What do you think?
Rate this book
Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening
Twice a year America's rose lovers cut the prettiest blossoms off their best plants and travel to the national rose show, where they lovingly groom their precious blooms for hours in a frigid hall in order to contend for the highest the Queen of Show. Doctors. Teachers. Sheet metal mechanics. Lawyers. Truck drivers. Men and women. These are type A gardeners, and for them this is a blood sport. They grow tender roses in the frigid North and disease prone roses in the humid South simply for the challenge. They decorate otherwise lovely yards with paper bags and panty hose to isolate their choice specimens. They traipse through overgrown fields in the worst weather to save antique roses from extinction.
Aurelia Scott trails these self-professed Roseaholics as they plan, prepare, and compete, battling high winds, Japanese beetles, and the finicky demands of their precious charges. With all the appeal of Word Freak , Otherwise Normal People celebrates the singular satisfaction of cultivating beauty—and, of course, the thrill of victory.
Aurelia Scott trails these self-professed Roseaholics as they plan, prepare, and compete, battling high winds, Japanese beetles, and the finicky demands of their precious charges. With all the appeal of Word Freak , Otherwise Normal People celebrates the singular satisfaction of cultivating beauty—and, of course, the thrill of victory.
290 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2007
6 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Aurelia C. Scott
1 book2 followersAurelia C. Scott lives in Portland, Maine with her husband and a Cape Cod Weeder. She moved to Maine in 1997 from Taos, NM, where she helped start a children’s garden and found a Habitat for Humanity project.
Her first non-fiction book, Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening won the Garden Writers Association Gold Award for Best Book Writing. She has also won the Writer's Digest Grand Prize. (And her school history and science prizes in ninth grade, an accomplishment that went immediately to her head.)
As Contributing Editor for AudioFile Magazine, she interviews authors and audiobook narrators, and listens to so many audiobooks that her ears turn numb. She has also served as Historical Editor for Garden Compass Magazine, writing profiles of the luminaries of yesteryear's plant world.
Her first published piece was a feature article for American Heritage Magazine’s Invention and Technology series about the ancient irrigation system she used to water her New Mexico gardens. Aurelia has since written personal essays, and articles people, plants, and travel, for the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Down East, and Fine Gardening among many other publications. Currently, she is writing a fantasy adventure novel set in the 19th century and a memoir about women, lingerie, and nakedness.
Aurelia is a Portland Trails past President and Advisory Trustee, and volunteers as a Master Gardener in the Yardscaping demonstration gardens on Portland’s Back Cove. This most frequently involves an astonishing amount of hand-weeding.
Her first non-fiction book, Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening won the Garden Writers Association Gold Award for Best Book Writing. She has also won the Writer's Digest Grand Prize. (And her school history and science prizes in ninth grade, an accomplishment that went immediately to her head.)
As Contributing Editor for AudioFile Magazine, she interviews authors and audiobook narrators, and listens to so many audiobooks that her ears turn numb. She has also served as Historical Editor for Garden Compass Magazine, writing profiles of the luminaries of yesteryear's plant world.
Her first published piece was a feature article for American Heritage Magazine’s Invention and Technology series about the ancient irrigation system she used to water her New Mexico gardens. Aurelia has since written personal essays, and articles people, plants, and travel, for the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Down East, and Fine Gardening among many other publications. Currently, she is writing a fantasy adventure novel set in the 19th century and a memoir about women, lingerie, and nakedness.
Aurelia is a Portland Trails past President and Advisory Trustee, and volunteers as a Master Gardener in the Yardscaping demonstration gardens on Portland’s Back Cove. This most frequently involves an astonishing amount of hand-weeding.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 8, 2017
My grandfather used to grow roses, not competitively, but because he liked them. I grew up knowing the names of hundreds of them and how to prune them. In my garden in London was a beech tree, about 80' tall and certainly planted before 1852 when the house was built. Some years it would be covered right to the top in wild pink roses. That was a sight to see. And that gave me the interest to read this book.
This is a quirky book essentially about a small group of mostly retired gentlemen with a couple of ladies who grow roses competitively. Their interest is at the level of an obsession where their gardens might contain anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand rose bushes, all of which have to be fed, watered, pruned and picked-over to a demanding weekly schedule. For those outside of the sunnier climes of the States, the bushes also have to be protected from the cold of winter by burying them, bringing them indoors or building eccentric contraptions to protect them. Otherwise, these rose growers are normal people! The competitions are really anything but thorny - nice people generally helping each other out, competing for bragging rights and perhaps a fancy trophy, no financial rewards at all.
