tula hats continue to be produced. The residents have been producing palm hats for over four centuries. We have been honored to work with such a wonderful group of people and have developed a special friendship and trust with the hat makers.
Hats are needed for everyday sun protection, so I strive to design hats that make the wearer feel good and look their best. My customers can be wearing anything from jeans to cute summer dresses and have the health benefits of wearing a UPF 50+ sun protective hat that is also fashionable.
The Tula hat line is available in many wonderful garden centers, boutiques and shops across the United States and Canada. Please visit our store locator for more information about where to buy Tula.
My mission is to continue to provide straw hats that are affordable and easy to wear as well as protect the skin and look good on!
We are working on the final layout for the upcoming rose show on October 3 at the Medley of Roses convention to determine space for exhibits for national and district challenge classes in horticulture and also for all arrangements. We hope that all of you are planning to bring roses, arrangements, and photos to exhibit!
If at all possible, please let me know if you plan to exhibit in any of the national and district horticulture classes by notifying me on or before Wednesday, September 30, at noon CT. This will ensure you having a reserved space at the show. Of course, we will have some additional spaces for entries available if needed. For Arrangements, the schedule requests, September 30 at noon also.
We are so excited to host this event! Your exhibits will make it a fabulous show! The weather in our area been crazy, so we need everyone to bring blooms so we can fill the tables with roses, arrangements, and photos. Any questions, just ask. See you soon,
Pre-order your roses from Antique Rose Emporium by September 25, 2026, You will get a 10% discount AND the roses will be delivered to the Medley of Roses – 2026 ARS Convention & Rose Show, Sheraton Music City Nashville Airport Hotel for pick up on on October 3rd or 4th. There will be no delivery charge, but a $6 handling fee may apply.
If you are not attending the Convention, you can still order and plan to come to the Rose Show on Saturday afternoon (1-4:00pm) or Sunday morning (9:00am-1:00pm) when you pick up your roses. The Rose Show is free to the public, but there is a $10 parking fee.
Can’t make it to the event? You can still order your roses to have shipped to you. Use the Antique Rose Emporium e-commerce website https://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/ and enter the code MEDLEY10 for 10% off your online order. Select your best ship week for planting during the first step of checkout.
Antique Rose Emporium is one of the Convention vendors and Jim Keeter, owner of ARE, will be our speaker on Sunday morning, October 4, at 10:00am. His presentation is “Deep Roots, Lasting Blooms: Old Garden Roses, Companion Planting and Sustainability”.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are reaching out regarding Medley of Roses, taking place on October 2 – 5, 2026, at the Sheraton Music City Nashville Airport Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee.
Lisa Sutton, daughter of the late Grammy Award-winning country singer Lynn Anderson (“I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”) is the entertainment director for the Nashville Rose Society, bringing the Medley of Roses – ARS National Convention & Rose Show to Nashville.
We would love to know your interest in an interview or featuring the event with Lisa Sutton to chat all things Medley of Roses and the Nashville-centric music and rose legacy of Lynn Anderson for Gardening Inside Out.
The American Rose Society National Convention travels to a different city each year, and in 2026, Nashville will host the nation’s most prestigious rose competition. For flower lovers, this event is absolute eye candy for those who love to adore florals up close. Nashville adds its own signature flair with rhinestones, cowboy boots, and country music. Rose growers from as far away as California, Canada, Maine, and Florida will expertly transport their blooms by plane, train, and automobile in hopes of capturing a national title. Over the course of the competition, thousands of cut roses will be judged in classes of miniature, floribundas, most fragrant, and old garden, to name a few. The grand ballroom will be bursting with 1st, 2nd & 3rd place ribbons and the Court.
Competitors ultimately hope their rose will be chosen for the Royal Courts- Queens, Kings, and Princesses. And Gold Medal certificates!
Country music queen Lynn Anderson was approached by Rose hybridizer Joseph Winchell to create a namesake flower. The American Rose Society officially christened the flower, ’The Lynn Anderson Hybrid Tea Rose’ in 1995. The Lynn Anderson was one of the world’s most heralded and celebrated roses in history, winning bouquets of accolades and earning the Rose Society’s ‘Queen of Show’ honor less than a year after its debut. And then, time intervened… roads led elsewhere. Lives changed. And The Lynn Anderson Rose all but disappeared.
Following the death of her mother, Lisa made it her mission to revive the champion bloom. Her efforts culminated in the creation of The Lynn Anderson Rose Garden in Nashville in 2018. Today the garden houses the world’s largest collection of Lynn Anderson roses and stands as a living tribute to the singer’s legacy.
As Lisa states, “The rose world is like show business,” she recalled recently. “One day you’re on top, the next day you’re playing motel lounges. You’ve got to keep yourself out there, and reinvent yourself every so often or the new kid on the block or, in this case, the new rose-is who everybody starts talking about. As much as Mom loved her rose, keeping herself out there and reinventing her own career occupied her time, and new roses come on to the market.”
We hope you can join us on Saturday, October 3, 1:00 – 4:00pm, or on Sunday, October 4, 9:00am-1:00pm, to enjoy the roses chat with Lisa Sutton and meet the folks that make this event so special!
The Medley of Roses – ARS National Convention & Rose Show full event info: here. For a pdf of this press release, click here.
We are thrilled to share this exquisite rose bracelet and matching lapel pin, donated by Lynda Fleming — Trustee of the ARS Rose Research Trust, Past President of the Gateway Rose Society, and member of the Greater Milwaukee Rose Society.
The inspiration behind this beautiful set comes from Lynda’s own interpretation of the work of Cary Bruner, “Clover Fields,” and Sandy Bachand, “Rose Petal Posy.” The result is a truly unique piece created especially with rose enthusiasts in mind.
The bracelet and pin feature approximately 88 Swarovski crystals, including bicones, round crystals, and margarita crystals. The petals, brick beads, seed beads, and crystal pearls are from Czechoslovakia, while the box clasp is crafted from sterling silver.
The presentation is just as lovely! Lynda has included a decorative jewelry box with an anti-tarnish tab beneath the black square paper. Under the lid, you’ll also find an anti-tarnish zip-top bag, which the buyer can use for additional storage if preferred.
This is more than jewelry — it is a handcrafted celebration of roses, artistry, and the creativity of a fellow rose lover.
Be sure to keep an eye out for this special treasure in the Medley of Roses Silent Auction – Item #40!
The Medley of Roses – 2026 ARS Convention & Rose Show was honored to have as one of our speakers Dr. Mark Windham. Dr. Windham was a Distinguished Professor of Ornamental Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For the last 14 years of his career, Mark worked toward developing management plans for Rose Rosette Disease (RRD), studying the virus’s mite vector, and searching for disease resistance. He was part of a multistate team that discovered genes for resistance to RRD in roses.
If you fly, you will likely land at the Nashville International Airport (BNA). The Sheraton airport shuttle runs daily from 4:00am-12:00am every 20 minutes – on the hour, 20 minutes past the hour, and
Hello rosarians attending the national show!
