Every June, during peak bloom season at our Oregon nursery, Heirloom™ invites a small group of rose growers, gardeners, and genuine rose lovers for one of our favorite weeks of the year. This year, seven brand ambassadors and renowned rose hybridizer Brad Jalbert of Select Roses joined us.
Over the course of 72 hours, they toured our growing facilities, learned how we propagate and care for our own-root roses, shared meals, made bouquets, hiked to a waterfall, and spent golden hour among the blooms at our Saint Paul stock fields.
The best way to experience the trip is to watch it.
Meet the Crew
Brooke (@whatbrookegrows), Zone 9a, Central Texas
Quilenthia (@mydearestgarden), Zone 8a, Bethlehem, Georgia
Antonio (@antoniovalenteflowers), Zone 5b, Ontario, Canada
Angela (@growing.in.the.garden), Zone 9, Mesa, Arizona
Robin (@b.blumenflowerfarm), Zone 7b, Godley, Texas
Katy (@roseladykaty), Zone 7a, Northern Virginia
Natalia (@happi.farm.ga), Zone 8a, Northern Georgia
Brad Jalbert, rose hybridizer of Select Roses
Grown with Intention: Own-Root Roses and Natural Pest Management
Every year, certain moments stand out. This year, it was a tour of our second growing facility. Our ambassadors got a preview last year when it was just getting started. This year, they saw it complete: over 300,000 square feet, home to 550,000 own-root roses.
Own-root means each plant is grown from a cutting, not grafted onto another rootstock. It takes longer and it's more labor-intensive, but the result is healthier, more disease-resistant roses that always grow true to variety. That's the Heirloom™ standard, and seeing it at scale made an impression.
Keeping those plants healthy means managing pests thoughtfully. We use beneficial insects throughout our growing process rather than routine chemical applications. It's better for the plants, better for the people working alongside them every day, and better for the gardens these roses eventually call home. Walking through the facility, several of our ambassadors lit up at this, many of them already use our beneficial insect subscription to manage pests in their own gardens, and loved seeing that we practice the same approach in our greenhouses and stock fields.
The People Behind the Plants
Our ambassadors come from zones 5b to 9a. Some have hundreds of roses, while some are just getting started. What they share is a genuine love of growing and a willingness to learn alongside their communities.
Follow along with this year's crew on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.