The Marin Rose

Living Soil,

Healthy Plants

With

Theresa Lyngso

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

7:30 pm

Marin Art & Garden Center

Inside Highlights President’s Message Rose of the Month Program Notes What’s Bugging You? Travels with Betty The MAGC Garden Rose Care for February If I Only Had Three Consulting Rosarian School MRS Renewal Form

The Marin RoseThe Marin RoseThe Marin Rose A non-profit Affiliate of the American Rose Society 2008 Gold Honor Medal Winner

Volume 36, No. 2 February, 2010

Time in an Old-Time Garden By Gary Scales

"Hours Fly, Flowers Die, New Days, New Ways, Pass By, Love Stays."

A mid-October business trip to New York in the early 1970’s provided an excuse to visit relatives in Saratoga Springs and hopes of the Adirondack autumn colors. Our Marin Rose founders and mentors, Joseph and Marian Klima, told me I was not to miss the nearby Rose Garden at Yaddo. But upon my arrival an unusually heavy snowstorm blanketed any vestiges of a late Indian summer. My hopes rested on the chance that a few blooms had survived at Yaddo. I drove through the main entry gates and pulled into a deserted parking lot and looked across snow-covered rose beds bare of bloom except for a handful of unopened brown buds. So much for roses. In the distance I saw a caretaker and walked over to say hello. The ruddy-faced gardener, wearing over-sized galoshes, was friendly and welcoming. He commented that I was a bit late for roses and probably from California considering the way I was dressed in a light windbreaker, without hat or gloves. And he was on the mark - my ears, toes and fingers were a tingle and breath came in visible bursts. We talked as he bundled up the climbing rose canes on the ground, covering them under piles of straw as protection for the approaching severe winter months. As he tossed several handfuls of powdered granules in each pile, he commented: “Just a little rodent bait to keep critters from gnawing on the bark in search of water.” I couldn’t identify any of the roses but the gardener volunteered that several hundred ‘Crimson Ramblers’ (Hybrid Multiflora) were planted to cover the massive center pergola. Later, ‘Blaze’ and ‘New Dawn’ roses were added. He said, “Lately we have been getting a lot of roses from some “Doc” out in Iowa. Name’s like a deer.” I asked if it could be Griffith Buck, the noted professor of horticulture and rose hybridizer. . “Yes, that’s it, …. Doc Buck. He keeps sending us roses to test in

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The Marin Rose 2 February 2010

The Marin Rose

The Marin Rose February, 2010

Volume 36, No. 2 Joan Goff and Gail Trimble, Editors

Gail Trimble, Publisher Barbara Picarelli, Distributor

______________

MRS Officers, Directors & Committee Chairs

President Don Chapman 383-9177 [email protected]

1st VP / Program Co-Chairs Alan Petersen 453-4213 [email protected] Frank Treadway 456-2640 [email protected]

2d VP/Show Co-Chairs Paula Jaffe 435-4804 [email protected] Lenore Ruckman 457-4424 [email protected]

Secretary Kitty O’Donnell 883-6943 [email protected]

Treasurer Joan Goff 388-8552 [email protected]

Director & Website Chair Gail Trimble 472-6228

Directors Paul Cullen 454-1385 John Goldsmith 830-1799 Pamela Scott 459-5877

Rose Garden Coordinator Dorothy Arnold 453-4036

Raffle Chair Connie Gantsweg 457-3191

Membership Chair Delores Gebhardt 460-0330

Hospitality Chair Mary Polizzi 479-8056

Parliamentarian Betty Mott 383-0466

©Marin Rose Society While the advice and information in this newsletter is believed to be true and accurate at the time of publica-tion, neither the authors nor the edit-ors can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The Marin Rose Society makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

our garden. If they can make it through a winter at Yaddo, they will make it anywhere.” Griffith Buck, who died in 1991, had been successful in hybridizing large fragrant shrub roses that could survive without strenuous winter protection. Roses of Yesterday and Today Garden, located in Watsonville, was a big fan of Buck and often featured his roses in their catalog. Ultimately, Griffith Buck produced over 90 roses, among the most enduring are ‘Carefree Beauty’, ‘Maytime’ and ‘Prairie Princess’. The gardener encouraged me to walk the grounds and to make sure, pointing the way to the upper terrace, that I didn’t miss the sundial. Even with no

