ALFRED – There’s a good reason June is known as the “month of roses” – it’s when most varieties of roses begin to bloom.

For 25 years Michal and Ray Graber, owners of the Old Sheep Meadows Nursery in Alfred, have witnessed the annual explosion of rose blooms in their 5 acres of flower gardens.

The Grabers grow more than 400 varieties of mostly antique roses, including the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster, which are some of the oldest roses known.

The roses will be in their full glory during the next two weeks, which is why the Grabers are hosting their annual open house now through July 4. They are also offering garden tours and presentations about how to successfully grow roses in Maine.

“Our niche is telling people about the roses that will best bloom and thrive in our climate,” Michal Graber said. “When people buy rose bushes from us, we give them advice and lessons about how to plant and take care of them.”

The Grabers have found there is a need for such advice, particularly in Maine, because most of the information in rose growing and gardening books focus on more temperate, southern climates.

“The reward is the bloom,” Ray Graber said about growing roses. “The challenge is the environment.”

“We’re just at the beginning of the bloom cycle right now,” he added. “June is really the best month and the peak of the season will be in the next two weeks.”

Ray Graber was a plant ecologist at the University of New Hampshire until his retirement 25 years ago. At that time, science was his job and roses were his hobby. After he retired, roses became his means of earning a living and his knowledge of science helped him to ensure the roses flourished.

“My science background helps me to understand the natural process and to do the breeding work,” he said.

It also helps him in his organic gardening practices.

The Grabers do not use pesticides, but instead rely on soap and water, baking soda, neem seed oil from India and high-pressure water to remove pests from their roses.

They first moved to Alfred in 1962, after Ray Graber was hired by UNH. He is originally from Ohio and his wife is originally from Seattle.

The couple bought a 1700s farmhouse in Alfred because they knew they wanted to live in the country and have gardens. The first year they bought and planted roses from a local grower, they all died.

Wondering what they did wrong, the Grabers soon realized they needed to cultivate hardy rose varieties in order to be successful rose gardeners in Maine’s cold and often harsh climate.

The two also soon discovered that antique varieties of roses did much better and were a lot of fun to seek, out as opposed to the more modern tea rose varieties. In addition, the older rose varieties are much easier to renew, Ray Graber said.

“It’s also fun to carry on the old traditions. Someone should preserve these things,” he said about why he prefers to grow antique roses. “I believe the modern tea roses will not survive when old roses are still being loved and appreciated.”

In fact, the Grabers have very few modern roses. The advantages to antique roses include their beautiful form and fragrance, while modern roses are appreciated because they bloom all summer long, Michal Graber said.

What the Grabers most enjoy about antique roses are the stories and the history behind them, she added.

One such rose is the Seven Sisters. Tradition has it that this rose was given to a new bride by her mother, or other female relatives, to plant at her new home. The rose gets its name from the wide variety of colors that can appear in each cluster of flowers, from purple to cream.

The Grabers have also enjoyed discovering roses at old homesteads all across Maine that either have no names or that they can’t identify. This gives them a chance to name the rose themselves.

For example, one variety of rose they grow is called Elsie’s Rose, which is named for a longtime Alfred resident at whose home they found the rose bush. The rose itself is a “beautiful, fragrant cabbage rose,” Michal Graber said.

Neither has a favorite variety of rose, but if pressed, Michal Graber would say that Morden’s Sunrise and Radio Times are two of the roses she likes the most.

The Grabers sell cut roses at the Wednesday and Saturday farmers markets in Portland, along with rose bushes in pots. They also grow day lilies and organic apples, such as the snow apple, which is one of the oldest types of dessert apple.