Ted Lowry
Ted Lowry joined both the American Rose Society and the Riverside Rose Society about twenty-five years ago. It was around this time that Ted built his own house in Woodcrest and started various landscaping projects to beautify his new home. Ted began with flowers along the front driveway but wasn’t too happy with that arrangement. It was too much work. The flowers would wilt and die and have to be replaced. The replacement of choice? Roses…8 of them, then 8 more were added. Loving roses as he did, in time Ted acquired over 225 plants. Now, he says, he has about 195 scattered all across the landscaping.
Ted Lowry
The first rose show that Ted ever entered, he was taken out of the novice category by winning first prize. The rose was “Old Timer” – a huge orange blend. Although Ted doesn’t exhibit anymore, he has always participated in our rose shows by helping with set-up, clerking, or in any other way he is needed.
For some twenty years, Ted was on the test panel of Jackson & Perkins. This adventure is when you buy -- at reduced prices -- four new untested roses. You are given a form to fill out and report every 4 weeks on each phase of the rose’s growth, i.e., the record of its progress. About twelve years ago, Ted’s name for a beautiful, bronze-like, dark yellow rose was accepted by Jackson Perkins. The rose was named after Elvis Presley’s home, “Graceland”.
Ted was also one of the early members of our society who helped Zelda Lloyd with the rose garden at Riverside Fairmount Park. From 1988 to 1990, the roses were “Limited Edition” test roses. Three of Ted’s favorite roses are: “Double Delight”, “Perfect Moment” (an excellent rose for showing, with long, straight stems, beautiful bronze color with deep yellow tips that turn red), and “Bronze Star”, an apricot beauty.
A native Californian, Ted was born in Livermore. As an adult, Ted was in the military service for two years as a Marine. He also served twenty years in the Reserves as Captain in the National Guard. Ted is a registered, professional, quality assurance engineer as well, and spent forty years in this field. In fact, Ted was one of the engineers who worked at Rocketdyne, the company that sent the first rocket to the moon.
Always interested in athletics, Ted has spent almost forty years being a “fast pitch” softball pitcher, with over 800 games as the winning pitcher. He teaches “fast pitch” and “slow pitch” at King High School and other high schools in Moreno Valley, and is now planning an exhibition for coaches and pitchers. Ted says he encourages young women to get into the game, too, stating that some of them have genuine talent…as good as the boys.
