About Us
Two sisters had the idea for The Rose Gardener in 2003, an idea that sprang from our love of roses and an interest to bring better gloves and better tools to rose growers. We wanted to provide the information to grow better roses and ease the routine maintenance chores. And, we wanted to bring these great products to the gardening public.
Therosegardener.com website began with Barnel Pruners and Bionic Rose Gloves , quality products that are reliable and ergonomically healthy for the most serious gardener. Since then, we have expanded to include a full line of fine Barnel tools , Bionic gloves and Harlane Garden & Rose labels— a fine line of name plates, and stakes, durable and UV stable for years of garden life.
Our Bionic gloves are the only gloves to be tested, then endorsed by the National Arthritis Foundation when first released!
Our story and a few highlights follow…
1996: Rose Gardens by Ryan, my husband’s company, opened with a plan to plant and maintain rose gardens in the Atlanta area. Starting part-time, the business grew and Ryan had about 20 clients. After a bad winter, Ryan pruned everyone twice—the beginning of years of hand problems.
2000: After misplacing my pruner, I found a new brand of pruner…Barnel…Wow! A no-effort pruner and Ryan loved it. So, we purchased several more Barnels for personal use.
2001: Wendy Tilley and her sister Margery Morstein wanted to work together, so they decided to support Wendy’s husband, Ryan in his rose business. Margery, an artist and graphic designer, designed Ryan’s logo and http://www.rosegardensbyryan.com came online in 2003.
2004: Did I mention that Margery is a great designer? She added The Georgia Rose, Ryan’s award-winning newsletter to Ryan’s website.
2005: Margery designed our logo.
That’s us: skinny and with red hair. People think we are twins, so we just go with it! We set up our first web shop, called www.TheRoseGardener.com as part of Rose Gardens by Ryan. Our first products… the Barnel pruner and Bionic Rose gauntlets.
2005: We get our own website! Here’s the banner…
2006: We join up with Bionic (Louisville Slugger) to help design their coming rose gauntlet. Did you know that Bionic gloves were the only gloves to be endorsed by the National Arthritis Foundation!
2007: The rose glove was introduced at the Memphis National Covention of the American Rose Society. In December, Ryan bought Harlane Company, a rose labeling company, so I had something to do when I retired from teaching.
I learned how to use an ancient typesetter to make the Harlane rose labels.
2008: Summer and I was very busy with my new business!
2009: I’m loving the rose conventions, and I’m sharing the Barnel pruners and Bionic gloves with everyone. The B7 is my best-selling tool.
Fast forward to 2014: I’ve been attending rose conventions and garden shows all over the Southeast. We hope you’ll come visit us at one of these events.
Margery now lives in Greenville, SC, but she designed our new website banner, and she still helps out at some of the garden shows. Ryan still owns Rose Gardens by Ryan, and he now has almost 100 clients. We have over 350 rose bushes planted at our home! I have a show assistant named Lourie and a personal assistant named Jamie. My best selling tool is still the B7 pruner and everyone still loves the Bionic gloves!
2017: I moved to Vancouver, WA in December. People think we moved to Canada; no, we are in the OTHER Vancouver…right outside Portland, Oregon. We sold the Atlanta house and bought an RV. My cats rode with me in the new RV all the way cross country to our new home. Cyclone loved the trip–the others; not so much. The West Coast is a new experience for us, but we will be exploring while keeping up the business and spreading the word about Bionic gloves at our shows.
2019: Margery is still designing and helping when she can. We now attend shows on both coasts and I am travelling a lot more. Ryan sold his business and helps out when he can. We are travelling in our RV when it’s not in the shop. In the meantime, we show up at events across the country. Check out the EVENTS page and see where you will find us next!!