Temecula Valley Rose Society

An Affiliate of the American Rose Society

President's Message

Two more badges are available for the Support Team. If you can help with hospitality or guidance, let me know. Our Little Rose Show needs a new leader too.

Another item to address is our annual garden tour in April. Each year, members volunteer to have their gardens on the tour, so if you feel comfortable showing your gardening effort to other rose gardeners, please let Linda Freeman know. (I've offered my own garden this year, even though it's getting old and needs some rejuvenation. It will be far from perfect.)

Financial stability for Rose Haven is my vision, bringing to mind the 4Cs. (1) Community — our TVRS members. (2) Commitment — dedication to this task. (3) Compromise — Willingness to consider all aspects of this huge project. (4) Completion — the final result — our success. We can do it!

Please feel free to give us your ideas, compliments or complaints. There is always room for improvement. TVRS started long ago, in 1990, and continues to today. It's been a long journey but it will be a successful one.

Member Garden Tour is coming in April

Please consider placing your your garden on tour. We would love to visit gardens with roses that have survived our intense heat of past summers, rose gardens in progress and mature gardens. We all learn so much from these tours and we will have a luncheon afterward at place to be determined. Please contact Linda Freeman lee.linda@verizon.net

Rose Haven Maintenance

The Rose Haven committee meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month excepting July, November and December. Why those three months? July is too hot and we all need a break. November and December is all about the holidays and we are too busy doing fun stuff — plus the garden needs a break going into the winter season.

At our January 23rd meeting we started off talking about winter tasks. The first winter task is pruning. We prune at the garden on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Even if you don't consider yourself an expert pruner one thing will help: pruning practice and what better place to practice than Rose Haven? Following pruning is garden cleanup, ridding the under-bush area of leaves and debris. This is the time to replenish mulch to improve the soil. Lastly, we fertilize, timing the application just before a rainy period. Again workdays for these activities are Wednesdays and Saturdays. During cooler weather we begin about 9 am and, in hotter weather, we start about 8AM. Generally, we work between one and two hours.

As for our community education and outreach, we invite the public to join us on the fourth Saturday for whatever gardening activity is appropriate in that month. July, November and December Fourth Saturdays are excluded.

Rose Haven Events in the Garden

Monday, May 13 to Sunday, May 19: As a Society we belong to the American Public Gardens Association. For many years APGA has promoted showcasing gardens throughout the United States, encouraging the public to visit, value and volunteer at local gardens near their homes. At Rose Haven we will invite our community to participate in activities that week. Would you like to help planning activities for National Public Gardens Week? Send me an email!

Saturday, June 22: The Night of the Luminairies, sponsored by the City of Temecula, welcomes the community to the garden and is the only time the garden is open at night. Our Society does not need to worry about refreshments, music, yoga plus staff to handle the event details. However, it is a party at our garden and we need to be good hosts to the guests who visit. Would you like to help? Send me an email!

Late September/October: We used to have a "Last Rose of Summer" event. We want to bring this back. Would you like to help? Send me an email! (Rebecca email temroses@gmail.com)

Rose Haven Yoga in the Garden

Rancho Family Medical Group will be offering a series of yoga classes. The first series will begin on Saturdays from March 16 to April 20 at Rose Haven. The class will be limited to 25 and will start at 8AM and should not conflict with any other activities that we plan in the garden. The class is free to participants. Donations from participants will be greatly appreciated. Look for more details in February.

"Huntington's 100th" Rose

What better way to celebrate the Huntington's centennial: Behold, a new rose.
  The Huntington Library's famous rose garden has a new beauty to behold. Rose garden curator Tom Carruth has bred a fragrant new offering for the garden's noted rose collection in honor of the Huntington's 100th birthday.

"The fragrance will knock you down," Carruth said. "You don't even have to put your nose to it; you just have to walk by."

The rose is officially known as "Huntington's 100th." Gardeners may also see the rose sold under the pseudonym "Life of the Party," but if you look closely at the tag, he said, it will mention the official, copyrighted name of "Huntington's 100th."

In honor of its centennial, the Huntington has also poured a new circular walkway in the grassy area between the conservatory and the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries, where it is planting 85 Huntington's 100th roses this week.

