Temecula Valley Rose Society

Co-President's Message

Hopefully you have taken advantage of the mild and dry weather of the past few weeks to prune your roses, add new ones and prepare to enjoy a year of beautiful blooms.

Your Rose Society will be presenting programs each month which will aid you in learning more about our shared hobby. Please plan to join us for education, inspiration and good food too!

We all know spring will be upon us before we know it. With spring comes both rose shows and garden club flower shows. We have the opportunity to participate in our own show but also shows that others are hosting for their communities.

Our Society is part of the ARS. The ARS is divided into Districts. We are a part of the Pacific Southwest District. The Annual Rose Show & District Convention will be held on April 22, 23, and 24 at the L. A. County Arboretum. Visit their website http://www.pacificrosesociety.org/ to learn more about this event.

The Temecula Valley Garden Club has a show in May. Several of our Society members are also Garden Club members. As the Flower Show date approaches I know they will share information with us. This is another great venue to show your roses. Just be certain to read the rules on entering roses - garden club rules are different from rose society rules!

The Fallbrook Garden Club will be holding their Flower Show on Saturday, April 30th. Entries will be accepted on Friday, April 29th from 8:30 am until approximately noon. We are invited not only to enter if we choose but also the Flower Show Committee would be interested in having two of our members volunteer to help receive entries. Want to help? Contact me for more details.

Our Rose and Arts Festival Committee will be meeting on Thursday, February 18th after refreshments in the same room that we hold our Member Meeting Program. Please join us.

Roses Past and Present – I

To begin our study of the history of roses we will go back as far as scientific evidence will take us. Paleontologists tell us that fossilized evidence of rose plants have been discovered in Colorado which are at least 40 million years old, and some believe roses may go back as much as 70 million years. In any case, these ancient plants were to be found in almost the entire northern hemisphere, from China and east Asia and westward to the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East and North Africa, through Europe and North America as far north as the Arctic Circle. It is interesting to note that with the very wide distribution of roses in the Northern Hemisphere, there are no roses which are native to any location south of the equator. Rose gardens are popular in Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, South America and southern Asia, but plants in these garden were transported there from the north.

All wild roses were originally pink or white, with some yellow varieties in China. Through some genetic changes some of the pink roses became red and numerous shades of the original colors. The roses we call "wild roses" are also referred to as "species" roses for this reason: Each individual rose flower, or bloom contains both the male and female reproductive apparatus, meaning that a single rose can reproduce itself by self-pollination. When the seeds (located in the hips of the flower) fall to the ground and sprout a new plant, that new plant will be an exact replica of the previous generation, or "species" of rose. The genetic information from the "pollen parent" (male) and the "seed parent" (female) will combine to produce, not a new species, but the same species over and over again.

This very successful trait of roses, and a few related plants are why these plants have survived for so many millions of years. But this is just the beginning of our journey in search of the history of roses. We will continue this pursuit in future articles. More next month!

2016: Hopes and Dreams, Part Two

This month I will focus on the comments members made at our December meeting concerning Finance, Membership and Communications, very important elements of our Society.

As the song goes "Money Makes the World Go Round", money also makes our Society "Go Round". The Finance Committee meets monthly (except July) to review our financial reports and to discuss ways in which we can improve our financial health (earn more, spend less?). Our Society receives donations from both members and non-members in both large and small amounts. We apply for grants and welcome members who have skills (or would like to acquire skills) in helping with this important task. We have done fundraising through restaurant nights and plant sales. The Finance Committee is particularly interested in hearing ideas related to Rose Haven. A Rose Haven Fun Run is one of those ideas which a couple of members plan to share at our next meeting. Members are welcome to attend our committee meeting on the second Tuesday of each month (except July). Please email Bonnie (bonniejbell@yahoo.com) for time and place.

Given the nature of communications, there are many ways we communicate. We talk to each other at our member meetings and in our committee meetings. We talk to each other over the phone and through emails. Bonnie sends out email "blasts" as reminders, and Kathy Katz has written a number of Rose Haven Chats over the years which reside on the Rose Haven Garden page on our website.

A wealth of information is provided on our website (temeculavalleyrosesociety.org). Any day of the year you are able to browse through not only current information but information that represents years and managing our website. Our eNewsletters reside on the website – you can read any of the enewsletters back to January 2008 online! This is a great trip down memory lane. Have something you want to share? Want to write an article – send John (John.Weersing@gmail.com) an email asking for his page of tips to submitting articles and the deadline for the article.

We do have two different Facebook pages – one for the Society and one for Families in the Garden. Links to these Facebook pages are located on the homepage, scroll down past the center Rose Haven photo (changes every time you visit the site) and click on either "Temecula Valley Rose Society" or "Families in the Garden" or both! Also please notice our 'event calendar' – browse to see upcoming events, including committee meetings.

