Tuesday I awoke early in the morning so I could have breakfast with my good friend Jacob in Dallas. I drove back to the farm, where I looked at my calendar and realized I had a speech in Dallas that evening with the Dallas Historical Rose Society (DAHRS). I called Mr. Graves to confirm that they still planned on me coming. He said yes, and I headed to the train station to catch the 9:50 train to Dallas (my legs couldn’t take the drive again).

DAHRS was established in 1982 and to this day continues to work towards expanding the knowledge of old garden roses. They have a wonderful monthly publication called “The Yellow Rose,” and if you come to the meetings you might receive freshly shelled pecans like I did! Their website is www.antiqueroses.org.

In Dallas that evening, I gave my presentation. There were some familiar faces, previous customers, and well wishers. I enjoyed seeing them all! I also met Dean Oswald, who in conjunction with other members such as Mr. Graves has planned the Chambersville Heritage Rose Garden just north of McKinney. The garden is on the same grounds as Mr. Oswald’s tree farm, Chambersville Tree Farms (www.chambersvilletreefarms.com).

The roses are planted with far enough spacing to completely grow to their natural size and only minimal trimming is required. I was invited with a friend to see the garden the next morning, so at 6AM we left Dallas and headed north!

Dean gave us a fabulous tour of the facilities, but of course the real draw for me was bulbs that marked the original homesite. Dean and I went bulb hunting around the old gardens, and found wonderful stashes of spider lilies (Lycoris radiata), cemetery white iris (Iris albicans), oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida), grape hyacinths (Muscari neglectum), and others. Nothing of the home could be seen any more, and while we were there nothing was blooming. However, in the grey winter landscape, the green foliage that had persisted for well over fifty years on this rocky site had a beauty all of its own.

Spider lily (Lycoris radiata)

Oxblood lily (Rhodophiala bifida)

Cemetery white iris (Iris albicans)

Grape hyacinths (Muscari neglectum)

Mrs. Graves, wife of Mr. Graves, told me the story of how as a girl her sisters and she would go to the seamstress that lived on that site. There they would be fitted for their ballet outfits. While they were waiting for their turn, they would play in the creek and catch crawdads. Then it was back to McKinney where they lived.

On our way out of town, we could not help but stop and peak over the fence at the Chambersville Cemetery, where the former residents of the home were probably buried.