Some people spend their leisure time reading their favorite book, spending time with their loved ones, or kicking their feet back to relax and watch some TV.  Junior Rhea Bolar spends her free time growing and displaying her home grown roses.

Bolar found her interest in roses when she was just a little girl, as she watched her parents care for their roses. Throughout Bolar’s entire life, her parents have surrounded her with nature, and plants of all types.

The Bolar family has their own garden full of various plants that they grow and maintain themselves.  Their main interest, roses, has grown more and more over the years.  

Bolar grows roses by herself, and maintains them as they sprout.  As she invests much time and effort into her roses, she has competed in rose competitions for five years now.   

In rose competitions, each contestant preps for weeks on end.  Bolar drove all the way to Syracuse, New York, for her most recent competition.  She competed at the 2015 Syracuse Fall National Rose Show and Convention. At this particular national competition, Bolar competed against approximately 50 other people.  

Bolar had spent much time in preparing for this national contest, perfecting her rose to her high standards.

“I had to polish my roses’ leaves once they were ready to be cut from my garden,” Bolar said.  “I needed them to look perfect in order to stand a chance at winning.  On the way to Syracuse, I had to put my roses in a cooler with ice so they wouldn’t die.”

Receiving the highest title in the competition, Queen Florabunda, Bolar was ecstatic with her achievement. The winner of this particular national competition receives certificates and a silver platter, in which Bolar now must engrave her name onto the platter, which will be given to the winner of next year’s competition.

“People really get into it,” Bolar said.  “Some people will fly over 500 roses over to competitions.”

When Bolar doesn’t put her roses up for display, she will often put them in arrangements and give them to her friends and family to enjoy. She plans on continuing to compete around the country, including traveling to Ohio next year for another national competition.