To borrow from Ethel Merman, “Everything’s Coming up Roses” for Gretchen and Michael Humphrey at this time of year.
Many passersby enjoy the couple’s beautiful roses as they drive along Southwest 121st in Tigard, with hundreds of bushes producing thousands of beautiful blooms each season. But the flowers glimpsed along the street are only part of the entire garden that covers about three-quarters of an acre.
Gretchen originally planted “25-ish” rose bushes and started going to rose shows, wondering why she couldn’t grow the beautiful long-stemmed ones she would see there. She joined the Portland Rose Society, which is the oldest one in the United States as well as the largest one. (It was founded by Georgiana Pittock in 1888, and the organization’s annual rose show developed into a parade and pageant by 1906, which became the Portland Rose Festival.)
“I thought they would be secretive and not willing to share their secrets, but they were just the opposite,” said Gretchen, who learned that part of the problem was that her soil was not the correct pH level for roses. “I added amenities,” she said. “Then I decided I was all in. I picked up a lot by listening, and there were opportunities to learn from experts.”
Armed with new information and techniques, Gretchen started exhibiting her roses in the early 1990s.
“I would go to shows with a friend who was a novice like me, and we entered our roses,” she said. “I got an award for ‘best novice’ in the spring, and she won ‘best novice’ in the fall.
“I had a couple successes, but I also entered a lot of shows and won nothing,” she added. “There was a judging school in 1993, and on a whim, I signed up. I figured if I learned what judges are looking for, I would do better in the shows.”
The two-day training featured classroom instruction on the first day with a written test, and a hands-on practicum the second day, where students judged roses and wrote comments about the six to eight elements that go into determining winners.
“I passed the test to be a judge,” Gretchen said. “Now I feel like I know what I’m talking about, but I’m still learning.”
In 2002, one of Gretchen’s blooms won the top prize, Queen of Show, at a Portland Rose Society show.
Originally, Michael helped Gretchen, who was a teacher, with the gardening and stayed home with their two young daughters when she went to shows, but he eventually became “all in” in the family rose business.
“One Saturday when our youngest was in her late teens, I asked Gretchen if I could go to a show with her,” he said. “I started going. She was judging by then, and I would help her with that. At one show, she asked if I would clerk for her, which is helping the judging team by tying ribbons on the roses, carrying the roses to the judging table, and so on. There was a judging school in Olympia, and I went and became a judge and got more involved with the shows.”
Gretchen added, “People were amazed. They said, ‘Where have you been keeping him?’”
The couple have learned from their mistakes over the years. They place umbrellas over the rose bushes before shows if rain is in the forecast, but one year when heavy rain was predicted, they draped a tarp over the bushes. Hail fell, which collapsed the tarp onto the rose bushes. “Every single bloom was broken off,” said Gretchen, and Michael added, “We’ve learned how to do better umbrellas.”
And they have added a large cooler where they can put roses that reach perfection up to two weeks before an upcoming show.
In 2012, Gretchen became president of the Portland Rose Society for six years after serving as assistant director for several years. Michael followed in her footsteps, starting a term as president in 2017, and they both were knighted by the Royal Rosarians while president.
The Portland organization is part of the American Rose Society, which is divided into districts, and this October Michael will become a Northwest district director.
Both Gretchen and Michael are also on the board of the Friends of the International Rose Test Garden in Portland and volunteer there.
“You meet so many good people,” said Michael, who has contributed his construction skills both in their garden – building trellises and raised beds – and also building the float used in the Rose Society’s entry in the Starlight Parade each year. “He’s done a lot,” Gretchen said.
So how many rose bushes do the Humphreys own? “Well, 550 or 600-ish,” Gretchen answered. “I haven’t counted in a while. Every year we buy a couple more.”
Michael added, “It’s a fun hobby.”
(This reporter originally interviewed Gretchen in 2002 after she won Queen of Show at a Portland Rose Society show.)