It's a gentle read, nice to read for yourself sitting outside with a drink in hand on a summer's evening and a lovely gift to give a gardener to read in the depths of winter when there is no work in the garden and time to read and plan for the next season.
The book has brought back to mind growing up in a village, a hamlet really, in Wales, where the garden was separated from the meadows by a stream and where wild dog roses grew in abundance over the brambles, pink and white, with tart red hips interspersed with the glossy blackberries in the autumn. And here I am living on a yacht in Florida waiting for a flight to go back to my island in the Caribbean where there are no flowers or fruit anything much any=since Irma, Maria and three other storms blew through.
This is a quirky book essentially about a small group of mostly retired gentlemen with a couple of ladies who grow roses competitively. Their interest is at the level of an obsession where their gardens might contain anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand rose bushes, all of which have to be fed, watered, pruned and picked-over to a demanding weekly schedule. For those outside of the sunnier climes of the States, the bushes also have to be protected from the cold of winter by burying them, bringing them indoors or building eccentric contraptions to protect them. Otherwise, these rose growers are normal people! The competitions are really anything but thorny - nice people generally helping each other out, competing for bragging rights and perhaps a fancy trophy, no financial rewards at all.
It's a gentle read, nice to read for yourself sitting outside with a drink in hand on a summer's evening and a lovely gift to give a gardener to read in the depths of winter when there is no work in the garden and time to read and plan for the next season.
The book has brought back to mind growing up in a village, a hamlet really, in Wales, where the garden was separated from the meadows by a stream and where wild dog roses grew in abundance over the brambles, pink and white, with tart red hips interspersed with the glossy blackberries in the autumn. And here I am living on a yacht in Florida waiting for a flight to go back to my island in the Caribbean where there are no flowers or fruit anything much any=since Irma, Maria and three other storms blew through.
June 7, 2008
I admit that I am obsessed with gardening at the moment... What was once a simple collection of herbs and a patch of largely neglected succulents has become a magnet for attention. Bourgeois. Indulgent. But organic!
This book introduced me to a world I barely gleaned from the outside. It reminded me of the joy that I feel when visiting the Oakland Rose Garden or when recalling the scent of the rose bushes outside the moldy shack I lived in as a child. It made me recall my mother's once loved perfume, tea rose, and the rose bush near which I spread her ashes. To be sure, I will soon be engaging in some cutting and cultivating of my own.
This book also pushed me online for images of the roses and weirdos (who aren't weird so much as dedicated) the author mentions. In fact, that's my main gripe... no photographs. What an odd decision on the part of the publishers... Still, this was a quick case study of quirky rosarians... some of whom I hope to met when I go to the San Francisco Rose Show on 21 June!
This book introduced me to a world I barely gleaned from the outside. It reminded me of the joy that I feel when visiting the Oakland Rose Garden or when recalling the scent of the rose bushes outside the moldy shack I lived in as a child. It made me recall my mother's once loved perfume, tea rose, and the rose bush near which I spread her ashes. To be sure, I will soon be engaging in some cutting and cultivating of my own.
This book also pushed me online for images of the roses and weirdos (who aren't weird so much as dedicated) the author mentions. In fact, that's my main gripe... no photographs. What an odd decision on the part of the publishers... Still, this was a quick case study of quirky rosarians... some of whom I hope to met when I go to the San Francisco Rose Show on 21 June!
September 29, 2015
Excellently written. I do not like roses, especially the varieties shown or sold by florists. However, this well-written book about competitive rose gardening and exhibiting was enthralling. I could hardly put it down. Now that's good writing! Eventually the author talks about OGRs or Old Garden Roses. I became interested in them and now look at the bushes in my neighborhood with more interest. OGRs are historical roses, not particularly groomed when shown, and acquired by taking cuttings when finding them.
So why did I even read a book subtitled "Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening" when I DO NOT LIKE ROSES? I picked it up in one of our local neighborhood "Little Free Library" kiosks. I gave it former Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl's recommendation to read 50 pages then quit if you don't like it. Amazingly, I liked the book. As I said, excellently written.
So why did I even read a book subtitled "Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening" when I DO NOT LIKE ROSES? I picked it up in one of our local neighborhood "Little Free Library" kiosks. I gave it former Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl's recommendation to read 50 pages then quit if you don't like it. Amazingly, I liked the book. As I said, excellently written.
