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Temecula Valley Rose Society

An Affiliate of the American Rose Society

The Valley Rose

February 2012   Roses   Vol. 23, No. 02



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President's Message

by Frank Brines

Frank BrinesW e're getting off to a great start as the new year begins! Start it out right by renewing your membership in TVRS. DON'T DELAY: If you renew before March 1, you will be listed in the members' roster, you will receive a free copy of the American Rose Society publication "Growing Beautiful Roses" by renowned rose expert Dr. Tommy Cairns, and you will continue to receive this monthly newsletter, a 10% discount at L&M Fertilizer in Temecula, and an open invitation to attend our monthly meetings which include a guest speaker and a pot luck luncheon.

Not yet a member? JOIN NOW: New members who join by the end of February will receive a potted rose plant, a rose recipe book, and more! Also, every new member in 2012 will enjoy the benefits of regular membership described above (including receiving the Tommy Cairns publication), as well as a free 4-month trial membership in the American Rose Society (ARS), a $86 value which includes these perks:

  • Free advice from Consulting Rosarians. The ARS Consulting Rosarians program connects members with expert rosarians who provide free assistance with your rose questions.
  • Free or reduced garden admissions, a $25 value after just three uses. With the ARS Reciprocal Garden Admission program, members enjoy free or reduced admission to and discounts at hundreds of gardens, conservatories, and arboreta nationwide.
  • Free online access to four quarterly bulletins, a $45 value. Previously available by subscription only, the Mini/Mini-Flora Bulletin, Old Garden Rose & Shrub Gazette, Rose Arrangers' Bulletin, and Rose Exhibitors' Forum are all now available online for free to all ARS members.
  • Two issues of American Rose magazine, a $16 value. The only magazine devoted exclusively to roses and rose culture, these bi-monthly, 84-page issues feature informative articles and beautiful color photography for beginners and experienced rose growers alike. View a free issue online at www.ars.org.
  • Discounts of up to 30% at merchant partners. The ARS Member Benefit Partner program offers discounts at various merchants with new partners being added continuously.

How do you join? Come to the next meeting (February 16) and request a membership form, or go to www.temeculavalleyrosesociety.org and click on the Membership site, which will lead you to the Membership page and a link to a form. On the form, please indicate your interests and any changes you would like to your listing in the members' roster.

So, to wrap THAT up: Spread the word about these benefits to family, friends, and neighbors, and let's make this the best year ever for TVRS membership!

Our January speaker, Diane Busch, gave a very interesting program about the life of honey bees. Don't miss the February members' meeting for the program, "Attracting Birds and Butterflies to Your Garden."

I've set goals for 2012 to help us grow and become a more vibrant, active organization. To help reach those goals, I'd like each of you to join one of the committees listed in the back of the members' roster, or on the TVRS Web site. (From the home page, click "Member's Page" then click the link to "Committees List.") Most committees meet immediately after the monthly members' meeting and run from 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm.

We have many events planned for 2012, and volunteers make each event a success. The next two upcoming events are at Rose Haven Heritage Garden: They are our "Earth Day" celebration on April 22, and our "First Bloom Festival" on May 12, which will include a fundraising plant sale and show. A project that isn't scheduled yet but which we're going to conduct in April is moving the Society's rose show properties to a newly-installed shed at Rose Haven. Remember: "Many hands make light work." We can make this day a celebration. Watch for the date in an upcoming newsletter.

One opportunity I'd like to bring front and center is our need for skilled volunteers to join our grant-writing committee. Grants are a vital element in supporting our Society's programs, events, projects, and to help retire our outstanding debt and complete projects at Rose Haven. The committee watches for opportunities to research and apply for grants and donations from institutions and other funding sources. For example, Rose Haven's "Romantic Garden" area has the potential to become a revenue source as a small wedding venue. A grant would help make that possible.

So, please join or renew, and become more a part of the fun, excitement, and wonderful memories that we can create together at TVRS!