blooms and covered with snow, the gardens were impressive. The stately drive, lined with splendid trees, led up to Yaddo Mansion, a massive stone Tudor-like castle of stone. A graceful iron-wrought allée (a walkway lined with trees or tall shrubs) of several hundred feet formed the entrance to the gardens from the mansion. The estate comprised over 500 acres of meticulously landscaped grounds. A beautiful pergola, its white Ionic columns, usually ablaze in color, marked the center-point of the ten acres of Yaddo’s Rose Garden. I walked cautiously across the icy-marble walkways that led to the snow-covered sundial. It didn’t make much of an impression and I walked back to the car wondering why the gardener had made such the point not to miss the sundial. It would be another forty or so years before I would learn why, and of Yaddo’s tragic love story.

Last summer I was a docent at the Moya Library across from our Rose Garden at the Marin Art & Garden Center. It was a quiet day. I busied myself by looking at gardening books. One caught my eye - Old-Time Gardens, originally published in 1901, which included a hand-written note from the author to her daughter.

I randomly opened the book and the following words lay on the page before me:

‘Crimson Rambler’

Yaddo Mansion


Time is Too Slow for those who Wait, Too Swift for those who Fear,

Too Long for those who Grieve, Too Short for those who Rejoice;

But for those who Love, Time is

Eternity.

I had heard this simple but beautiful verse before, always wondering its origin. Reading on I began to shiver as goose-bumps passed over me. The poem is engraved on the sundial at Yaddo. At the edge of the dial face is the motto: “Hours fly, Flowers die, New Days, New Ways, Pass by, Love stays.” Forty years ago I never saw them. The sundial had been covered with snow. Mesmerized, I inhaled the beginning story of Yaddo and its owners. Several hours at the computer provided me more details. Spencer Trask, a young New York banker, had founded an invest-ment company that had successfully financed electric lighting cor-porations and railroad construction in the western United States. He and his wife purchased the estate in 1881. Trask built and dedi-cated the Yaddo Gardens as a gift of love to his wife, Katrina. The inscription on the gateway leading from the mansion to the gardens reads: "Spencer Trask laid out this rose garden in honor of his wife Katrina, author, poet, woman. Goe happy rose and enter-wove with other flowers, bind my love. 1899" A frequent guest at Yaddo was Henry van Dyke, a professor of English literature at Princeton University. Van Dyke wrote the lyr-ics to the popular hymn, “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” sung to the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. Among Van Dyke’s many poems is Katrina’s Sundial, in honor of his good friend and fellow poet, Katrina Trask and inscribed on the Yaddo

sundial. The name “Yaddo” was the baby pronunciation given by the Trask children for a famous inn, formerly a part of the original estate named “Shadows,” and where Edgar Allen Poe report-edly penned “The Raven.” The four young chil-dren tragically all died before maturity. The Trasks, left without any immediate heirs, estab-lished Yaddo, upon their own deaths, as a sup-porting center to “future generations of writers, composers, painters, and other creative artists.” Spencer Trask died in a railroad accident. Katrina continued to live at Yaddo until her death in 1922. The results of the Trasks’ legacy have been historic. Collectively, artists who have worked at Yaddo have won 64 Pulitzer Prizes, 27 MacArthur Fellowships, 61 National Book Awards, and a Nobel Prize in literature.

Photos of the Yaddo Sundial and Pergola from the Yaddo Garden Association website at: http://www.yaddo.org/garden/. The drawing of ‘Crimson Rambler’ is from the book: Rosenbuch für Gartenliebhaber by J. Hoffmann, Berlin. Photos of the Trask Mansion and Spencer Trask are from the LuckyStars website at: http://luckystarsbelfast.blogspot.com/2009/06/yaddo-mansion-in-saratoga-springs-ny.html