July 15, 2007
This was an enlightening look into the world of rose growers, a world I hadn't even bothered to imagine exist. It's a fascinating topic, and could be made into an intriguing, colorful book. Unfortunately, this one isn't it. It's competently written, but doesn't delve into the characters as I would have liked to do. Also I got really tired of all the descriptions of everyone's clothes. Unless it's something remarkable, I don't need to be told what color cardigan everyone was wearing. But the book did hold my interest and it was a fast read. It taught me about the history of roses, rose grooming and rose competitions, and offered a peek into the culture of rose growers. And it had the added benefit of making me feel better about loving such a generic flower as the rose. At least I have the sense to prefer yellow ones: Pink or red would be intolerably unoriginal. Yellow's just borderline.
June 7, 2011
Aurelia Scott brings to life the enchanting world of competitive rose gardening through her portrayal of those who have fully committed themselves to following their passion. Scott traveled from the northeast to the south west in the months leading up to the ARS Spring National Rose Show in San Diego, CA to learn what it takes to grow roses competitively and get to the essence of the obsession. The journey is filled with ingenuity, hope, hard work and poetry.
As a person with a passing appreciation for roses, Otherwise Normal People brought to life the richness of variety and deep history of the rose. I will never look at them in quite the same way. The enthusiasm of rosarians is infectious and I found myself eyeing a spot or two in the yard that looked a bit bare.
I would recommend this book to anyone with interest in gardening in general or roses in particular.
As a person with a passing appreciation for roses, Otherwise Normal People brought to life the richness of variety and deep history of the rose. I will never look at them in quite the same way. The enthusiasm of rosarians is infectious and I found myself eyeing a spot or two in the yard that looked a bit bare.
I would recommend this book to anyone with interest in gardening in general or roses in particular.
May 23, 2017
My mother grows roses - and I initially read this book to help me understand more about why she enjoys growing roses.
What I didn't expect to find is a community of rose growers that are *fanatical* about growing roses in the same way that my daughter is about dance and several friends of mine are about historical re-enactment. In this community, people tend to their roses in the same way that owners and trainers train and tend horses destined for the Kentucky Derby or the Longines Grand Prix.
The book was a fascinating read, and I ended up championing my favorite rose growers and stories in the same way that I champion my favorite Kentucky Derby pick every year. Even if you don't have an interest in roses or gardening, if you enjoy stories about competition and the personalities behind the successful athletes (in this situation - the roses) you are likely to enjoy this book.
What I didn't expect to find is a community of rose growers that are *fanatical* about growing roses in the same way that my daughter is about dance and several friends of mine are about historical re-enactment. In this community, people tend to their roses in the same way that owners and trainers train and tend horses destined for the Kentucky Derby or the Longines Grand Prix.
The book was a fascinating read, and I ended up championing my favorite rose growers and stories in the same way that I champion my favorite Kentucky Derby pick every year. Even if you don't have an interest in roses or gardening, if you enjoy stories about competition and the personalities behind the successful athletes (in this situation - the roses) you are likely to enjoy this book.
March 30, 2011
I learned a lot from this book. One of the things I learned is that, if the daylily people I hang out with seem a little crazy, rose people take craziness to a whole new level! But, to be fair, the book does focus on "competitive rose gardening". I assume there are rose growers who are a tad less obsessive about their hobby than those featured in the book.
December 6, 2007
A peek into the rarefied world of the rose show exhibitor. Fun, interesting, and guaranteed to make you seem ordinary by comparison.
March 12, 2022
"Twice a year tens of thousands of otherwise normal people cut the prettiest blooms off their best roses and head into battle at the National Rose Show. Their goal? To win Queen of Show.
"Doctors. Teachers. Sheet metal mechanics. Lawyers. Truck drivers. Men and women. These are Type A gardeners, and for them this is a blood sport.
"In Otherwise Normal People, Aurelia C. Scott follows these self-professed Roseaholics as they plan, prepare, and compete, battling high winds, Japanese beetles, and the finicky demands of their precious charges. Along the way we meet a former race-car driver who plans years in advance for each show; a forensic chemist whose collection of hybrid teas and miniatures tops out at nearly one thousand; a genteel woman who traipses through abandoned lots rescuing antique varieties; a doctor who woos his wife with his horticultural obsession and prowess; and, presiding over them all, the ingenious Clarence Rhodes, creator of the world's most amazing gardening contraptions.