Youth Gardening

by Barb Purdy

I was disappointed when I woke up and it was raining on our Youth Gardening Saturday. We put a lot of work into our Third Saturday programs, so it is always discouraging when we have to cancel the program due to inclement weather. The good thing is that our miniature rose care program is ready and still appropriate for our February program. This also gives our committee more time to prepare for Earth Day. This is a large project that we are preparing to sponsor along with Pam Nelson from the Sierra Club at Rose Haven on April 22nd. Margaret Meyncke has set the foundation and now we all need to get to work to prepare for this exciting family day in the garden. We want this to be a fun and educational public event. Anyone who would like to be a part of the fun in making this event happen, please contact me at barbpurdy@verizon.net or (951) 526-5599.

The Tree of Life vegetable garden is in winter mode and the carrots and peas are growing slowly but surely. We also have a few radishes starting to sprout. The students have been busy and unable to come and help so we haven't planted anything new lately. I have peas and broccoli starts at home and onion sets have been purchased so we will be planting again soon. Please stop by the garden any time to see a work in progress.


Member Meeting Program

Date: Thursday, February 16
Time: 10:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Place: Temecula Library, Community Room (30592 Pauba Road)
Speaker: Marcia Van Loy
Topic: Attracting Birds, Humming Birds & Butterflies to Your Garden

Marcia Van Loy has been a volunteer with the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County for 10 years. She has gardened for over 30 years in the Clairemont community of San Diego and coordinated the Clairemont Town Council's annual garden tour for nine years. After many years of collecting rustic bird houses, she now teaches Master Gardeners how to build them as a way to raise funds for their educational programs. Her success in attracting birds and hummingbirds to her garden has increased over the years by adding a water feature, nest boxes, seed and nectar feeders and plants that provide food, roosting and nesting sites, nesting materials and places to raise young. Growing flowers, shrubs and vines that attract hummingbirds and butterflies to her hillside terraced garden is one of Marcia's favorite subjects to share with others.

A light buffet luncheon will be served around noon. Guests are welcome.

March program: Staghorn Ferns
  April program: Landscape Design With Native Plants



February Birthdays & New Members

Birthdays
Felicia Hogan, Art Meza, Denise & Sam Vaccaro.
New Members
Nardo N. Felipe & Ruthie J. Guest.

Membership Dues

The Temecula Valley Rose Society Board and committee members are planning a great new year for you filled with special events, informative meeting speakers and exciting day trips in 2012. Your support is needed at this time by paying your membership dues as soon as possible.

A Single Membership is $25.00, Family Membership is $30.00 and a lifetime membership is $250.00. Please mail your membership dues to:
 Membership Chair, Temecula Valley Rose Society, PO Box 890367, Temecula, CA 925890-367

We also need to recruit new members to our society, remember to invite your friends or neighbors to our February 16th Meeting.

Rose Haven Update

by Bonnie Bell

A naked garden is what we see right now looking up to the gazebo after major pruning was completed in January. It's hard to imagine that by April everything will be in full bloom again. Also, most of the original roses have been pruned by our volunteers, but there are plenty more that need attention. Please join us any Wednesday or Saturday morning and bring your clippers and gloves. Fertilizing will be done once the roses leaf out and a target date of Saturday, February 25th has been set. Volunteers are needed for that project too.

Another rose pruning demonstration is scheduled for Saturday, February 4th from 9 to 11 a.m. The program will be lead by Frank Brines and it is open to our members as well as the public. This is a hands-on lesson, so bring your pruners, gloves and plenty of good spirit. We also need members to meet, greet and invite visitors to sign-in if pruning is not your passion.

There are other exciting improvements to be completed in the near future. Come out and see if you can spot a donated gazebo in the Hall of Fame, and an additional tool shed for storing rose show items.

The next garden committee meeting will be Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. All interested members are invited to attend. The garden address is 30500 Jedediah Smith Road, Temecula. Please refer to our website for a map, directions, and other information at temeculavalleyrosesociety.org/index.shtml



Weekly Rose Society Update

Several years ago, while a vice-president of our group, I became aware that some people thought the Rose Society needed to be more "friendly". Since I had never met a friendlier group I began to try to remedy the perception. We now thank our volunteers monthly instead of sporadically, have a yearly new member orientation, and make every attempt to thank all who help. Still, there are some problems. I believe they basically stem from the members having way too much to do in the time allotted, so we do not always have a way to explain to and welcome each other as well as we might.

