Temecula Valley Rose Society

President's Message

Volunteers are still needed for all aspects of this event. There will be two membership/welcoming tables. We need volunteers to be at these tables to greet and provide information. Contact Ann Coakes (951-265-7682) if you want to act as a tour docents, contribute cakes, cookies, or plants, staff a sales table, or help in erecting and/or tearing down the pop-ups. Contact Linda Black (951-694-8968) if you want to help us right after 3PM prepare the show tent for pickup by the rental company. We're trying something new this year: We will be selling some floral designs from the show. Let Linda Black or Frank Brines (951-315-9632) know if you are willing to donate your show arrangement to this effort. In addition please bring specimen roses and left over blooms from arrangements-a group of volunteers will make them into bouquets for sell. Contact Frank Brines for any volunteering opportunity at this exciting project.

The show schedule has been distributed to members. If you did not receive one please check the website or call or email Linda Black. There are a limited number of spaces for entries and must be reserved by October 18. TVRS members will be given priority, non-members will be put on a waiting list. Contact Linda Black (951-694-8968) for your space with the title of the arrangement.

The October 11 Board Meeting location will be at the Assistance League of Temecula Valley, 28720 Via Montezuma, Temecula, 951-694-8018.

TVRS holds annual "Last Rose of Summer" Festival

The show will feature standard and miniature rose arrangements and various table settings featuring roses. You will also be able to enjoy thousands of beautiful roses in the garden along with music, food and refreshments, garden tours and activities for children. This is a fun, family event in Temecula.

Plein-air painting and photography of the garden are encouraged. Shop for plants, garden items and gifts to help raise funds for Temecula's only public garden. A $2.00 donation is appreciated.

For more information, please visit the Rose show page at: October Rose Show.

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

September in the Garden

September has been a very hot month so it has been difficult to start planting our winter crops. The biggest event in the garden in September has been the harvesting of our watermelon. These watermelons were planted by a Girl Scout Troop in late May and we harvested them and shared them with different groups. The other crops that are currently growing in the garden are sweet potatoes (they love the heat), pumpkins, winter squash and tomatoes (does anyone know why they still won't turn red?). I did harvest and donate a large bowl of pear tomatoes to the food bank this month and they were much appreciated. Please come to the garden and see the progress that we have made.

Our Third Saturday "Families in the Garden" program started again in September. Our numbers were small, but the families who attended really enjoyed the program. The children scattered carrot seeds and were shown where a carrot seed comes from (we let one carrot go to seed in the garden). They also planted colorful cauliflower "starts" and we are keeping our fingers crossed that they survive the heat as they are not very happy right now. The children took a walk around the garden and learned about the different shapes of roses. They finished their walk at the pepper tree where they ate a watermelon they harvested, and did a craft showing off the different shapes and colors of roses that they collected in their own creative way (see picture below). Our next Third Saturday program is on October 20 which is the same day as our Last Rose of Summer Festival. Please join us under the pepper tree with our special guest speaker Cindy Myers, a bat rescue and education volunteer. Don't miss the opportunity to see a live bat and learn about this amazingly interesting mammal.

 

Member Meeting Program

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

November: Rose propagation, December: Christmas program and installation of officers.

October Birthdays & New Members

October and November will be the last two "Little Rose Shows" for this year. Hopefully by the third week in October we will have more blooms so please enter your specimens to accumulate points as in December it will be determined who had the most points for the whole year and a grand prize will be awarded to the top three. Congratulations to Virginia Boos for winning Rose of the Day with "Little Darling".

Volunteers Needed!

The Last Rose of Summer and Floral Design "Autumn Treasures" Show, October 20, public 10am – 3pm. We still need many volunteers. Anyone willing to help should contact Ann Coakes (951-265-7682), Linda Black (951-694-8968), or Frank Brines (951-315-9632) to find out what they can do and when they should show up.

A New Look At Rose Haven

'Bat Lady' and Live Bat at the Last Rose of Summer Festival

Cindy Myers, a bat rescue and education volunteer with 10 years of experience working with bats, will be our special guest on October 20th at Rose Haven's Last Rose of Summer Festival. The program will include a live bat and Cindy will discuss bats and all their mysterious ways, the importance of these flying mammals to our ecosystem and why they should be protected. The 30 minute presentation will start at 10:30 under the pepper tree. Seating will be limited so come early to get a seat. Our speaker and the live bat are part of Project Wildlife.

This organization rescues and cares for wild animals. If you are attending the program, we encourage you to bring a small donation of one of the following items to like to help them care for the animals: a box of q-tips, a roll of paper towels, trash bags (kitchen and 55 gallon), wild bird seed or a clean old beach towel to cover a cage. The volunteers and animals will thank you. This is a "Families in the Garden" program and is sponsored by Youth Gardening.

