Rose Society's annual rose show set for next Thursday in Tupelo

OKOLONA — Nancy Anderson, a member of the Northeast Mississippi Rose Society, grows a variety of roses in the garden beside her home in Okolona, several of which will be entered in the society's annual rose show next week.

Anderson's parents and grandparents grew roses, and she joined the local Rose Society chapter around eight years ago.

"I had some coworkers who grew beautiful roses, and they would bring them to work," Anderson said. "I always admired them, and we talked about their roses, and a couple of them were part of the Rose Society so I gradually got into attending."

The Northeast Mississippi Rose Society will host its annual rose show in the Renasant Bank Atrium, located at 209 Troy Street in Tupelo, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. The show is free and open to the public.

Anderson has entered roses in the show for each year she's been a member. Anyone can enter, she said, no matter the size of their garden.

"You don't have to have a lot of roses," Anderson said. "You just have to have one. Just bring something that you like, or something that you know the name of and would like to share, if you want to enter."

Awards will be given in categories including hybrid tea, floribunda, grandiflora, miniature roses, mini-flora, shrub roses and polyantha.

"It's just exciting every year to get together and see what everybody brings," Anderson said.

She personally enjoys seeing new varieties people have grown and enjoying the fragrance in the bank that day.

Anderson's own rose garden includes varieties like Duchesse de Brabant, Queen of Sweden, drift roses, knockout roses, hybrid teas and more. The reason she first started and continues to grow roses is simple, she said. It's all about the beauty.

For more information about the rose show, call 662-419-9737.