If you think that roses are for the staid, you've never been to a sale put on by the Bermuda Rose Society.

Rosarians start lining up before the sale starts practically at the crack of dawn.

These sales are serious business for local rose enthusiasts. At the last Bermuda Rose Society sale held last weekend, the club sold 400 rose bushes within approximately three hours, making $6,500.

The money goes back to the Bermuda Rose Society which is currently saving to republish their book 'Roses in Bermuda'.

Presiding over this last sale was Bermuda Rose Society president Essie Hans, newly installed in May.

In 2002, Mrs. Hans retired from a high-stress job in the printing industry.

"I retired as general manager and vice president of Pronto Print at the age of 48," said Mrs. Hans. "The business was sold to Bermuda Press Holdings. On the day I retired a friend asked me what I planned to do with myself. I said: 'I am going home to grow roses'."

And that is exactly what Mrs. Hans has been doing for the last eight years. But she hasn't so much as retired, as refocused her trademark intense energy.

She said the best thing about being retired is that you can get up after 8 a.m., but in reality she is usually up long before that.

In addition to her duties at the Bermuda Rose Society, she works full-time with the Roman Catholic Church.

"I started gardening when my father, Nicholas Roque, passed away," said Mrs. Hans. "Sometimes when someone passes away you do things that you know they liked so you can feel closer to them.

"Gradually, I really started to like roses."

She was busy from the moment she entered her first Bermuda Rose Society meeting.

"(Bermuda Rose Society member) Barbara Hunter literally put a pen and book in my hand the first day I walked in," said Mrs. Hans. "She said go around and get everyone's signature in this book. I haven't stopped working since then. You just get so involved in being part of the Bermuda Rose Society."

She said, if anything, she is busier in retirement. She said it takes a lot of work for Bermuda Rose Society members to get to the point where they have 400 rose bushes to sell.

Their bushes are propagated at the Tulo Valley Garden & Nursery in Pembroke.

"Pat Thomas is the chairperson for Tulo Valley," said Mrs. Hans. "She does a fabulous job. It is all volunteers.

"Nobody gets paid for anything. She has a working team that propagates roses from slips. Members bring in slips, or they go out and find them in other people's gardens (with permission). Sometimes, if people have something unusual people invite us to their gardens."

The Bermuda Rose Society allows rosarians to put down on a wish list, the particular roses they are seeking.

Souvenir de la Malmaison and Windchimes are common requests.

"This time, we had a lot of unusual roses," said Mrs. Hans. "Usually, we have a lot of the standard hardy roses such as Agrippina and Smith's Parish."

Mrs. Hans said Bermuda's climate is good for roses, most of the year round. Rose season is usually between September and June, depending on the heat and the rain.

Roses should not be pruned in the summer months of June to September unless branches are broken in a storm. The summer is the forced dormant period during which roses should not be removed or disturbed.

"Roses need water,' said Mrs. Hans. "That is part of the labour process. Someone has to go to Tulo Valley every day and water the plants. They could survive in the summer without water, but they would look awful."

The Bermuda Rose Society recently started an Earth-Kind Rose garden at Tulo Valley. Earth-Kind is a research project going on across the United States to find the hardiest roses.

"They don't fertilise or prune them," said Mrs. Hans. "They keep tabs on how they look through the seasons. If they find out they are extremely hardy and survive horrible situations, they get the label 'Earth-Kind' roses"."

Mrs. Hans said the biggest shock from this project has been learning how little they are really needed by the roses.

"The Earth-Kind garden is fabulous," said Mrs. Hans. "It is unbelievable. We all stand in awe. You are not allowed to do anything to these trees. We have treated the soil though with compost and a layer of mulch. That is all we are allowed to do.

"We can cut back a bush, only if it is affecting other trees. We are not allowed to deadhead (remove dead flowers) or pull off mould spots. We are not allowed to use soap water sprays (to kill insects). And the rose bushes are full of flowers, constantly. They had a rough spot through the summer because it didn't rain for such a long time, but they have really bounced back from that."

Hardy roses in Bermuda have been found to be Smith's Parish and Mutabalis, Vincent Godsiff, and Spice.

Mrs. Hans said what she likes most about roses is the scent.

"I like the fact that roses usually don't smell overpowering," she said. "Some other flowers are so strong."

What she likes about the Bermuda Rose Society is the membership.

"I am in awe of our membership," said Mrs. Hans. "We have an average age that is a little bit on the high side, but so is the enthusiasm and energy that these people have to ensure that the roses here in Bermuda are cared for.

"Many of our members are of an age where they might like to sit back and put their feet up; but they don't. They are very active. They are so willing to share their experience of gardening with roses, the dos and the don'ts. We have members that propagate roses at home and are very successful. Some give us roses for [our] rose sales."

What she found hardest about growing roses was being patient.

"You go out there and deadhead," said Mrs. Hans. "You are waiting for all these gorgeous roses to come.

"Life overtakes you and then one day you look out there and there is this tree out there that needs deadheading, and mold spots cared for. Gardening is a lot of work. You have to treat the soil before you put roses in it."

Mrs. Hans said she has been very inspired by her father and her grandmother, Emily Roque, who "could put a stick in the ground and it would grow".

"My grandmother would put soapy water on her roses to stop the insects," said Mrs. Hans. "I do that. And she always said where you deadhead, you will get beautiful flowers."