"...Normal People celebrates the cultivation of a singular obsession -- and, of course, the thrill of victory."
~~front & back flaps
Mildly entertaining, but not especially compelling.
"Doctors. Teachers. Sheet metal mechanics. Lawyers. Truck drivers. Men and women. These are Type A gardeners, and for them this is a blood sport.
"In Otherwise Normal People, Aurelia C. Scott follows these self-professed Roseaholics as they plan, prepare, and compete, battling high winds, Japanese beetles, and the finicky demands of their precious charges. Along the way we meet a former race-car driver who plans years in advance for each show; a forensic chemist whose collection of hybrid teas and miniatures tops out at nearly one thousand; a genteel woman who traipses through abandoned lots rescuing antique varieties; a doctor who woos his wife with his horticultural obsession and prowess; and, presiding over them all, the ingenious Clarence Rhodes, creator of the world's most amazing gardening contraptions.
"...Normal People celebrates the cultivation of a singular obsession -- and, of course, the thrill of victory."
~~front & back flaps
Mildly entertaining, but not especially compelling.
October 28, 2021
I read this because the title amused me. There were some great stories in here, but overall I felt like the eponymous rose people actually were pretty normal! They’re just disciplined regarding their hobby, which… I expected.
I myself don’t particularly want to get into competitive gardening, but I can see why they enjoy it.
I especially liked the story of the student who talked his professors into letting him grow roses on their property, and then he showered the most popular girl on campus with them. Turned out she did really like roses, and chose him, and they moved to America and lived happily ever after and now they win rose competitions. 🌹
I myself don’t particularly want to get into competitive gardening, but I can see why they enjoy it.
I especially liked the story of the student who talked his professors into letting him grow roses on their property, and then he showered the most popular girl on campus with them. Turned out she did really like roses, and chose him, and they moved to America and lived happily ever after and now they win rose competitions. 🌹
December 14, 2018
This is an eccentric book and I loved it. Made me want to start growing roses.
August 22, 2023
Gentle, likeable! I want to grow a nice fragrant disease-resistant messy organic rose now (just the one).
February 3, 2024
An entertaining look at the world of competitive rose growing and showing that manages to embed a surprising amount of horticultural history. Well written.
May 27, 2008
It was interesting to be introduced to a world I had no idea existed. I think this would be better as a filmed documentary rather than a book because it would be easier to keep track of the characters and the vast number of roses described. It got a bit tedious as over half the book is about different rosarians and all the ways they are obsessive about roses. It also felt anti-climactic as the rose show didn't seem very exciting. Maybe if I knew anything about gardening or roses beforehand I would appreciate it more.
July 26, 2015
I'm not sure why but I love stories about people with obsessive interests, The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession being a good example. This book was an interesting look at the world of competitive rose gardening. I am in no way a gardener, I can't even keep a house plant alive, but I enjoyed this glimpse into a world that exists on a parallel plane of existence to mine.
Read
July 7, 2011more research for my novel...gives some great day-to-day about the life of a gardening enthusiast, roses especially, and it's very easy to digest, unlike some of the botany books I've been crawling through...any gardening book recommendations?
March 12, 2011
loved it!! its amazing what people will do with something they are passionate about. i cannot grow roes anymore as they are known as 'deer candy' where we live but i am going to get a small rose bush for my deck.
April 16, 2008
very entertaining and full of great info!!!
June 14, 2009
Interesting but not in the mood...each chapter is a wonderful short story, could have been hysterical. But it would translate really well as a mockumentary. Just not for me for tonight.
August 4, 2009
Very entertaining. Would make a great gift for all the gardeners on your holiday shopping list.
September 2, 2012
If you are a gardener, this book will be a treasure in your library. Funny, funny.
December 21, 2012
This book is just fun! I love how the author reports about real people in the rose growing world.
May 22, 2013
It was interesting. Not a page turner. Will likely give it away.
December 20, 2018
I don't usually review but I thought I'd add my two cents here. I don't grow roses nor am I particularly interested in roses, but I really enjoyed this book. I love reading about people who are passionate about their interests. These funny, slightly strange people devote what seems like every waking moment to roses. And they do it all year long! I'm not sure I can even imagine being that devoted to something but it was really interesting to read about all the different kinds of people who are. It's written in a fun conversational style that makes it easy to understand even when it's about different breeds of roses and all the various equipment needed to grow "show roses"
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews