Temecula Valley Rose Society

President's Message

As a Society I would like for us to recognize how we have provided friendship to our community since our founding in 1990. We have displayed our benevolence, neighborliness, generosity and kindness to all by planting roses in various public spaces, by creating an awesome rose garden, by hosting many rose shows, by offering rose celebrations and workshops for all ages during the past twenty-eight years.

As members of our Society we have shared fellowship, civility, empathy and cordialness at the many meetings where we have learned about our favorite flower and enjoyed its influence in our lives.

Let us rededicate our Society to "Friendship" starting with our August Friendship Tea on Thursday, August 16th. Invite your friends and neighbors to join us for a special day of camaraderie. Bring a fancy tea cup, wear a stylish garden hat and be ready with a warm smile.

ARS is asking for your input — Roses In Review 2018

Please, participate! We want the benefit of your experience gained in growing these new roses to help others in selecting new roses for their gardens: modernroses.rose.org

The 2018 Roses in Review Survey (RIR) marks the 93rd time members of the American Rose Society will evaluate new rose introductions. A broad base of participation is needed to make this project worthwhile. We need your evaluations, whether you grow one of the varieties on the survey list or dozens of them. We welcome evaluations from you whether you are a new rose grower, a "garden" rose-grower or a seasoned veteran grower; whether you grow roses for your landscape and garden or if you also grow them to exhibit or arrange. We are happy to get reports from non-ARS members as well Results of the survey will be included in the January/February 2019 issue of American Rose and will determine ratings in the ARS Handbook for Selecting Roses as well.

For these results to be meaningful, we need everyone to participate. So please, take a few minutes of your time to evaluate your new roses. We hope you will use the online reporting method at the ARS website, www.rose.org/rir, but if you are not computer proficient, fill out and mail the form on the following pages (make photocopies if needed) to your district's RIR Coordinator. (See the list of Coordinators in this insert to find your coordinator.) This will also be the 93rd time Roses in Review will be conducted in which rose growers everywhere can review new roses they've grown in their own garden. Roses included in the survey have generally been on the market one to four years and are available commercially, although some on a limited basis.

The online survey at modernroses.rose.org will close at end of day, September 26, 2018. Any paper forms submitted must also be in the hands of your district coordinator by that date. We urge you to use the online system, it's easy and it saves everyone a lot of work transcribing forms. Please take the time to report on all the varieties you grow that are on the RIR survey list.

Families in the Garden

Hi, Rose Society Members: The Families in the Garden/Tree of Life committees will be having a planning meeting on 5 Sept 2018 to discuss the upcoming year for our programs. We'll be looking at new ideas for our monthly educational talks, demonstrations and crafts. We will also be constructing a 1, 3 and 5 year plan for the programs.

We are in desperate need of new volunteers as some of our main members have moved, graduated high school or otherwise had to cut back. Our main goal this year is to try and get a core group of volunteers from our community and local schools.

As Rose Society members, we could really benefit from a little of your time on the 3rd Saturday of each month (Sept.–May) and, as always, your invaluable gardening knowledge.

Any and all volunteer help would be greatly appreciated, even if it's only 20/30 mins. Please consider. Any questions or are interested in attending planning meeting please feel free to call, text, Instant message, Facebook, email or carrier pigeon me. My email

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

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

August Birthdays & New Members

Birthdays   Ellen Noell, Aug. 1, Ben Jahanbani, Aug. 20, Roberta Costa, Aug.30, Fred Ortega, Aug. 31

New Members   There are no new members this month.

Friendship Tea

It's a party! Keeping in theme, if you wish, bring a fancy cup for your tea and a stylish garden hat. With the invitation to other groups, we may have many visitors. Let's make it special. Bring a bouquet of flowers to brighten up the room. There will be our usual raffle table to enjoy. And lunch, of course.

Little Rose Show

We won't have our usual show until the September meeting; however, in August please consider bringing a bouquet of whatever blooms you have, or even a special bloom all by itself, to share. These would add to the beauty of our Friendship Tea meeting, as we all enjoy our gorgeous roses, and especially the sharing of them.

