Stop and Smell the Forgotten Roses at Baylor's Texas Collection

Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMediaCom

Mike Shoup, owner of the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas, will present "Lessons From a Rose Rustler" at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in the Carroll Library at the Baylor University campus. The lecture is sponsored by the Texas Collection, which will host Shoup's talk in the library's Guy B. Harrison Jr. Reading Room.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature Shoup discussing his adventures as a Rose Rustler. The Antique Rose Emporium began in 1982, when one of Shoup's co-workers discovered a lost rose specimen the, 'Mermaid.' In 1984, Shoup joined the Rose Rustlers, an organization dedicated to finding rare roses that were unidentified or forgotten. Shoup's mission is to 'rustle up' an old rose around East Texas then grow the rose at the Antique Rose Emporium. There are several benefits of old roses, including wonderful fragrances, their resistance to pests and disease and the beautiful forms they create, Shoup said.

The lecture is part of the Texas Collection's Texas Blooms gardening exhibit. The exhibit features pressed and dried flowers gathered the day before the U.S. Civil War began by Florence Speight, whose father, Joseph Warren Speight, served as president of Waco University from 1864-1865.
After the lecture, Shoup will be available to sign copies of his new book, The Guide to Antique Roses. A reception will follow his lecture.
For more information on this event, contact the Texas Collection at (254) 710-1268 or visit Shoup's website at www.antiqueroseemporium.com

by Lillyan Baker, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805