Temecula Valley Rose Society

President's Message

These are only the highlights of what all have done. Many volunteers keep our society, Rose Haven, member meetings, and hospitality functioning. Individually and together people have joined in discussions, contributed to many decisions, and cooperated in many ways throughout the past year to help us grow into a more sophisticated, professionally functioning organization.

Old Garden Roses At Rose Haven

For our sixth rose in our series on Old Garden Roses we will become acquainted with the China rose, CRAMOISI SUPERIEUR. Like most China's she is a perpetual bloomer showing crimson blooms with white streaks which do not fade in summer heat. The raspberry scented blooms appear in clusters of 3 to 5 flowers of about 2". Petal count is 30 to 35. The plants can grow to 6 feet or more and 3 feet in width but can be cut back to promote new growth and shape the plant. The stems are thorny and twiggy. CRAMOISI SUPERIEUR does well in poor soil and is suitable for hedging or potting and will improve with occasional mulching. AARS gives this rose a rating of 8.7. She was propagated by Coquereau in France in 1832 from a seedling of Saltern's Crimson China. Our CRAMOISI'S are located at the eastern most edge of the OGR section. For a review of China roses, refer back to the article about Archduke Charles.

Families in the Garden

'Families in the Garden' had a great turn out of young people and parents for our October 18th program. Children planted sugar snap peas and garlic. They also practiced digging with a shovel and planted sugar snap peas to take home. We didn't plan on playing in the dirt and finding worms and bugs, but that proved to be an exciting part of the morning. Many of the youngsters wanted to just keep making holes with our special shovels.

Thanks to our volunteers for making this a great outdoor experience for kids and parents. It takes lots of planning and gathering materials to make this experience happen. If you would like to part of this committee please see JoAnn Summers or anyone on the committee. We would love to have you.

	Brownie Scouts, JoAnn & Fay

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

Member Meeting Program

Edie has been interested in roses nearly all her life starting at age 12 when she took Horticultural classes at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. She started visiting rose gardens with her parents and later planted hundreds of rose at her varies homes. She currently takes care of over seven hundred roses here in Temecula.

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

November Birthdays & New Members

Our October 16th Little Rose Show had 27 entries. The biggest month since April. Frank Brines won the Rose of the Day with his "Chelsea Belle", a medium red, rated as an 8.0 in the ARS handbook as a very good to excellent rose. The other first place winning roses were brought by: Don Nordike, Ellen Noell, Virginia Boos, and Simonne Arnould.

Other participants were Micha Grayson and Frances Merritt. A very showy mini-spray brought by Virginia, named, "Eutin" was critiqued by Frank as to how to make it present better. He took off one side branch and brought it up higher in the vase, using support material to keep it straight. All very useful learning tips.

Other tips to keep in mind when showing your roses, is to inspect the leaves for blemishes and clean them from dust, leaving all the leaves on the branch when placing them into the vase. Styrofoam is a good support material.

We would like to encourage more members to participate and bring their roses. Things to remember are:
• Bring your own vase with the rose.
• Prepare the tag when you arrive with the correct spelling of the rose's name.
• Add your name to the tag with an address label or write it clearly.
• Place the rose in the right category as arranged on the table.
• Leave your tag at the end of the show and take your rose and vase home.
There will be someone there to help you if you have questions.
Lenore Vogel and Betty Dixon

Rose Haven Update

"Fabulous Fall" and once again the garden is full of color everywhere. The hillside is spectacular — take a look at the brilliant Altissimo photo. At home we hope you too are experiencing roses full of blossoms. It's great timing to practice floral arranging for your Thanksgiving table. We invite you to come out and enjoy the garden at your leisure – maybe after your feast and take a nice walk around.

The next garden committee meeting would fall on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving so we will postpone it until a later date. Don't forget our garden "Wish List" on our website. Maybe you have knowledge how we can achieve our goals of obtaining these items. View the Rose Haven Wish List.

	Altimiso Hall of Fame

Member Profile: Micha Grayson

We have all learned to appreciate Micha Grayson, member of the Hospitality Committee, for her skill and humor in dealing with our many food emergencies as beverages, snacks and lunch continue as fond traditions for our society each month. I always enjoy working in the kitchen and Micha makes it fun.

