Membership
TRS & Pt Defiance grew up together
We are Washington’s oldest Rose Society, founded in 1911. But many rose activities had already been featured in Tacoma for almost 20 years by that time. Believe it or not, Tacoma even staged rose carnivals with rose parades in the period from 1896 – 1907 as we see below.
And planting roses at Point Defiance Park dates back to the very forming of the park property.
In 1895 Pt. Defiance garden supervisor E. R. Roberts, a man born in North Wales who had trained at many European sites, including at Kew Gardens, asked for donations of rose cuttings and seeds from the public to get things started. The response was overwhelming. . .
“the school children of Tacoma have reared for themselves a memorial rosary of 100,000 plants, all grown from cuttings propagated entirely without irrigation, and furnishing flowers enough every summer to conduct a whole rose carnival.”
Tacoma Daily Ledger 1898
By 1907 the Metropolitan Park Board was formed to oversee Tacoma’s park system. Park Superintendent G. A. Hill created a design for a rose garden featuring beds formed in the arcs of concentric circles, which is what we still see today.
TRS and the Pt. Defiance Rose Garden, formally dedicated in 1912, grew up together. We’ve helped with suggestions about rose varieties and other ideas, like the 10 ft fence, in the garden within the leadership of the Park since then. Some leaders of the Rose Society also served as elected members of the Metropolitan Park Board.
Jump forward beyond the two world wars, into the 1980s. An outside organization called attention to the decline of the rose garden; it was still beautiful on a macro scale, but it needed some serious work to restore the health of the garden and its plants. Again, TRS stepped forward under the supervision of Park staff to do the spade work – literally.
A decision was made to completely rebuild the main rose garden over a four year period. The rebuilding started in 1987, and in 1989 the results from the first two years were so impressive that the last half of the garden was redone that year.
If you ask any rose enthusiast in the Tacoma area where they will be on the first Saturday of March, they will immediately say ” I’ll be reporting for pruning duty in the Pt. Defiance Park Rose Garden.”
The morning kicks off with an educational session, then we break into groups and experienced members cover the rationale and techniques of spring pruning in each quadrant of the garden.
Questions are then answered and everyone gets to join in the fun of hands-on pruning the 1500 roses. With 25 to 40 volunteers beavering away, the job is often finished by noon.
Along with regularly experiencing the beauty of the Pt. Defiance Rose Garden, as a TRS volunteer you’ll also gain inspiration from the friendship of fellow volunteers, the opportunities for learning, and the sense of satisfaction associated with being a guardian of a most special place.
| Here’s our 2025 leadership | |
|---|---|
| President – Debbie Jackson | Vice Presidents – Malcolm Davis & Justin Williams-Ruth |
| Secretary – Michelle Regan | Treasurer – Barbara Lind |
| Rose Show Chair – Ava Brock & Bruce Lind | Consulting Rosarian Chair – Bruce Lind |
| Program Chair – Ava Brock | Webmaster – Steve Mitchell |
Some benefits of becoming a member of this historic society
- ARS Continuing Education
- Hands-on learning with tools
- ARS national conventions
- Yearly Elected Officers & Board
- Monthly classes at our friendly meetings
- The Queens Herald Newsletter & archive
- Our Annual Rose show
- Rose & perennial plant sales
- Yearly ARS District Conference
- Monthly events like garden shows