Spencer Trask

Yaddo Pergola


President’s Message

With all this wonderful winter rain, I have browsed through the various rose mail-order magazines so many times that I have marked more “musts have” roses than I could ever find room for in my garden. Through all that nature has thrown at us during January, including pelting rain, thunder and lightning, and even a few days of sunshine, the pruning crews have almost finished pruning roses in over 90 gardens throughout Marin. This is our major fundraiser for the year, and has resulted in a strong financial condition for your rose soci-ety. The Board of Directors is forming a committee to find worthy individuals or institutions that we can sponsor and to share some of our resources within Marin county or Bay Area. Once that committee is in place, an announcement will be made to identify persons you can contact with your ideas and suggestions. While our membership remains steady, we are reaching out to a wide demographic, including newcomers, individuals interested in growing all kinds of roses for the very first time, and environmentally aware young adults through innovative educational programs that are both relevant and exciting. I wanted to express the societies’ gratitude to Barbara Picarelli for her many years of service as Membership Chair, a responsibility that she is passing to Dolores Gebhardt : thanks Barbara and welcome Dolores! Bar-bara has agreed to continue distributing the newsletter and continue providing valuable advice to the society. The Board of Directors strives to explore new and different ways to attract new members and enhance exist-ing member’s experiences, including the possibilities of offering scholarships and expanding our educational efforts at our monthly general meetings. Suggestions for improving the societies are always welcome. I hope your roses are purchased, planted and pruned in anticipation of what appears a wonderful spring grow-ing season. Don


Rose of the Month Fourth of July

By Lydia Treadway, Consulting Rosarian

In 1999, 'Fourth of July' was the first climber to be awarded the All America Rose Selection in more than 23 years. True to its name, ‘Fourth of July’ wel-comes the Independence Day festivities with an explosion of red and white blooms just in time for the backyard pic-nic. The foliage is bright green, very disease resistant and it is almost a continuous bloomer. This climbing rose looks espe-cially stunning attached to a pergola or trel-lis. With its

canes of 12 to 14 feet, it would stand out in any garden. This is a wonderful cross between ‘Roller Coaster’ and ‘Altissimo’ with the best traits of both. The fragrance is something like sweet apple. Hybridized by Tom Carruth, it has an American Rose Society garden rating of 8.1.

Program Notes On January 12th, Paul Cullen, owner of Green Fingers Gardening Service, and Lydia Treadway, Consulting Rosarian and long time member of our society, presented a comprehensive demonstration of pruning roses and caring for the winter garden. This was a great way to start the New Year and we all learned some practical tips and new methods to grow better roses. Thanks to Paul and Lydia for covering this timely subject so thoroughly.

On February 9th we have our second program of the year with Theresa Lyngso, owner of Lyngso Garden Materials, speaking on “Living Soil, Healthy Plants.” She will explain the diversity of life in the soil and how plants thrive in relationship to micro-organisms. Terry will talk about IPM practices that will help you analyze pest and disease problems and formulate treatment decisions that will promote living soil. A healthy soil-food-web is the foundation of a healthy garden and a healthy earth! Terry is an inspiring Master Gardener and Master Composter. Remember that healthy soil is the foundation for wonderful roses and vegetables.


What’s Bugging You?- Leaves By Nanette Londeree, Master Rosarian

Roses will begin their amazing transformation from spindly sticks to lush shrubs during the next couple of months. And that healthy, vibrant young foliage is just ripe for attack by a bunch of different pests. In its tender form it’s also susceptible to damage from non-living, or abiotic causes. Protecting your plants starts with keen observation – looking closely at the foliage for signs of damage, and figuring out what is causing it. This issue we’ll be looking at sources of pest damage to the leaves of plants along with identifying some of the “good guys” you may find perched on your foliage. The table on the next page includes the name of the pest, what it looks like, the type of pest, the time of year you’re most likely to encounter it, major signs and symptoms (a sign is direct evidence of the cause of the injury, either the presence of the actual pest, or some part of it; a symptom is the change in appearance of the plant part) and where applicable, a photo or descrip-tion of the damage done. For beneficial insects, there’s a list of their favored prey. The text in the chart is color-coded to further help your pest identification - red for the “bad guys” and green for the “good guys.” Pests that don’t do much damage and are mostly a nuisance are identified in blue text. In this series, we’ll be discussing different types of pests – insects and mites, fungal, bacterial and viral dis-eases, and abiotic disorders. We are starting with insect pests that you might observe on rose leaves (though you may find them on other parts of the plant.) An aid to identifying insect pests is their feeding habit – whether they are a sucking insect, extracting vital nutrients from the plant, or a chewing pest that actually removes a portion of the plant part. Piercing and sucking insects, in general, damage plants by inserting their mouthparts into plant tissue and drawing out plant juices, causing stippled (spotted-looking), wilted, deformed, stunted or discolored plant parts. Many, like aphids, also secrete honeydew that in turn attracts ants and supports the growth of sooty mold. Some sucking pests can inject toxic materials or transmit dis-ease organisms into the plant while feeding. To effectively manage pests in the garden, remember to: Know what a healthy plant looks like Keep an open mind Know your enemies Take a real good look at the plant Think about the history of the plant and its surroundings Consider that it may be multiple problems Look for patterns Eliminate what it’s not Double-check the obvious Make a preliminary diagnosis

Once you’ve made your tentative diagnosis, consult your other resources to find ways to manage the pest. Consider using the integrated pest management approach – decide on the level of damage you can tolerate then follow the progressive control approach beginning with the least toxic method, cultural, mechanical, biological and finally, chemical. Next issue, we’ll continue with what’s bugging your leaves with a focus on diseases and abiotic disorders.


