The Rose Lady

Bolivar County Master Gardener uses talents to beautify her town

Story by Nathan Gregory • Photos by Kevin Hudson

Known around Cleveland, Mississippi as “The Rose Lady,” Jane Dunlap marked 30 years as a Master Gardener in 2024, but her home county lacked its own chapter for the first half of that span.

She, of course, was instrumental in the effort to change that.

In 2007, she approached the then interim coordinator for the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Bolivar County, Laura Jane Giaccaglia, about relaunching a chapter after one in the area had gone dormant years before. MSU Extension currently oversees 54 Master Gardener programs statewide.

“Ms. Jane is the main reason why we got the Master Gardener program established here,” says Giaccaglia, now the county coordinator. “All those years ago, there wasn’t an official association in Bolivar County, so she came to me and asked why we weren’t doing the program anymore. Then a month or two later, here comes Mary Anna Davis to the office, who had recently moved here from Arkansas and had been in a Master Gardener program there. She also inquired about a program being in Bolivar.

“It was at this point I said, ‘We need to get a Master Gardener Program going in Bolivar County,’” she adds.

The Bolivar County chapter now boasts 30 members, all of whom Giaccaglia said are committed to serving others.

Before, Dunlap had been commuting to meetings and training in Moorhead in neighboring Sunflower County since 1994. First-year Master Gardeners receive 40 hours of horticultural education and return 40 hours of volunteer service to their community before attending 12 hours of training and giving back at least 20 hours annually in subsequent years to maintain their certification.

“I started taking the course right after I even knew anything at all about something called a Master Gardener program,” Dunlap says. “I saw an ad in the local paper that said if you were interested in gardening and wanted to learn a little more about it, come to this class in Moorhead.

Dunlap’s green thumb and the first rose garden she planted in Cleveland predated her joining the program.

“I have always liked to play in the dirt,” she says. “I really enjoy getting my hands in the dirt and trying to do something …see what I can do. Some plants I cannot grow. Some plants I don’t have any trouble growing. And sometimes I don’t have time to go back and try to figure out why one plant didn’t grow. I just move on to something else.

“There’s always another plant to choose,” she adds.

For Dunlap’s first foray into public horticulture, she planted a bed of roses near a parking lot behind her church in the 1980s before needing to relocate them.

“The church decided to build a fellowship hall on the parking lot, so we had to do something with that old bed of roses,” she says. “I asked my friend who helped me plant it what we were going to do, and he said, ‘Why don’t we start planting them uptown?’ So I went to the mayor and got permission to plant the roses at the north end [of the downtown area].

“The other times, I just did what I did and told him later,” she laughs.

The other times added up to several similar rose displays beautifying the Cleveland landscape, including a 138-bush rose garden in the heart of downtown at the Martin and Sue King Railroad Heritage Museum, known locally as the train museum. It was there, during a reception for Dunlap’s 90th birthday, that the mayor presented her with a proclamation and plaque honoring her work.

Later, for her 95th birthday the city, the Delta Home and Garden Club, and the City Beautification Commission and Tree Board dedicated the rose garden at the train museum to her and permanently named it the Jane Dunlap Rose Garden in honor of her 50-plus years of service to Cleveland. She still maintains it, as well as other rose gardens in town, including one in front of the city hall building.

“I really hated for them to do that because I didn’t want the recognition,” Dunlap admits. “I just wanted the garden to be as pretty as it could be.”

Giaccaglia said Dunlap’s tireless dedication, time, and service she has given make her the premier example of a Master Gardener.

“I cannot tell you how many times I pass her trimming roses or pulling weeds when I’m going to the courthouse or the post office downtown … I’ll roll down my window, and I’ll yell, ‘Ms. Jane!’ And I’ll get out my phone to take her picture to post on social media because she’s an amazing lady always doing something,” Giaccaglia said. “She provides this service to her community and expects nothing in return.”

In addition to in-person trainings, Master Gardener courses are available asynchronously online.