SALISBURY — After a two-year pandemic hiatus, roses will be back in bloom inside the Salisbury Civic Center at 315 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. on Saturday.

The Rowan Rose Society will host its 61st annual Rowan Rose Show from 1-5 p.m. Given the fact that the last show was hosted in 2019, Rowan Rose Society President Sara Hill expects plenty of people to come and smell the roses this year.

“I’m hoping it’ll be one of the biggest ever,” Hill said.

The show is completely free, both for entrants and attendees.

“We don’t want anyone to miss all of these roses,” Hill said.

Hundreds of varieties of roses will be on display, from Hybrid Tea to climbers. There will even be miniature roses. Hill said there are 52 different awards up for grabs in a number of categories, with the top award going to the Queen of Show. A special display will contain the award winners from each class. Attendees will have the chance to purchase an award-winning rose to take home at the close of the show.

“It’s a beautiful event,” Hill said. “We usually have quite a lot of people coming in just to look at the roses, smell the roses, find out which one is fragrant and which one is not.”

Rose growers are invited to enter their roses in the show between 7-10 a.m. on Saturday. You do not have to be a member of the Rowan Rose Society to enter the show. Judges, most of whom are traveling in from out of town, will go through and make their selections before the show opens to the public at 1 p.m.

This year’s show will be dedicated to Clyde Harriss and Becky Lowery, both of whom were charter members of the Rowan Rose Society when the organization launched in 1957.

The Rowan Rose Society meets at 7 p.m. every third Tuesday of the month at John Calvin Presbyterian Church at 1620 Brenner Ave. In addition to regular meetings, the society takes care of the rose triangle on West Innes Street in front of Summersett Funeral Home.

The Rose Show’s presenting sponsor this year is The Perfect Rose, a company that installs and maintains rose gardens for clients from Greenville, South Carolina to Greensboro.

For more information about the Rose Show, call Jack Page at 704-746-8524.