Frau Karl Druschki has resided at Hollywood Cemetery for years now. Somewhat delicate, her quiet beauty can be easy to miss. But time is taking its toll. As one of the last of her kind here, Frau Karl Druschki needs a bit of extra care and someone to tell her story before it’s too late – something Connie Hilker is out to do.

Throughout these hallowed grounds are numerous roses, like Frau Karl Druschki, ranging in their hues and sizes, some of which were planted decades ago. Many though are starting to depart and Hilker is on a mission to preserve them.

Hilker has voluntarily cared for and documented the cemetery’s roses since 2012. The owner of Hartwood Roses and a self-proclaimed history geek, Hilker has been fascinated with Hollywood’s selection ever since a visit in 2006 when they were both first acquainted. “History is what I do,” she says. “Where can you find history like this?”

Over the years, Hilker has steadily worked to save the roses and at one point organized volunteer days in the early spring. Today though, she mainly does the work herself, taking an annual pilgrimage to the historic cemetery’s 135 acres to write up an inventory and potentially take clippings.

Many roses at the cemetery are heritage ones, some of which were once thought to be lost. One was a musk rose variety, now known as the Crenshaw Rose, that was uncovered here in the early ‘80s and is estimated to have been planted in the mid-1800s to early 1900s. The discovery of this special white flower thrilled rose lovers.

“It was thought to be extinct,” Hilker says. “But a couple in Richmond took up the charge to find it.” Their search took them to Hollywood Cemetery where they found it nestled away at the Crenshaw grave. “It’s one of those roses people come to see,” she says.

The job though is becoming bittersweet as many of these historic roses are now bidding adieu.

Behind their demise

When Hilker first started, there were over 100 original rose bushes (a number that doesn’t include multiflora, knock-outs and other recently planted modern roses). Each was distinctive, like a vibrant red China rose near the William Woodson Cosby, Jr. and Mary Langhorne Nowlin graves that was so big people could barely link hands around it.

There are now 36, eight of which are in dire condition. Her latest inventory trip this month particularly hit hard. “I came away sad,” she says.

The demise of Hollywood’s roses is a combination of things – herbicide exposure, invasive weeds, storms, location, rose rosette disease – they’ve all had their effect. Apart from this, because the cemetery doesn’t own the plots, if a family decides to remove or chop up a historic rose from one there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Deer though are perhaps one of the biggest foes. There’s a herd that often wanders through chomping away at the remaining bushes and leaving behind a rather funky looking plant that has a bare base with a moderately thriving top.

Numerous attempts have been made to save what remains. Caution tape and stakes have been wrapped around a rose area to protect it. Hilker also rescued leftover cobblestones from the Presidents Circle renovation years ago to make little “plots” around roses to guard against machinery. “We put a circle around them as small as possible, but there’s an agreement not to put equipment in the circle,” she says.

Apart from saving the existing residents, there have been efforts to expand. In 2020, around 10 roses were planted to replace dead ones although many of these too have since withered. Some, like Georgetown Tea, were planted near the Davis grave. There’s no historical significance but they adapt well to the area’s hot and humid climate. “I still do what I can to promote the roses here,” she says.

Survival of the clones

While the cemetery’s roses might be dying, many live on at Hilker’s home in Stafford County. After over a decade of collecting clippings, she has about 40 varieties preserved from Hollywood Cemetery – 20 of which have now vanished here. “That’s the thing about cuttings,” she says. “They’re clones. They’re exact copies.”

Hilker occasionally opens her home garden to the public and this year will do so on May 19. Guests can gather to listen to her discuss Hollywood’s Cemetery’s roses and even meet some of these bygone masterpieces, including one of her personal favorites Safrano which once grew near Elizabeth Tyler Waller’s grave.

Hilker is also interested in collaborating with people who might have stories to tell. In fact, Howle Tea (one that previously graced the corner of Oak Avenue between sections K and L) was preserved thanks to Mary Mitchell who reached out about a clipping she propagated years ago from a cutting. “If someone has a story about the roses or photos I’m happy to hear from people,” Hilker says.

Saving these roses might not seem like a big deal, but their preservation provides a unique glimpse into Richmond’s past and even the people who rest here.

“Things go out of fashion. You buy a new house and you don’t like the landscape, you can change it to your liking,” Hilker says. “People don’t tend to redo gardens around graves. An awful lot of heritage plants live in places like this.”