The following article was written by Omaha Rose Society President, Anita Eckley, and Don Swanson, Master Rosarian. This appeared in the American Rose Society Magazine (Mar - Apr, 2008) edition... The article is about Ron Shaw a very special member of the Omaha Rose Society.

When I became seriously interested in growing roses, I consulted the ARS website to find a local expert in eastern Nebraska. I found the name of Ron Shaw, who lives not far from me in the town of Fremont, listed as a Consulting Rosarian. I called Ron, and he was more than willing to let me pick his brain on rose growing. After several hour-long phone calls, I received an invitation to visit his home and garden.

The Shaws’ rosebeds have produced not only some 35 hybrid tea show Queens, but also the Queens in four of the American Rose Society’s national photography contests, garnering Ron four covers of American Rose in addition to several photos in the ARS ROSES calendars.These honors weren’t easily earned — Shaw’s garden represents rose growing the hard way, in more aspects than one.

As Harlan Hamernick, owner of Bluebird Nursery, has noted: “If you can grow it in Nebraska, you can grow it anywhere.” The weather extremes can include weeks of temperatures in the minus teens in the winter, followed by summers with weeks of days over 100 degrees. To make matters more difficult, freeze and thaw can be experienced without any protecting snow cover. So Ron has developed a system of foam shelters, filled with leaves, that protect his beds during the long Nebraska winters.

The weather isn’t the only challenge to Ron’s rose growing. In 1954, he became one of the last Nebraskans to contract polio before vaccines became available. Since that time, he’s walked with a brace and cane. As post-polio syndrome set in, the additional damage has meant he must rely on a wheelchair more often. So he’s become a rose grower on wheels, using a golfcart-style garden tractor lovingly dubbed “The Mule” to tend his roses. As a consultant to the local Louis E. May Museum, he occasionally was known to putter about half a mile through the streets of Fremont on “The Mule” so he could ferry his tools around their burgeoning rose collection. The winter months are frustrating for Ron, cooped up indoors away from his gardens, but with the first hint of spring, he is outdoors from dusk to dawn, putting in hours of sweat-stained labor that would leave an able-bodied man half his age fleeing for the nearest shady spot and cold drink.

The Shaw garden is tucked away on a street of moderate-sized houses. The olive house with its blue trim has the charming gabled front of a less hurried era. The front gate marks the beginning of a series of brick pathways opening to two back yards — their own and that of their “rental cottage” next door, which the Shaws bought in the 1990s at least in part to contain their rapidly expanding garden. Surprisingly, Ron’s garden is not a huge exhibitor’s garden with 1,000 regimented roses. Instead, he carefully tends 140 to 150 perfectly groomed varieties, chosen in his ongoing search for the perfect rose. He reads the same materials that most exhibitors scan for hints of the coming bankers, but somehow he manages to not only pick the winner, but grooms his blooms to perfection to compete on the show table or to star in a photograph. Ron can recall each time he competed in either a show or a photographic contest with “picture perfect” detail. In addition to submitting these beauties for competition, each year he gathers some of his best photographs for a selection of unique custom note cards, which have become popular gifts among family and friends.

“Whether by invitation, or simply showing up on a pleasant summer day, visitors will probably be treated to a tour of the Shaws’ gardens…” The Shaws’ yard also features an array of cottage-garden style companion plantings for the roses, including delphiniums, baby’s breath, coral bells, and lupines, all tended by his beloved wife, Dorothy — who was the first rose-grower in the family.

In 2005, Ron received Fremont’s Pathfinder Award (named for the explorer who gave the town its name) and served as grand marshal for the city’s popular John C. Fremont Days Parade. This parade is one for which the small city turns out in force, with the crowds blocking the city streets. Tents host a variety of community performances and talent shows. In short, the Pathfinder Award is this community’s lifetime achievement award.

An anticipated June event in Fremont is the opening of the Shaw’s garden to a party called A Day of Wine and Roses — a community happening that is punctuated by the lovely garden, the food and wine provided by the caterers and the quality of conversation. But visitors don’t need to attend the Day of Wine and Roses to experience the delights of the Shaw garden. Whether by invitation, or simply showing up on a pleasant summer day, visitors will probably be treated to a tour of their gardens and the beautiful home where they have integrated dozens of Ron’s award-winning rose photographs with antiques collected over a lifetime. If you happen to be passing through Fremont — or even somewhere nearby — it’s an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.