Pest Appearance Type of pest

Time of year

Major Signs Major Symptoms Damage Target pests (Beneficials)

Rose leafhopper

Sucking insect

Spring Slender, wedge-shaped adult insect in varying shades of green, yellow or brown

Stippled, pale or brown leaves; chalky residue on leaves; honeydew or sooty mold on leaves

Not applicable

Spider mites

Sucking mite

Summer Tiny eight-legged oval shaped mites; red and brown to yellow and green (depending on type)

Stippling or yellowing of leaves; webbing on undersides of leaves; leaves look gray or dry, may turn yellow and fall off

Not applicable

Katydids Chewing insect

Nymphs - April and May; may take up to 3 months to mature stage

Green, grasshopper-like adult insects; soft chirping sound at night

Chewed edges of leaves, flowers or buds; holes in leaves flowers or buds

Not applicable

Roseslugs Chewing insect

Spring to early summer

Slug-like insects found on upper or undersides of leaves (depending on type)

"Skeletonized" leaves - undersides of leaves scraped; large holes in leaves; leaves with only veins with "window pane" appearance

Not applicable

Leafcutter bees

Chewing insect

Spring Stout-bodied black bees with light bands across the abdomen

Semicircular holes in the margins of leaves or blooms

Not applicable

Assassin bugs

Beneficial predator

Spring through fall

Slender, colorful insects, often blackish, reddish, or brown with long legs; a long narrow head, round beady eyes, and needle-like beak

Not applicable Aphids, caterpillars, leafhoppers, other bugs; also feed on beneficial lacewings

Big eyed bugs

Beneficial predator

Oval, somewhat flattened, 1/4 of an inch long insects, usually brownish or yellowish, with a wide head with prominent bulging eyes

Not applicable Aphids, leafhoppers, spider mites, thrips and other insect eggs


Travels with Betty

Growing Mile High Roses By Betty Mott, Consulting Rosarian

We revere flowers, whether they grow in unruly fields, barren deserts, or cultivated gardens. They are symbols of love, and strength and constancy that survive even the harshest environ-ments.

December travel plans brought me to the Rocky Mountains and the mile high city boasting an elevation of 5,280 feet, a far cry from sea level and the Richardson Bay in Mill Valley. We were visiting friends who had moved from a woodsy neighbor-hood in Mill Valley to the prairies near Boulder, Colorado, at the base of the magnificent Flat Iron Mountains.

Some of you might remember touring Cheryl Frechette’s gar-den during the June, 2008 ARS Spring National Convention & Rose Show in Denver, Colorado. After moving to Colorado she quickly became involved with the local rose societies, join-ing three. Cheryl is a Consulting Rosarian, horticultural judge, past president of the Boulder Rose Society, chair of numerous annual shows, Rocky Mountain District Roses in Review Coordinator, evaluates the condition of the Longmont Me-morial Rose Garden (an AARS public rose garden), oversees the care of the Dushanbe Tea House Rose Garden, and still finds time to lovingly tend her collection of approximately 125-130 roses (depending on how many die during the winter). Sounds like a familiar story to many of you and what we do to feed our passion for roses.

For Cheryl, rose selection, Mile Hi Rose Feed, alfalfa and kelp meals, and a sprinkle of Epsom salts are the essen-tials for the survival of her award winning roses. No six foot fences are needed to keep away the deer – the coyotes on the prairie take care of that. As you walk through her garden with sweeping views of the prairies and mountain ranges, the tidy garden is a reminder that she chooses not to use chemicals or sprays, but instead practices diligent preventative care. You will find roses in raised beds which she had constructed (unheard of in Colorado) and roses planted directly in the ground and also in pots, which are moved into the garage just as the weathermen forecast the arrival of the first hard freeze. Hard freeze is defined by temperatures of 22 degrees and below for three consecutive days.

