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The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
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Two Rose talks next week

I don't know how I managed this but I have two presentations next week on the same topic. And I don't even do this sort of thing that often! Procrastinator that I am, I will be busy this weekend putting the finishing touches on my Powerpoint programs and I also realize we will be having nice gardening weather this weekend PLUS Sunday night is Oscar night. Anyway, I digress.

Monday night (Feb. 28th) I will be at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens talking to the Birmingham Rose Society about the evolution of our garden and the roses that we grow.

On Thursday, March 3 at 11:30 a.m., I will be at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for their gardening series "Get Dirty In The Library" (don't you love it?). My program will be on growing roses. The FLPB has a slew of good programs coming up. Click on the flyer below for more details (also check out their website).

I hope to see you there!





Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Jeff VandiverFebruary 25, 2011 at 7:16 AM

    Dang...I wish I could attend, because I know very little about my roses on the property. I'm sure you could teach me everything about them....

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  2. MashaFebruary 25, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    I wish I were there, I really do.... I would love to learn more about your roses. It is so generous of you to share your knowledge and experience with others.

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  3. Dirty Girl GardeningFebruary 25, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    at least it's on the same topic... that should make it a bit easier.

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2011 at 6:28 AM

    Phillip both links to the library aren't working. Northwest Shoals Community College has programs for advanced learning (those over 60). Since they couldn't get out during the snow, I was asked to show my snow pictures of Tuscumbia to them the end of March. I'm trying to decided if I needed to do it in powerpoint or just as a slide show in MS media. Any suggestions? My daffodils started blooming yesterday after the storm. Mary

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  5. Phillip OliverFebruary 26, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    Mary, the links just worked for me. I am not familiar with MS Media. I like Powerpoint because it is easy to use and easy to add captions to photos. Aside from that, I'm sure any system would work. I would use what you are most comfortable with. Technical difficulties are not fun!

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  6. The Redneck RosarianMarch 3, 2011 at 3:59 AM

    Phillip, So glad to finally meet you at the Birmingham Rose Society Meeting! Thanks again for a wonderful talk on your roses! It's awesome to see how people integrate roses into their landscape. You guys have done an awesome job with that!

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