Rose Haven Garden

The photos this month are of the Ground Breaking Ceremony in 2005 for the expansion of the garden. All five with shovels in hand are still members. Lenore, Denise, Betty, Margaret, and Simonne with big smiles, and there's Rebecca speaking to the group of members and city officials attending the ceremony. We thank everyone for their dedication to our Society and continued effort of making Rose Haven a wonderful place for the community to enjoy.

The "Night of the Luminaries" hosted by the City of Temecula and our Society in June was again a very successful event. There was entertainment, snow cones, face painting, crafting, and busloads of visitors. It was a beautiful evening and aglow with soft lights.

Our next garden committee meeting is Wednesday, August 22nd at 9:00. We will discuss projects related to the garden. Members interested are always welcome to attend the meeting.

Rose Haven garden is at 30592 Jedediah Smith Rd. in Temecula.

Ground breaking

Rebecca speaking

Rose Care FUNdamentals

Since high summer temperatures and less-than-ideal conditions for roses are inevitable for the next couple of months, let's get ready! If you've taken my advice, you are letting your roses continue their summer dormancy–this should last until about mid-September. Why make them produce blooms when they're struggling to stay hydrated? Let your roses 'do whatever they do', that is, just remove and discard the withered petals and let the hips develop, keep the bed clean of debris, and DON'T fertilize. Twice a week give you HTs (Hybrid teas) a deep, slow watering of 3 gallons of water. Take an investigative stroll through your gardens in the AM, look for leaf wilt, drying or discoloring of leaves and the general leaf reflectance (surface luster). If it appears dull, investigate the plant for disease, drought or pests.

During you daily tour of your garden look for any changes. It doesn't take long for a rose to suffer once its irrigation supply fails. Examine the lower leaves. If they appear yellow or brown, have fine webbing and/or look dirty, there may be an infestation of spider mites. They thrive in hot weather. They're generally found on the undersides of those leaves. A quick check can be made by lightly running your fingers across the underside of the leaf. If it has a small grainy feel it most likely is the spider mite. A strong spray of water from below followed by an overhead shower should take care of the problem or, at least, hold it in check. Give the shower early in the day so the plant has time to dry before the sun becomes hot. Do this every 3 days for 10-14 days, inspecting regularly. It may be necessary to repeat after a few days if the infestation is heavy. Removing the bottom leaves approximately 8" from soil level can help in reducing to eliminating the spider mite problem. This should be done earlier, prior to an infestation.

The world is dangerous enough for plants, but we gardeners are also faced with risks. One recently came to my attention through a Dr. Gott. It's a dangerous fungus with the scientific name Sporothrix schenckii. It afflicts humans with the fungus infection sporotrichosis. It is often referred to as the Rose Thorn (or Rose Gardener's) Disease. The fungus resides on hay, sphagnum moss, the tips of rose thorns and in soil. It can cause infection, redness, swelling and open ulcers at the puncture site. The fungus can also spread to the lymphatic system and move on to the joints and bones where it ends up attacking the central nervous system and lungs when the thorn or thorns are deeply embedded. A relatively uncommon condition, diagnosis can be complicated. Physicians often mistake it as Staph or Strep infection. If you suspect this condition, be sure to inform your physician that you are a gardener so appropriate diagnosis and treatment are rendered.

If you have been following my summer protocol for growing roses you should have rose hips and few blossoms left on the bushes. Otherwise a semi dormancy period. Soon you will want to "wake" the rose bush up again for a couple bloom cycles yet in the year. Between mid-August and mid-September a small pruning should be done, do not remove more than a third of the current growth. Around first to mid-September begin fertilizing again with one higher in phosphate, the P in NPK rating. Most organic fertilizers don't use this obvious rating. You will need to read the packaging information which will be in percentages. In either case look for something similar to 8-10-8.

We all enjoy the fragrance and beauty of roses, and have often had our skin pierced by thorns ("prickles" is the correct anatomical name). Good protective measures include wearing appropriate clothing (gloves, long sleeves, or gauntlets) when working among roses and thoroughly cleansing even minor scratches and punctures with an anti-bacterial soap. Rubbing alcohol–which you should already have handy to clean your pruners–can be applied as an immediate wash until you can use anti-bacterial soap. Anything more than a minor puncture should be watched carefully for signs of infection; seek medical attention as soon as possible if you show any of the signs described above. Even the simple things in life have risks-take precautions so you can stop and smell the roses.

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. Spread the joy of roses!