It had snowed 6-8 inches two days before our arrival. As I walked through the fluffy white snow armed with my camera, bundled up with all the warm clothing I could muster from Mill Valley, I headed straight to the raised beds. My first impression was, “Where are the rose hips?” Every rose in my Mill Valley garden was adorned with brightly colored rose hips, a smattering of aging yellow leaves and a few botrytis filled soggy blooms. Her bushes lacked hips and seemed to be frozen in time, and that was exactly what I was observing. Snow came early this year shorten-ing the third bloom cycle - October 12th, to be exact was the day everything froze bringing the rose year to an abrupt end. No time for these beauties to set rose hips or slowly ease into dormancy. Blooms, buds, leaves, all frozen! So how do they survive?

Winter prep in Cher’s rose garden includes mulching with small shredded western bark only after three consecutive days of 22 degrees or less. This typically happens in early December. Then pine boughs are layered on top of the rose bushes to hold the mulch down in the winds and keep the rose bushes warmer. Rosarians actually wish for snow because it provides moisture and insulation from extreme low temperatures.

Fertilizer is only added twice a year along with kelp and alfalfa meal, and Epsom salts are added in the spring. Be-tween April 15 and May 15, the first application is 1 cup of Mile Hi Rose Feed, one cup of alfalfa meal and ½ cup of kelp meal per bush. This is repeated again between July 15 and August 15.

Bare roots are a challenge because once the freezing temperatures disappear, temperatures can soar into the 80’s

‘Rosa rubrifolia’ (‘R. glauca’)


and the new underdeveloped roots cannot hold enough moisture to keep the plants hydrated. All this being said there is very little rose disease (black spot, rust, mildew) to deal with.

Unless you are an exhibitor and show roses, most rocky mountain gardeners use the Canadian sub-zero roses in their landscape and do not bother with hybrid teas or floribundas, which in most cases become annuals. Most often they need to be replaced after the winter. There is a lot of Dr. Huey (used as a rootstock) in Colorado which is evidence of this.

Pruning in Colorado is done between April 30th and May 10th. Hybrid teas and floribundas can start to sprout up to six inches of new growth during a warm spell, only to be frozen again during a subsequent freeze. That is why you never take anything off your bushes until between April 30 and May 10th. It is only safe to begin pruning on April 30th if there are no freezing nights predicted by the

weather forecasters for 10 consecutive days.

After pruning, the 3rd week in June is typically the beginning of the first bloom cycle. Just when you think the rose bushes have survived and are brandishing huge beautiful long green canes, the Chinook winds pick up around Memorial Day snapping off the canes one more time. And yes, the roses will have to start all over one more time.

The Canadian sub-zero roses like ‘William Baffin’ and ‘John Cabot’ stay at about 6 feet with no dieback during the winter - just the dead wood is removed during the May pruning. These roses thrive in Colorado vs. the “forced to live” hybrid teas, floribundas, miniatures, mini floras, and shrub roses like David Austins.

Since hybrid teas, floribundas, miniatures, mini- floras and shrubs struggle to live, each year 6-10 of Cheryl’s favorite roses are grown in containers

and hauled into the garage. She may also pluck them out of the ground and move them into a pot and then to the garage. One of her favorites, ‘Playgirl’, gets this treatment. Leaves are stripped off and they are rolled out of the garage monthly on carts and watered before coming back into the garage for protection. These roses are pruned on California time (February) - rolling them outside on warm days and back inside for the evening. This effort pays off with one extra bloom cycle of her favorite roses. These coddled roses will bloom in April/May.

Of interest is that she usually has another bush of the same variety in the soil outside, and the outside survivors do equally as well and catch up with the ones growing inside, however, with one less bloom cycle (if they survived the winter). Cheryl’s first Queen of Show was ‘Gemini’ planted in the raised rose beds and which had survived the winter that year.

Typically, a Colorado rosarian hopes for three bloom cycles. The first cycle is in the 3rd week in June, the second cycle in August, and the third the end of September into October. This year the 3rd cycle had just begun when the first snow hit, so many buds never made it to bloom.

‘Ferdy’ during the growing season

The same ‘Ferdy’ during the winter


There was one ‘Gem o’ the Rockies’ still standing proud in December and defying the extreme temperatures, wind, and weather. ‘Ferdy’, a deep pink shrub with 20 petals introduced in 1984, which Cheryl refers to as the basic Colorado sub-zero shrub rose, survives without any added water, fertilizer or sprays. Some of you remember it as the huge pink rose running the length of her driveway and spilling over onto her entryway. ‘Ferdy’ in 25 degree weather with patches of snow balled up on its canes was alive with new green leaves. That’s a survivor!