Since there is little anyone can do to make less work, I am going to try a weekly update of the work going on at the garden, a little bit about how to do it, and an attempt to make sure everyone who wants to feels connected about other projects. This will not be like the Newsletter, but a bit of whatever people want to communicate about and a way to write up and store bits of information otherwise lost, or too insignificant for the real news. Different committees will still have to contact each other.

At first I will send this to everyone, but if you want to opt out, just press delete. We will try to make it just chatty and newsy and short about how things get done, what people have questions about but don't know who to ask, etc.

Since I got my new hip I can not do a lot of the heavy work I used to love, so I will be happy to greet, talk and answer questions on Saturdays at Rose Haven or anytime at kkatz@iinet.com. I will try to get my little newsy email out on Wednesdays. Please feel free to discuss all sorts of esoteric stuff. Keep in touch. Kathy Katz.


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Rose Care FUNdamentals

by Frank Brines, Consulting Rosarian

Frank BrinesW OW! The year has just begun and pruning time for the Temecula Valley is nearly over. And since here we can get a later frost, we don't have to follow the San Diego area schedule. We actually have until the end of February. The main reason we prune is to reset the plants' biological clock. A wake up call to begin a new life cycle-like restarting a factory.

To do the job right, one usually needs to have a range of pruner sizes handy. Each size has a limit to the diameter thickness for which it is most efficiently used; also, using too small a pruner on too large a cane can damage both. At minimum, have a pair of loppers and a standard-sized pair of hand pruners. All pruners should be kept clean, sharp, and in good repair. Rubbing alcohol is ideal for cleaning pruners, before and during the job. It also helps prevent transmitting diseases from plant to plant, and you can use it as first aid for punctures and scratches to your skin.

Before starting the job, lubricate the moving parts with a little light oil (such as 3-in-1 or even WD-40), and make sure they operate without resistance. Sharpen each blade with a small diamond file (available at garden centers), trying as much as possible to match the original bevel of the blade. Every 100 cuts or so, swipe the file over the blade a few times to keep it sharp. If you notice that the pruners are crushing the stems and/or leaving a tail, it's past time to sharpen!

Now, decide what style of pruning you feel comfortable with (Figure 1). I find this works well with the way buds are distributed along the cane. Buds are found in the "axle" where a leaf meets the cane; leaves spiral around the cane at about 1.5" intervals. This places outward-facing buds about 4" apart. If I prune lightly to moderately, and if frost damages the tender young growth, then I know I can still re-prune to the next bud down.



In Southern California our rose bushes can grow quite large, so I start with some gross pruning to bring the project down to size. I use loppers to cut every bush down to about 3 feet high. This lets me examine the structure of the bush, and to use my hand pruners to more easily remove canes that are twiggy, dead, crossing other canes, or passing through the center of the plant. I also remove old leaves as I go along so I can see what I'm aiming at. After removing all that stuff from the interior of the bush you can do the final pruning. Attempt to leave a domed top to the degree possible so the plant will bush out in a pleasing, balanced manner.

There are two kinds of cuts you will make. Some cuts remove the entire branch; these cuts are made flush with the surface of the parent cane. Other cuts simply shorten a cane. It is important to position your pruners so you minimize damage to the plant. Take a look at your pruners and notice that they have a sharp cutting blade (which slices through the cane), and a dull curved non-cutting blade (which holds the cane in place during the cut). Position your pruners so the non-cutting blade is in contact with the portion of the cane that will be removed, and the cutting blade is on the side of the cut that will remain on the plant. (See Figure 2.) This will make more sense when you are actually holding the pruners and getting ready to cut! Also, always prune above an outward facing bud with an angled cut. (See Figure 3).

   

A word of caution when pruning: Look for the small nests of hummingbirds, as this is the nesting period for two varieties in our area. Also, if you discover praying mantis egg cases on any branches you remove, find a place to put them where they will be undisturbed and hatch out so you can benefit from the offspring!

Be sure to dispose of all cut off material into your green waste bin and put it on the street. Clean the ground thoroughly of all rose debris. Apply a dormant spray to the plants and the soil surface to ward off diseases. I will be giving a free pruning demonstration at Rose haven Heritage Garden on February 4, 2012.

For more ideas, visit TVRS' Rose Haven garden at 30500 Jedediah Smith Road, Temecula, as well as our web site: TemeculaValleyRosesociety.org/index.shtml.


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