By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
In 2018, “Bag End” in Cazenovia held its fist annual Rosalia — a celebration honoring the “first flush” of the property’s hardy, old-fashioned roses.
Drawing inspiration from an ancient festival of roses observed by the Roman Empire, Bag End owner Jay King and his wife, Anne, hoped the event would encourage local gardeners to explore the option of growing old-fashioned roses at their own homes.
Located on Fairchild Hill overlooking Cazenovia Lake, Bag End features two antique barns that were moved and renovated by builder and historical barn expert Randy Nash.
The Kings lived in the 1795 antique barn home year-round for 23 years before making it available to Cazenovia visitors for short-term rentals.
The couple purchased Bag End — named after the home of “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Baggins family — in the late 1970s from prominent Cazenovian Jimmy Hubbard.
When preparing to move to Cazenovia from the Sedgwick neighborhood in Syracuse, the Kings were warned that they would be unable to grow roses at their new home.
“The old time gardeners, who knew the score out there, told Anne — who had been president of the Syracuse Garden Club and grew beautiful, [prize-winning] roses — ‘You’re not going to be able to grow roses out here,’” King said.
After years of struggling to maintain a garden of hybrid tea roses, the Kings discovered Rugosa roses growing along Route 20.
According to King, Rugosa roses are regarded as the hardiest rose type in the world.
“All of the ‘cold hardy’ roses seemed to be old, antique [varieties], so that’s the way we went…” said King. “[With the first Rosalia,] we were trying to send a message that Cazenovia gardeners could grow roses if they focused on old-fashioned, cold hardy varieties. Since then, we have given away many rootings in exchange for donations to the Cazenovia Garden Club [(CGC)].”
In 2019, Bag End was featured on the Cazenovia Garden Club’s 70th Anniversary Garden Tour.
According to King, visitors to the property appreciated not only the roses, but also the other “stars” — varieties of perennials that thrive in the cold, windswept conditions encountered in parts of Cazenovia.
It was at that point, King said, that he and Anne realized the extent of the knowledge they had accumulated through years of trial and error in their gardens.
“Since 2018, [we] have realized that our gardens have many more hard-earned lessons to share [than just our message about roses] . . .” King said. “Our emphasis on ‘historic roses’ has also changed, as we have discovered wonderful new cold hardy varieties being developed in Canada. We now grow over 50 different varieties and are emphasizing these Canadian roses.”
King discovered the Canadian roses this past spring during a visit to Der Rosenmeister Nursery in Ithaca.
“It’s very tricky to get them and hardly anybody knows about them . . .” King said. “It’s a relatively recent program, but it’s something that Cazenovia gardeners should really tune into. I think I now have half a dozen of these roses, and I am intending to get more.”
This year, in lieu of the third annual Rosalia — which typically includes a rose wine tasting and a selection of artisan cheeses inside the “Pioneer Barn” — the Kings hosted two separate afternoons of socially distanced garden tours, during which CGC members and other interested individuals were invited to walk around Bag End and view its roses, irises, peonies, and more.
“[Anne took] over as CGC president in April and has had to cancel every scheduled meeting, so I was happy to be able to offer such a socially distanced event,” King said.
Particularly impactful this year, according to King, was the collection of Itoh Peonies — a spectacular cross between tree peonies and herbaceous peonies that is “a must have” for Cazenovia gardens. Once matured (after around five years), each bush typically yields around 50 large blossoms.
Given all of their COVID-19 related rental cancellations, the Kings have been spending more time at Bag End than they have in years.
According to King, the family has especially enjoyed embarking on the first stages of their latest garden project.
“At the foot of our rose garden, I needed to get better drainage, so I decided to dig a drainage ditch,” King said. “Then, I realized that the soil could become a berm and the ditch could become a brook, which would need water, so we added a pond at each end. This year, we planted the central section of the resulting 150’ long berm and purchased a 19th century swan fountain for a future focal point. This is by far the largest garden project we have ever tackled.”
Bag End is located at 1702 Route 20 West, Cazenovia.
For more information, visit cazenoviabagend.com/index.php.