Along the side yard, ‘Rosa rubrifolia’ (also known as ‘Rosa glauca’), a once bloomer says, “Notice me,” looking like a holiday tree all decked out with bright red bulbs against the vast white snowy backdrop. Once bloomers do have the summer to set hips and that is just what ‘R. rubrifolia’ did. Occasionally ‘Golden Wings’ will set hips but not this year.

Some of Cheryl’s favorite roses are ‘Marilyn Monroe’, ‘Gemini’, ‘Moondance’, ‘Autumn Splendor’, ‘Bees Knees’, and ‘Sunset Celebration’. Varieties that she loves but which do not grow well in the Frechette garden in Boulder are ‘Julia Child’, ‘Playgirl’, ‘Champagne Cocktail’, ‘Yves Piaget’, and ‘Betty Boop’. If this sounds discouraging the good thing is that each year you get to add new varieties and experiment a lot.

After photographing these survivors, I chuckle at myself as I begin my January pruning, looking for the perfect outside facing bud eye, reducing the canes to 3-5 outstanding healthy canes, removing any canes that dare to grow in the center of the bush, knowing my friend in Colorado is just hoping for some life above the ground at the end of April. And yet, in sunny California on the first week of May you might find some of us snipping our first blooms and prepping our roses for the first rose shows. We are so fortunate. Photos of ‘R. rubrifolia’ and ‘Ferdy’ in the winter are by Betty Mott. Photo of ‘Ferdy’ during the growing season is by Cheryl Frechette. Editors’ note: This year Betty Mott is writing four columns for our newsletter, creating a twist with her artistic eye on roses she observes while traveling either with her husband, John or her sister, Susan. We welcome learning more from Betty about roses in other places.

The MAGC Garden

By Dorothy Arnold Consulting Rosarian

The New Year started with a free public pruning demonstration at the rose garden on Saturday, January 2nd. Our consulting rosarians and members of the society showed the 40 or so members of the public how to prune all types of roses from climbers to miniatures. We had a great turn out despite the rain. In addition to the pruning, we planted four new roses: ‘Drop Dead Red’, a dark red floribunda with velvet petals; ‘Easy Does It’, the 2010 AARS winner and an apricot blend floribunda; ‘Ch-Ching’, a 2007 AARS winner, which is a yellow floribunda; and ‘Stretch Johnson’, a fabulous red blend floribunda, donated by Gail Trimble. Thank you everyone for doing a great job. The garden looks great! Photo by Barbara Picarelli

Public Pruning Demonstrations at the Marin Art & Garden Center


Rose Care for February By Lydia Treadway, Consulting Rosarian

February for me is the beginning of a new rose cycle. I get so fired up thinking of all the new roses that I fell in love with, and then how to find a place for them in my garden. February is the hopeful month of ‘let it rain” and to complete the tasks to finish one’s pruning, to plant new roses, and to move old roses around.

When you buy your new roses, it is best to plant them immediately. I like to soak my roses at least six hours in five gallons of water with two tablespoons of Clorox to help get rid of diseases they may carry. You can leave them hydrating for up to a week.

Planting your roses correctly is the most important thing. Do it well! First, you make a hole wide enough to spread out the rose roots and deep enough that the bud union will end up at soil level. Spread the roots out over a mound of soil at the bottom of the hole. In the mound of soil I mix some bone meal to help root system development. Start filling up the hole with good rose soil (no fertilizer), mix with existing soil and then water well to settle it all in. After the water has drained, fill the hole to the top with soil. To keep your plant growing strong, do not forget to water. Sometimes we think that the rains will do the job, but if it starts

to be dry, please water your plants to encourage growth and flowering. This is the right time to clean the garden of any rose debris and weeds. I do this regularly as it helps my garden not to carry diseases through the growing season. I will share a few photos from my garden to show before and after pruning roses and cleaning the ground. I wish you a happy growing season with a lot of gorgeous blooms and great success in entering your roses in our shows. We are the rose family —please share your roses with us!

