Savor the sights and scents of antique roses in peak bloom and taste local wines in the garden. Join Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s Rosarian Laurie McMinn for her talk on caring for antique and modern roses. Laurie will discuss the diseases and insects that find their way into our gardens as well as the best strategies to preserve your beautiful roses. Included are organic suggestions for pesticides, feeding the soil, and current recommendations for managing Rose Rosette disease.
Following Laurie’s talk, explore the Center’s collection of antique roses with Monticello’s own rose expert, Curator of Plants Peggy Cornett.
From 12-2, don’t miss the “Father of Virginia Wine,” Gabriele Rausse, as he hosts a tasting of his esteemed local wines.
A wide selection of historic plants, including antique roses, will be for sale.
10 AM - 2 PM, Jefferson’s Tufton Farm · FREE; no registration required. GPS Address: 1293 Tufton Farm, Charlottesville, VA
Laurie McMinn is the Rosarian Horticulturist for the Louise Cochrane Rose Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia. Laurie has worked for Saunders Brothers Nursery since 2000, and currently consults on the Plant Growth Regulators program for their Annual and Perennial crops. She has also worked as the Historic Grounds Supervisor for the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, VA, and has conducted heirloom fruit tree grafting workshops with Tom Burford. Laurie is a Certified Virginia Horticulturist and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Boxwood Society.
Peggy Cornett has worked at Monticello since 1983. She began as Associate Director of Gardens and Grounds, and then, from 1992-2009, she served as Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants before assuming her current position as Curator of Plants at Monticello. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in English and Botany, and she has a master’s degree in Public Garden Administration and Museum Studies from the Longwood Graduate Program of the University of Delaware.
Gabriele Rausse, Monticello’s Director of Gardens and Grounds, first grafted Jefferson’s 1807 wine varietals for Monticello in 1984. Eleven years later he joined the staff as Assistant Director of Gardens and Grounds. Gabriele, a native of Vicenza, Italy, graduated in Agricultural Science from Milan University. He first worked for the Tenuta Santa Margherita winery outside Venice and later was invited to Virginia to begin what is now Barboursville Vineyards in 1976. Gabriele, “the father of Virginia wine,” has helped to start over 40 vineyards and ten Virginia wineries, and was nominated the Virginia wine industry's Man of the Year in 1996. At a recent talk by noted wine critic and author, John Hailman, Gabriele was called "the nicest guy in the Virginia wine industry." Add to that, "the most knowledgeable.”