Brandy – Rich Baer

Crazy Dottie – Rich Baer

Fame – Rich Baer

Hannah Gordon – Rich Baer

Louise Estes – Rich Baer

Roses, beautiful roses, over 1,000 roses in Rich and Charold Baer’s rose garden here in Garden Home! They both grew up in Ohio and moved here when Dr. Charold Baer accepted a position as the Chair of the Adult Health and Illness Program in the School of Nursing at the Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU, in 1978. Both Charold and Rich obtained all of their degrees from The Ohio State University. Charold has a BS in nursing, an MS in nursing education with a clinical specialty in renal and a dual PhD in curriculum and media with a minor in statistics. Rich has a BS in Botany, an MS in Plant Pathology, and a PhD, all but his dissertation, in Plant Physiology. With Rich’s background and the change in weather from Ohio to Garden Home, plus the purchase of a home with a large yard, he has become a national expert in rose culture, displays, and rose photography.

Rich planted 13 roses in 1978 when they first moved here. This interest may have been inspired by his mother’s Ohio garden of 50 roses. Dr. Baer became interested in miniature roses when Rich suggested that she needed a hobby that they could share which involved limited decision making. Since roses do not require critical decision making, she agreed and she now has over 300 miniature and miniflora roses in their garden. The miniature roses are small bushes with small roses and the minifloras are larger small roses on larger, taller bushes.

Celebrating Roses calendar 2024

You can find more Rich Baer rose photos in the Celebrating Roses 2024 Wall Calendar. Celebrating roses presents America’s official flower in all its beauty and variety. The rose’s rich colors and elegant petal structure come alive in photographs by Rich Baer, an award-winning member of the Portland Rose Society. Sales of the Celebrating roses calendar supports the educational missions of the PRS.

Peace Rose Stamp – Rich Baer

Rich has entered the American Rose Society’s annual rose photo contest for 29 years. Out of the hundreds of entries, he has won 14 of those years. His photograph of the Peace rose was selected to appear on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Peace rose in 2018.

Rich and Charold have each been president of the Portland Rose Society twice. They have served in many different leadership positions with the Rose Society and Charold was a Director with the Rose Festival Foundation for 13 years, during which time she served as Assistant Treasurer, Treasurer and Vice President. Rich’s rose photos have appeared in many rose industry catalogues, rose textbooks and of course in the annual 2024 Rose calendar with 12 fabulous photos. Charold was knighted in 1998 by the Royal Rosarians under the rose Sheer Elegance and Rich was knighted in 1999 under the rose Silver Lining.

Rich and Charold welcome visitors to their rose garden. Cameras are also welcome but no clippers, please! Each rose is waiting for the perfect time for one of Rich’s photos. They keep a set of small flags that each visitor can take along on their visit to the roses. When you place the flag at your favorite rose, Rich will chart the flags later to find the most favorite roses over the summer. The roses are just leafing out now, in March, and Rich suggests that we use our tax date, April 15, for the first application of about a half cup of fertilizer, for local roses.

The Baer rose garden is off of Garden Home Road at 62nd Place, turn at the juncture of the huge water tanks. Drive past a couple houses to the address of 8039 SW 62nd Place, Portland, OR 97219. Parking is limited to off street parking where all the roses are visible. Rich also has 15-10-10 rose fertilizer, at $19 a bag, to sell for the Portland Rose Society if you wish. If you want the fertilizer, call 503-246-3087 to see if they are home.

By Elaine Shreve, 2024. As a graduate of the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing and then the RN college program at OHSU before Charold’s time, I was interested in her education and the OHSU position that brought them out to Oregon.