 

A Brief Overview of Basic Rose Arranging

To "arrange" means to organize and to place in a proper or pleasing composition or design. We've all seen flower arrangements that take our breath away and make us say, "How did they do that?" Well, they did it the same way you are going to do it: by applying the basic elements and principles of design.

Don't let all of this intimidate you: I'll bet that you are already quite adept at applying these in other areas of your life, from your wardrobe, to your hair style, to your home décor and your garden design.

As in those other areas, you can use these basic elements and principles to build an appealing picture that expresses and communicates your unique personality and imagination. And don't be misled by the word "picture," for an arrangement is not flat: It exists in three dimensions. (Notice how many of the basic elements and principles have to do with space.) When combined into a three-dimensional form, these all lead the eye (and mind) in a journey of discovery, delight, and surprise while creating a pleasing whole.

In order to have this kind of impact, the arranger must plan, organize, and build up the design, all the while selecting (and rejecting) materials to best express her vision and to create a memorable design.

I encourage you to think about the elements and principles, and to experiment before the next meeting. If you don't have any fresh plant material, why not go down to a craft store and buy some silk flowers and play with those? And bring a line arrangement to the Sept 20th membership meeting. If you create it from fresh plant material, you can enter it in the Little Rose Show, but even if you have only silk flowers bring those anyway. We'll analyze the arrangements and learn together!

There are several general types of arrangements. The one I want to discuss this month is the usually called the "Traditional Style." The most basic of these is the "line arrangement." It is also the most easily executed because it requires the least amount of plant material—and yet, its very simplicity can make it one of the most dramatic of arrangements, causing many novice arrangers to doubt that it can be easily achieved.

The illustrations that accompany this article show four variations on the dominant factor, the line. Every line arrangement should have openness, height and width, but very little depth. It should use minimal plant material of the highest quality, and there should be no deviation from the line. While most designers commonly think of a line as vertical, it doesn't have to be: It may be horizontal, diagonal, curved, crescent, spiral, or "Hogarth" ("S" shaped variation).

Rose Care FUNdamentals

Next, every two weeks, apply a fertilizer with a slightly higher middle number (phosphorous) such as 8-10-8 or with a similar ratio. (Organic products don't usually list these ratios but any good nursery person can help you determine the product's percentages.) I also suggest applying fish emulsion on alternate weeks (when you don't apply the other). Dilute the fish emulsion per the instructions on the container. Pour it over each plant at a rate of at least one gallon for each hybrid tea or floribunda, and half a gallon for mini roses. If your minis are rather tall, use more. If you haven't done it already, this is also a good time to make a second application of the year of magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts): Apply 3/4 – 1 cup around the base of each plant, and scratch and/or water it in. (Note: You can also remove rose thorns from your fingers by soaking in an Epsom salt solution!)

As I told folks at the mid-September club meeting, you should have done a light to medium pruning in mid-September in order to produce blooms for our "Last Rose of Summer Festival" rose arrangement show. The general rule of thumb for this time of year is that you'll get a new bloom cycle 6 weeks after pruning, but everyone's roses and garden are different, so there may still be time – get out there and prune!

If you didn't do it over the summer, add at least a 2" layer of composted mulch to your garden. Its main benefit is to help the soil hold moisture longer and spreading it out in the root zone, as well as moderating soil temperatures. Mulch can include anything that shades the soil. I prefer to use composted mulch, available in bulk from various local suppliers, because it breaks down slowly and its nutrients are easily absorbed. See last month's column at the TVRS website to review good mulching methods.

Try watering less frequently but longer and deeper so the soil can really charge up. Schedule watering for before sunrise so your plants are well hydrated before the heat begins. If you have some bushes that aren't lush, make a single application of a high-nitrogen fertilizer, either in solution or granular form. If you use the granular, be sure to water the granules generously into the soil. Skip this for roses that look good.

In November, I will be thrilled if you would share with me how you cared for your roses, the results you got, and where you garden. I will compile this information to benefit rose growers in the Temecula Valley.

As ever, I encourage you to take some time out of your busy schedule to visit the Temecula Valley Rose Society's Rose Haven Heritage Garden, especially on Saturday October 20< when we will hold our free Last Rose of Summer Festival which is open to the public. There will be docents to show you around the garden, as well as fun activities for kids, vendors, a plant sale table, refreshments, and a band. Spread the word and spread the joy of roses!

For more ideas, visit TVRS' Rose Haven garden at 30592 Jedediah Smith Rd. , Temecula, as well as our web site: TemeculaValleyRosesociety.org/index.shtml.