Christmas Roses

Hi everyone, Winnie Griggs here.  I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving. Mine was lovely – I feel truly blessed.
As for today’s post, I’m going to break from my usual western-themed subject matter to tell you about another project I’m part of.

Shreveport, Louisiana is home to the national headquarters of the American Rose Society.  The Gardens of the American Rose Center are located on a 118-acre tract of wooded land and is the nation’s largest park dedicated to roses. The park features in excess of 65 individual rose gardens and somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 rosebushes. In addition the park is also filled with other plants, fountains and sculptures. And every year during the month of December, they transform the place into a winter wonderland known as Christmas in Roseland. It’s a magical place filled with lights, festive displays, entertainment, photos with Santa Claus and lots more.

As it happens, the Shreveport area is also where my local chapter of Romance Writers of America©, the NOLA STARs, is based. Last spring we decided to undertake a project where a number of our members would pen original short stories for an anthology and we wanted to feature the American Rose Society as part of the project. So nine of our members set out to write these stories with the only restrictions given is that each story be set during the Christmas Season and that there be some mention of the Rose Center as part of it. The result is a collection titled American Roses. Though the stories all contain those same two elements we started with, they are all as different as the authors who penned them. And I deviated from my normal setting to create a contemporary story. My contribution is titled A Crossword Puzzle Christmas and is a play on the ‘friends to lovers’ trope.  I had such fun writing it!

One of the neat things about this collection is that all of the authors have donated their stories – none will be collecting royalties. Instead, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Rose Society and the remainder will go back to our chapter.

And now, as a reward to you for reading through all of this, I’m going to give away a copy of the collection to one of the visitors who leaves a comment on this post between now and Tuesday afternoon. Just tell me your favorite rose-related memory or what variety/color of rose is your favorite and why.

CHRISTMAS ROSES

Come visit a place where love blooms and holiday magic fills the air…

Set against the background of the Gardens of the American Rose Center, these stories of hope and holiday cheer are sure to warm your heart and put you in a festive mood.

There’s no better gift than finding love among the roses. In this collection, you’ll find second chances at love, couples who find more than friendship under the mistletoe, and holiday reunions that bring the joy of the season. So grab a cup of hot cocoa and curl up with Christmas Roses.

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Winnie Griggs is the author of Historical (and occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts, Amazing Grace. She is also a list maker, a lover of dragonflies and holds an advanced degree in the art of procrastination.
Three of Winnie’s books have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and one of those nominations resulted in a win.
Winnie loves to hear from readers. You can connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author or email her at winnie@winniegriggs.com.

51 thoughts on “Christmas Roses”

  1. My grandpa always had roses planted beside his house. Granny loved them. When they both passed away I was able to get a little bit of one of the rose bushes. They are still growing and they are yellow roses. These roses have been apart of our family for over fifty years.

  2. Roses in full bloom are so beautiful. I love a deep peach colored rose. Quite unexpected one day my doorbell rang and there stood a gentleman saying he had a floral delivery for me. I couldn’t imagine who sent them. They were
    The most brilliant color peach and looked like velvet. Just gorgeous. I read the card and lo and behold they were from my newest daughter in law. 🙂 My son was deployed for 6 months at that point and we talked everyday by phone to ease each others worry. The roses were for being there she said. 🙂
    Carol Luciano

  3. My husband is a great gift and flower giver, so special occasions means lots of beautiful roses. But my favorites are the ones he cuts for me from his own rose garden and brings in in a vase – I have a couple that have survived the cooler weather sitting on my desk right now. Sounds like a wonderful collection of stories, and a wonderful holiday place. Thanks.

  4. Winnie, thanks for sharing. This is a great subject. I’ve visited Shreveport many times, as my mama’s family came to Texas from Louisiana. I wish I’d know about this before now. Have a great week, fellow Filly! Hugs, Phyliss

  5. Beautiful post, Winnie! I do love roses — but love them as a bush and shrub, not in a flower vase. Unfortunately for me the smell reminds me of unhappy times — but not the shrub or bush. : ) Beautiful post.

  6. A number of years ago my sister-in-law took us to the Portland, Oregon, rose garden in June. What a beautiful experience and fragrant, too. We have many roses in our yard and I love all the colors from oranges to lavender to a deep red that is almost black.

  7. I have a few rose bushes. My dad grew a lot, and I had some like his: Ingrid Bergman (red) and Double Delight (variegated), but they haven’t done well. My knockout roses have done well.

  8. I don’t really have a rose story, but I do love white or peach colored roses. I also love the mini-rose bushes that you can buy. A subtle rose scent is my favorite, not something really overpowering.

    Thank you for the giveaway Winnie. Looks like a great collection of stories!

  9. I had no idea there was a Gardens of the American Rose Center in the Shreveport area. I would definitely have made an effort to visit it the last time we headed down that way this past Spring. It must be lovely when the roses are in bloom. I will be looking up more information on it just in case we head that way again.
    I don’t have a favorite rose. Most have something to recommend them. I do like the fragrant old roses and the wild ones that grow in spreading bushes. There was a lovely pink one in the pasture across the street from us. Unfortunately, the owner cut it down and sprayed it with Round-up. I never got a chance to get a shoot to plant along our fence line. Knock-Out roses are perfect for the fence line and do well.
    I have two lavender roses that are doing well. I love their color. I have a climbing white rose, a red tea rose (smells lovely), a peach rose, and a red Knock-Out rose down by the fence.

  10. What a neat collection! I adore the deep red, the yellow, and the peach colored ones. They are all beautiful to me.

  11. I like white roses with navy blue around the tips of petals. No particular memory associated with it, but those two color combinations have always struck me.

  12. My favorites are the ones that are yellow in the middle and change to pink on the ends. I think they are called peace roses.

  13. I like coral colored roses. We visit the West of the Lake Gardens in Manitowoc, WI every summer. http://www.westfoundation.us/ It’s located on the shore of Lake Michigan, I’ve never seen so many rose color variations. GORGEOUS!

    My maternal grandmother’s name was Rose. My grandfather would frequently surprise her with a different colored rose. They were together for over 60 years.

  14. My favorite rose memory is the first rose ever given to me. It was by my now husband and he bought me a single red rose. He told me it was a JUST BECAUSE ROSE just because he loved me. I meant the world to me then and still does. I still cherish the just because roses that he still surprises me with on occasion.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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