Plant your rose with soil up to the bud union Put water on planted rose to settle soil in hole

Sample of my garden before pruning and cleaning

Sample of my garden after pruning and cleaning


If I Only Had Three By Barbara Picarelli, Master Rosarian

Susan Pearson is one of our newer members but boy is she a dynamo! This year she is one of the co-chairs of our northern Marin pruning committee, as she worked on the pruning committee last year. Susan lives in Novato with her husband and is also a Master Gardener. She and her husband raise vegetables and fruits and sell them at the Farmers Markets at the Civic Center and in Novato. In her “spare time” she tutors adults in learning to read and write the English language.

Susan has a nice level lot with about 50 roses. Her biggest rose growing problem is the amount of sun to any given area, as she has shade from fruit trees. She is currently planning to move some roses to better locations. Being pretty much organic, she said her soil now is great as she has composted and mulched for many years as well as using alfalfa tea to fertilize. She doesn’t get much fog, but she does have the usual diseases, and a year ago had the dreaded rose curculio. Susan has lovely arches and trellises throughout her garden with a large ‘New Dawn’ climbing over one of them, and with ‘Cecile Brunner’ over another. She grows hybrid teas, miniatures and climbers, and is looking at getting another couple of standards and more climbers. She said there are some older roses in the garden inherited from the previous owner whose children gave their mother a new rose bush every week. None of them bear tags, but they have been surviving and have pretty big canes.

Her favorites were really hard for her to decide but since she loves the yellows, oranges and coral shades finally settled on ‘Tangerine Twist’, ‘Cherry Parfait’, and a weeping standard, ‘Scent From Above’.

‘Tangerine Twist’ is a miniature orange blend hybridized by Michael Williams in 1996. The flowers are high centered and grow both singly and in small clusters. The orange blooms are tinged with yellow, it has double flowers and has no fragrance. The foliage is medium green, semi-glossy

and the plant has upright growth. Parentage is ‘Pierrine’ x seedling and was introduced by the Mini Rose Garden in 1996. The ARS garden rating is 7.6.

‘Cherry Parfait’ is a red blend grandiflora that was hybridized by Meilland in 2000. It has 5 inch white flowers edged in red with 30-35 petals, borne in small clusters and no fragrance. The foliage is dark green, semi-glossy and the plant has bushy growth up to 5 feet. Parentage is ‘MEIchoiju’ x (‘MEIdanu’ x ‘MACman’), and was introduced by the Conrad-Pyle Company in 2000. The ARS garden rating is 7.9. The rose won a Gold Medal in the Rose Hills Memorial Park Rose Trials in 2007,

‘Tangerine Twist’

‘Cherry Parfait’


and the All America Rose Selection in 2003. ‘Scent From Above’ is actually a large climber, but this plant is trained as a weeping standard. Hybridized by Christopher Warner in 2005, it has medium yellow blooms with 25-30 petals that develop in small clusters. This rose had spicy fragrance, foliage is glossy dark green, and it is a vigorous tall climber. It was introduced by Jackson and Perkins in 2005 and has is from a cross of ‘Laura Ford’ x ‘Amanda’. The ARS garden rating is 7.0.

Photo of Susan Pearson by Barbara Picarelli. Photo of Tangerine Twist by Baldo Villegas, photo of Cherry Parfait by John W. Berndt, and photo of Scent from Above from J & P Roses.

‘Scent from Above’

Pruning Fundraiser By Joan Goff, Consulting Rosarian

This was our second year of pruning roses for the public as our major fundraising event. We had more pruners this year (about 30 rose society members) and we divided them into 5 pruning groups according to where everyone lives. On our first day, 8 pruners went out to West Marin and began with this large garden in Lagunitas with about 86 roses. Most of the roses are in tiered beds going up to the top of the property. This one large climber (in the photo to the right) was pruned at the end of the two hour session. Lydia Treadway took the photo of Don Chapman on one ladder, Joan Goff on the other ladder with Pam Scott lending her instructions to both of us. Paul Cullen is on the other side, waiting to move in to prune too.

The second photo (to the left) is one amazing rose bush. We found it in Sausalito and the owner said it was this big when she bought the home 12 years ago. The bush is enormous and certainly the largest rose bush I have ever seen. Luckily, it is in good shape with most of the center open. It took 4 pruners (Joan Goff, Don Chapman, Delores Gebhardt and Richard Holtz, with Paula Jaffe as the CR) about 45 minutes to gently prune this unknown rose. It had one bloom - a small medium pink bloom and the owner said it is a continuous bloomer all year. We will go back in May when it is in bloom to take more pictures. The neighborhood it is in has some 1880 homes, so who knows; perhaps it is 80 to 100 years old!