She was very gracious to agree to be interviewed and had some surprises in her story. She worked many years at the courthouse here, and she was a Rock and Roll DJ before she left Korea. Who knew?

Micha was born in South Korea, the oldest of six with four sisters and a baby brother. Her father had a small farm, but the need for higher schooling as the family matured led him to relocate the family in Seoul, when Micha attended middle school. She had arrived in the big city, and Western culture captivated her. Those heady times included the British Invasion, the Beatles, the amazing fluorescence of Rock and Roll. Micha stayed up nights due to time differences, listening to Armed Forces Radio and learning the new hits and the top 40. Anyone who has lived away can appreciate this. She loved western music. She was a young woman in a very conservative culture with a big interest in a very revolutionary "fad." After she graduated high school, her mother had arranged a coveted job for her, working for the Secretary of Labor, as Micha was not interested in college. But she found the work boring, the job a dead end.

The music halls, the tea and coffee houses, were where the music was. Micha learned the DJ business, how to use the equipment, collect the LPs, detect the passions of the different clientele at the clubs. It was quite a step, and she did not know of any other female DJs in Korea.

She married and the couple came to the U.S. in 1976, when Micha was 26. She lived first in Washington State, then here in California. She has a daughter who graduated from TVHS and played clarinet in the marching band when Temecula was a much smaller town. She is very proud of having become a Naturalized Citizen, as she loves it here. She worked at the Temecula Court for 26 years, starting as a clerk then becoming a supervisor. Micha also remarried here. After she retired she joined the Rose Society and was happy to discover that Ann Schryer was also a member–they had worked together for years at the courthouse.

Rose Care FUNdamentals

If you pruned in September and fertilized you are likely enjoying a showy bloom cycle now. Cutting some blooms now (and taking inside for bouquets) will assist having blooms around Thanksgiving. If you stagger your bloom cutting, you might have some for your December holiday table. That "might" is the big unknown, with the main factor being the temperature (again!): The average first frost date in our area is about November 17.

You may make a final application of fertilizer for the year before mid-November. If you do this, use a fertilizer lower in Nitrogen (N) and higher in Phosphate (P) and Potassium (K); that is, if your fertilizer has an N-P-K number on it, the first digit will be lower than the other two. If it lacks an N-P-K, read the ingredients and/or ask your professional nursery person for guidance. To explain: Nitrogen encourages foliage growth-something we want to discourage going into dormancy; Phosphate helps build root structure and resistance to stressful conditions (e.g., cold at this time of year); Potassium is a helper of Phosphate and aids in bloom quality. If you use an organic fertilizer it will be readily available when the soil warms, adding to the nutrients needed for that Spring growth spurt.

Don't apply fertilizer after mid-November because it will only encourage tender growth that could be damaged by frost and will forestall your roses going into dormancy as the soil and general environment cools, daylight shortens, etc.

Some people think Southern California lacks distinct seasons, but we do have seasons: They are only discerned by those with a more sophisticated palette! So get out of the house and enjoy the subtle delights of the air, sun, and the rich aroma of our magically misty Fall. When you have a moment to spare, or feel the need to get away, or when the day cools down, take your favorite healthy beverage, a picnic basket, and visit Rose Haven Heritage Garden, 30592 Jedediah Smith Road, Temecula (cross street is Cabrillo Avenue). The early morning and late afternoon sunlight across the pass is magical this time of year-it even makes the freeway seem a little bit romantic!

Oh, one last thing-something to do when it gets just a bit too nippy out there: Now is the time to start perusing rose catalogs (printed and online) for that next "gotta have" rose variety. (Come on-you deserve it! You work hard to have lovely roses, so let yourself go! (And we expect to see you enter that perfect bloom in the next rose show May 2, 2015!) Also, this time of year many nurseries and garden stores are liquidating their remaining inventory of potted roses-and you're in luck because November is an ideal time to purchase and plant!

Until next month, Happy Roses to you!

For more ideas, visit TVRS' Rose Haven garden at 30592 Jedediah Smith Rd.,
Temecula, as well as our web site at TemeculaValleyRoseSociety.org/index.shtml. You might also want to visit our section at Meetup.com to find events of interest to you. Spread the joy of roses!