Publicity is important and we have several people involved. We welcome all who are interested in promoting our activities. Email Rebecca (temroses@gmail.com) if you are interested in helping with Communications in any way.

Just as we could sing "Money Makes the World Go Round" for the Finance Committee we could sing this same song (modifying the words to "Members Make the Society Go Round") for this committee. Members are our most important asset. Members are the engine and talent of our Society. We all have a shared interest in roses. Recruiting new members is something that each of us can do. Ask a neighbor or friend to attend with you. The Membership Committee has Sunshine Members who send out birthday and get well/thinking of you cards during the year. If you know of someone who is under the weather send an email to Ann Schryer (arschryer@verizon.net).

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

Member Meeting Program

Virginia is a Charter member, dating back to 1990 when she answered a newspaper article by Karen Ortega, inviting anyone interested in starting a local rose group, to a meeting. Francesca has been a member of the Society for about a year. She became a member after a visit to Rose Haven and fell in love with it. She also likes to garden, and wanted to make new friends. She says being a member has been wonderful and she looks forward to another great year.

A light buffet luncheon will be served at 11:30. Guests are welcome.

February Birthdays & New Members

Birthdays James Marietti, 2-2; Denise Vaccaro, 2-3; San Vacarro, 2-17; Tom Torres, 2-16; Brenda Jahanbani, 2-25

New Members   Dot and Bob Crain

"I DO Promise You a Rose Garden"

There used to be a business on the corner of Rancho California Road and Ynez called Coldwell Banker Real Estate. The owner of that business, Bill Johnson, and his wife Tish loved roses as much as I do.

In the course of selling homes, the Johnsons believed in giving every new homeowner a bare root rose. They wanted to make Temecula like a certain town in Switzerland that is known and famous around the world for its roses.

I'm not quite sure how I became known to the Johnsons; (unless they just happened to be reading about the newly created Rose Society), assuming that, they contacted me through the newspaper and it turned out that we shared a lot of the same goals.

We wanted the rose to be the symbol for the new City of Temecula; So Virginia Boos and I got dressed up in our fanciest rose "suits" and we attended a city council meeting where we presented them with red roses in pots and asked them to legally adopt the rose as our new city's official flower. And they did!

Both the Johnsons and the TVRS wanted roses planted in the median strips, so I've got pictures of that to show you, and "I" desperately wanted a public rose garden. TVRS itself was a little torn about the idea of us having to maintain our own gardens as well as do all that volunteer work on a possible public rose garden! But my original 13 plus many new members were 100% behind the idea. Now the Johnsons had already given us permission and a sign with their family name on it to place on a piece of property that was appropriate for building a Rose garden! Houses could never be built there, as a small earthquake fault (or two) runs through the property. Also, dead center on the level ground, there is a Metropolitan Water District access and road.

Now I'm not going to say that things remained as "rosy" with the Johnson's forever, as they were in the beginning. But their original intentions were honored by the Rose Society, and we faithfully planted the garden, maintained it over the years through too much rain and too much draught. And in recent years the state of California has granted Rose Haven clear deed of ownership to the non-profit organization that is TVRS. That was a proud day and a huge success.

Families in the Garden - February

Last month's Families in the Garden was spectacular. Children learned about onions and how to plant them. Many of the attendees received vegetables they harvested themselves from the Tree of Life garden area.

This month we will be appreciating the miracle of birds! Analyzing and learning their eating habits, nesting supplies/preparation, and natural habitat.

Families with children 12 and under are welcome to join us on February 20, 2016 for crafts and snacks at Rose Haven Heritage Garden. For more information please contact Alicia Cline at 951-234-2218 or at aliciacline1313@yahoo.com.

Colossal cabbage!

Planting onions

Rose Haven Garden

Rose pruning is in full swing at the garden so instead of blooming roses we have rose sticks. Of course in the spring those naked roses will burst into bloom once again and the garden will be spectacular. Our work days are Wednesday and Saturday mornings and any assistance will be much appreciated as there is still a great deal of pruning to be finished.

Frank Brines conducted a very informative pruning class in January which was appreciated by all in attendance. Our mission is to educate members and the public in the wonderful world of roses, and Frank is dedicated to this commitment. Thank you, Frank.

Erosion control has been quite a concern in our garden for several years. Taking proactive action to protect the garden from rain runoff, the north road from top to bottom has had extensive renovation. Several water catch basins were excavated, filled with rock, and compressed with heavy equipment. This will keep the runoff captured in the basins and the erosion under control. Also, one can actually drive or walk on the road without falling into gutters. Many thanks to Rebecca Weersing for funding this much needed project.

Pruning class

Road repair

Rose Care FUNdamentals