Otherwise Normal People by Aurelia Scott

You may remember THIS POST where I shared my obsession love of old garden roses which all started from reading a small book on lost roses.

But this book takes rose love to a whole new level.  These people are truly and certifiably obsessed — this book opens the doors into the quirky world of competitive rose gardening and shows.

In Otherwise Normal People, Aurelia Scott follows Roseaholics as they plan, prepare, and compete in prestigious rose shows — battling high winds, Japanese beetles, and the finicky demands of their precious charges.

There’s a former race-car driver who plants years in advance for each show, a forensic chemist whose collection of hybrid teas and miniature roses tops out at nearly one thousand, and my personal favorite, a genteel woman who traipses through abandoned lots rescuing antique varieties.

We marvel at the ingenuity of one rose gardener who installs wire perches  for the sparrows and trains them to eat Japanese beetles directly from his rose bushes.

We discover the sweetly eccentric:

I have 225 rose plants in my yard and I know every one of them by name.  They are as different from each other as people are.  I holler at them sometimes.  And I talk to them nicely.  They know that my greatest joy has been to get out in the garden with them.

We experience the tolerant love of the rose enthusiast’s partners:

Well, we went to the convention (Pasadena Rose Convention) and I walked into the showroom and said, “Oh my God” I had never seen so many roses in my life.  Kitty saw bouquets of a red-blend hybrid tea named Double Delight, leaned in to sniff its spicy fragrance, and said “I’ve got to have that, and I have got to have that one too”  So that was that. They dug up the yard. Or rather Bob dug up the yard.

Of course, my favorite chapter is entitled The Heady Scent of History which focuses on old roses and the stories behind roses brought out West by settlers, planted by graves of loved ones, and trailing over miners’ shacks in the California gold rush country.

Ms. Scott has written a book which names actual growers, so one would think it would raise eyebrows among the ultra-competitive world of rose showing.  But on the contrary, this is a gentle, happy book celebrating rose shows and the world of exhibition roses, it is not an expose.  The author is remarkably kind and seems in awe of the time spent in gardens, and the work required to keep their beloved roses thriving.

Even if you’re not a rose nerd lover like me, I think you will enjoy this peek into a hobby like any other – a hobby that can take over and become an all-encompassing obsession.  Yes, we’re they’re eccentrics — but they’re such a delight and their stories are equally delightful.

Shameless Plug:  If this book, or my other recommendation, has you at all interested in roses – especially old roses – and you’re in the Bay Area on May 15 – you must attend THIS AMAZING EVENT.