shauna moore supervisor rudolph van der goot rose garden curator colonial park somerset county park commission summer rose care

Five mornings a week, Shauna Moore hops her bright green four-wheel John Deer Gator and inspects all the gardens at Colonial Park in Somerset, New Jersey. Shauna came to the park’s Rudolph van der Goot Rose Garden as its new rosarian six years ago. Now she is Supervisor of Horticulture for Somerset County Park Commission’s Colonial Park and Curator of the rose garden.

Horticulture is Shauna’s life’s work. With a MA in Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota and 20 years at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, she was ready! Arriving in February, even with everything dormant, she thought, “Oh my gosh! I’ve got to be here!”

In addition to daily administrative work, marketing, social media, maintaining the rose garden, and curating and maintaining plants in other garden areas, she runs educational seminars, tours, and teaches classes in normal years.

In the rose garden, 3,300 plants of 300 cultivated varieties occupy its 1.5 acres. Many are classic Hybrid Ts “Everybody wants to see Double Delight. Everybody wants to see Mr. Lincoln and the Peace Rose is the most elegant of all,” she says.

“I love plants that are beautiful and fragrant and perform well. I like things that are showy. Beauty is key to me. I don’t want to be blasting the universe with chemicals anymore to attain that aesthetic. I prefer plant species seen in formal gardens. There’s room here for both the hybrid Ts and the natives. I love plants that are a little more challenging. I don’t think it’s worth growing a rose if it doesn’t have a scent.”

Their biggest problem is combatting rose rosette, Shauna says. Surrounded by Rosa multiflora, the disease host, they spend lots of time getting rid of the mites (the culprits) blown in the wind. Some years they’ve lost up to 28 plants, this year just one. “We don’t use leaf blowers; we don’t want to blow it (the disease) around,” she says. A plant stands a chance of survival, albeit small, if the disease is caught early enough and the rose’s infected parts are removed. But best practice is to remove the entire plant and toss it in the trash.

“You can plant another rose right in that hole,” Shauna says. “Even if bits of root remain, it’s still safe to plant. You really need to get rid of that infected rose. Mites can blow 100 miles.” Texas A&M is conducting research on resistant varieties and developing ways to combat rose rosette. Native Rosa setigera, known as “prairie rose,” and other native and species roses, are being tested. Some are showing good resistance to rose rosette.

Shauna’s Tips:
 Give them lots of food and water.
 Trust your intuition.
 Don’t be afraid to try growing more because they really are worth the effort.
 Always try to shoot for the fragrant ones.
 Deadheading is key.
 Don’t worry so much about Japanese beetles. They come and go. They’re not worth trying to treat with pesticides.
 Enjoy it.