CONSULTING ROSARIAN SCHOOL REGISTRATION FORM DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS MARCH 1, 2010

$20 per person includes Seminar and Free Parking

Name(s) ________________________________________ Phone ________________________ E-mail: ___________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________ City _____________________ State ___________ Zip ________________ Number of Persons _________ Amount Enclosed $ _____________ Current CR?_________ Auditor?__________ Please send this form and a check payable to NBRS to: SUSAN TURK, 939 ROLLINGWOOD DR., VALLEJO, CA 94591-5777 For more info call Susan at (707) 643-7994 or e-mail her at [email protected] Seating is limited; please reserve early. Consulting Rosarian Manuals may be purchased directly from ARS in advance of the seminar. call (800) 637-6534 or (318) 938-5402 Editors’ note: Anyone can go to a CR school to learn more about rose horticulture. This is a great opportunity to gain more knowledge in taking care of your own roses. In order to attend this seminar, you must fill out this questionnaire and send it in with a check for $20 so that the North Bay Rose Society can account for everyone attending.

Calendar for Upcoming Events

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Monthly Meeting

7:30 pm Livermore Room MAGC

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Consulting Rosarian School Hosted by North Bay Rose Society

Vallejo, CA

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Monthly Meeting

7:30 pm Livermore Room MAGC

Saturday, March 27, 2010

NCNH District Business Meeting (open to all that are interested)

Hosted by Monterey Bay Rose Society Watsonville, CA

Lydia Treadway Realtor

(415) 785-7750 www.HOMESMARIN.com

Bradley Real Estate

Upcoming Gardening Events

March 20, 2010, A winter Seminar at Garden Valley Ranch: “Forgotten Roses - Collection, Preservation, Identification”, 498 Pepper Road, Petaluma . Starts at 10:00 a.m.- bring a bag lunch and drinks will be provided. No charge. For more information call (707) 795-0919. Please register by e-mailing Alice Flores at: [email protected].

March 24-28, 2010, San Francisco Flower and Garden Show Go to http://www.sfgardenshow.com/ for details.


Marin Rose Society Membership Renewal Form

It is time to renew your membership or become a new member of the Marin Rose Society. We are looking forward to another year of educational and enjoyable monthly meetings, and hope you will continue to support this dynamic organization. Annual membership dues remain at $30.00, and contribute to the costs of meeting facilities, newsletters, rose shows, and wonderful speakers at our meetings.

MARIN ROSE SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

(For New & Renewing Members)

Year 2010 NAME_________________________________________________________ ADDRESS_______________________________________________________ CITY______________________________________ZIP__________________ TELEPHONE__________________EMAIL_____________________________ New Applicant___________ Renewal of Membership___________ Please note that all members will receive the Marin Rose Society newsletter by Email unless a printed copy is requested. A donation to cover printing cost is appreciated. I Want My Newsletter by Email _________

I Want My Newsletter in Printed Form mailed to the above address_______

Payment method: Cash_____ Check____

Please send completed form and payment payable to Marin Rose Society: to

Delores Gebhardt 45 Barber Avenue San Anselmo, CA 94960

2010 Memberships are now due. Please use the form below and mail today!

MARIN ROSE SOCIETY 724 Rowland Blvd. Novato, CA 94947

Have a Question? Contact a Consulting Rosarian Dorothy Arnold, Fairfax 453-4036 [email protected] Vivien Bronshvag, Kentfield 461-4066 [email protected] Joan Goff, Mill Valley 388-8552 [email protected] John Goldsmith, San Francisco 830-1799 [email protected] Maureen Groper, San Anselmo 457-6045 [email protected] Paula Jaffe, Tiburon 435-4804 [email protected] Barbara Lanoy Picarelli*, Novato 892-9096 [email protected] Nanette Londeree*, Novato 899-1023 [email protected]

Betty Mott, Mill Valley 383-0466 [email protected] Mary Polizzi, San Rafael 479-8056 Lenore Ruckman*, San Rafael 457-4424 [email protected] Florence Taylor, San Rafael 454-3870 [email protected] Frank Treadway, San Rafael 456-2640 [email protected] Lydia Treadway, San Rafael 456-2640 [email protected] Gail Trimble*, San Rafael 472-6228 [email protected]

*Master Rosarian

The Marin Rose

Documents

Transcript of The Marin Rose