Misc:
Other Interesting Sites
Text Site Map

Biographical Profile of
Dr. John Shaw
ARS Nominations & Awards Chair

Local Rose Society Membership: San Joaquin Valley Rose Society

Other Societies & Groups: San Diego Rose Society (Life Member)

Years Growing Roses: Rose grower since 1953

How I Started with Roses: My father grew roses and dahlias in San Diego. He worked dry cleaning clothes that required him to be on the job at about 5 AM. After getting home in mid-afternoon he liked to work in the fresh air away from the smell of cleaning solvent that he inhaled at work. When he died in 1953 it fell to me to take care of his roses and dahlias.

One of the first things I did after my wife, Judy, and I moved into our home in 1966 was to plant 30 own-root bushes of 'Red Glory'( F mr) bred by Herb Swim and introduced in 1958 by Armstrong Nursery as a living hedge. For the next ten years other roses were added to our garden. In the mid-1970s I attended a meeting of the Fresno Dahlia Society to find a local source of dahlia tubers. There began the adventure of being part of the world of flower societies. I was encouraged to enter some dahlia blooms in the Fresno District Fair; I won some awards. The following week the Fair had its rose competition. I didn't know anything about exhibiting roses but I decided to give it a shot away. My father had owned a book, which now belongs to me, by R.C. Allen, Roses for Every Garden. After consulting Allen's nine page chapter on the "Pleasures and Pitfalls of Exhibiting" I was off to the Fair again.

Again I won some ribbons. One class I didn't win was for a Single Hybrid Tea. What a surprise I had when I later discovered they did not mean ONE hybrid tea bloom. A couple of people at the fair encouraged me to attend a meeting of the San Joaquin Valley Rose Society. Judy and I have been attending ever since.

Profession: Professor Emeritus of Economics, California State University, Fresno, 1965 - 2002 (retired as senior member of the University faculty and Grand Marshal). From 1961 through 1965 I taught first at San Diego State College and then at Purdue University. In total, I spent 41 years teaching Economics. In retirement I have done some contract consulting and have been an expert witness in a personal injury case.

Rose Society Offices: Deputy Director, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District of the American Rose Society, 1989 - 1995. I was the first person to serve in the position when it was created in 1989.
Coordinator, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District, Proof of the Pudding (Roses in Review), 1983 - 1995
Chairperson, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District Conference, 1986
Chairman of Judges, National Convention Show, San Jose, CA, June 1991
Program Chairman, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District Conference, 1992
Chairperson, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District Trophies and Awards Committee, 1997-98
Chairman of Judges, First National Miniature Rose Show, Fresno, CA, September 1999
Vice President, San Joaquin Valley Rose Society, 1979 & 1980
President, San Joaquin Valley Rose Society, 1980 & 1981
Board of Directors, San Joaquin Valley Rose Society 1982 - 2001, 2005-present
SJVRS society’s representative on the District Awards Committee c. 2003-present

Comments: Life Member of American Rose Society, since 1981
Recipient, Silver Honor Medal of the American Rose Society, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District, 1988
Life Consulting Rosarian of the American Rose Society, appointed 1979
Accredited Judge (Life since 1988), American Rose Society
Outstanding Judge Award, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii District, 1992
Recipient, Bronze Honor Medal of the American Rose Society, San Joaquin Valley Rose Society, 2001
Master Rosarian, 2005
John A. Shaw, “Before Floribundas There Were Polyanthas,” American Rose Annual 1994
Hybridized roses ‘Blanche Wimer’ Min pb, registered 1986, ‘Judy Shaw’ F ab, registered 2000
Helped to redesign, plant and maintain the Memorial Rose Garden, CSU, Fresno
Liaison between Memorial Rose Garden, CSU, Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley Rose Society for many years
I have been an instructor at many Horticultural Judging Schools over the years.
Many years ago I was asked to spend a day on Alcatraz surveying for rose plants on the island. Our group was technically non-paid employees for the day of some government agency, I think it was the Department of the Interior. It was a great experience wandering around the off-limit portions of the island looking for roses.
President, Fresno Dahlia Society, 1979, 1980, & 1981
Senior Judge, American Dahlia Society

Special Memories: I have learned many things being around flower people including the fact that there are very large numbers of really great cooks in flower societies.
Over the years I have been fortunate to meet and know a number of truly remarkable rosarians. They range from members of the San Joaquin Valley Rose Society to Presidents of the American Rose Society and world renowned rose hybridizers.
Blanche Wimer, a founding member of the SJVRS, provided me with many hours of instruction and companionship shaping the rosarian I have become.
The hours spent talking to Ralph S. Moore, hybridizer extraordinaire, are some of the most precious of my flower life. Two special occasions jump to the front of my memory. The first was a tour of the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens during a District Conference in Santa Rosa in which I happen to be in the small group with Mr. Moore. As we toured the grounds he related his experiences as a young man working with Luther Burbank. The second was during the six or seven hours Judy and I spent driving Ralph to and from a District Conference in Sacramento. Ralph liked to talk and we were delighted and fascinated to be his audience for the trip.
We continue to miss a long list of rosarians we have known over the years who are no longer with us. What a wonderful Conference we could put on if we could have all of them together with us again.

Last updated: 1/1/13
©NCNH District
All Rights Reserved