The roses should bloom this spring and provide a particularly aromatic experience for gallery visitors.

You can also buy the rose in a pot, for slightly more money, during the Huntington's annual spring plant sale the last weekend in April.

Not ready to plant a rose? Never fear. The garden shop has been collecting petals from the rose for the past two years to make soaps and candles "perfumed by Huntington's 100th."

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

This Month's Program:

Penny will be giving information on new rose introductions and rose care for 2019. Members are encouraged to bring pictures or information about the top two roses in their current gardens, especially ones that have survived the roller-coaster weather of the last two years to share after Penny's presentation.

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

February Birthdays & New Members

Rose Haven Garden

Our January Rose Pruning Class with Frank Brines was extremely successful. There were members, visitors, and a group of master gardeners in attendance. The attentive group listened to Frank's instructions and observed his pruning technique. Then everyone grabbed their gloves and clippers and began making their own cuts very carefully.

It was truly enjoyable for all. Thank you to everyone who organized or participated in this community outreach program. We anticipate having a monthly working activity at the garden perhaps raking, fertilizing, planting, or dead-heading. The photos show Frank speaking to an enthusiastic group and demonstrating proper pruning procedure.

Frank Brines pruning

Pruning class

Our next garden committee meeting is Wednesday, February 27th at 10:00. We will discuss garden improvements, monthly projects for our members and visitors, and other special events. All members are invited to attend. Rose Haven Garden is located at 30592 Jedediah Smith Rd., Temecula, at the corner of Cabrillo Avenue and Jedediah Smith Rd.

January Rose Pruning

It was such a pleasure to meet a team from Boscia Skin Care who had come out from Orange County to prune roses at our Rose Haven Heritage Garden as part of their community volunteer program.

After touring the garden, the young women were ready to get started. They were so enthusiastic, quickly donning pink aprons, pink gloves, and readying their pink clippers. After some instruction from Virginia Boos and Dan Wyncott, the pruning began. We provided some loppers so they had plenty of tools. They were delighted with their pruning results but the highlight of the adventure was seeing, and touching real rose hips. In the group photo, each person is holding a small flask of rose hip oil, a new product line in their company.

We were delighted to introduce the joy of roses to these young women and see how much they enjoyed their time at the garden. We look forward to doing this type activity again.

Our Own Rose Pruning Expert

We are so fortunate to have a member who is an expert at demonstrating and explaining the rose pruning process. That special person is Mr. Frank Brines, a life member of TVRS, who joined us in 2004. His teaching method is casual and easy to understand, yet detailed, giving a novice the information to make good decisions. He thoroughly answers any questions.

On Saturday, January 26th, Frank led the workshop at Rose Haven, sharing his knowledge with about 15 attendees. They headed out on their own with confidence for their hands-on session.

Frank writes for our newsletter, as well as for the Valley News, always sharing valuable information. His columns, going back several years, can be found on our website. Thank you, Frank, for being so helpful to rose gardeners.

TVGC Flower Show in April

The Temecula Valley Garden Club invites you to attend monthly meetings held on the second Tuesday of each month, except July and August, and national holidays. We meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Temecula Community Recreation Center, 30875 Rancho Vista Road, Temecula.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 12. The program is "Time to Start Preparing for Our Flower Show." All aspects of the show, entitled "Poetry in Nature," will be discussed at the meeting and schedules with complete information about the show will be available to potential exhibitors. The Flower Show will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Entries and judging will take place on Friday, April 26.

The TVGC Flower Show is a unique opportunity for TVRS members and other members of the community to exhibit roses and other flower and plant specimens from their garden. We hope you will consider entering the show and attending the next meeting. You have an excellent chance of being a blue ribbon winner if you do.

Guided Bird Walk – Feb 10

Rose Care FUNdamentals

There is no magical specific date to prune. According to all accounts and professional rosarians, the proper time is "late winter." This has many meanings—bottom line, you want to prune late enough that there's little risk of frost damage to the tender growth that will emerge from pruning. In the Temecula Valley, last average frost date is March 31, so that means you're probably safe pruning in mid- to late-February. Of course, it's always a gamble. The best advice is to watch the weather. Generally speaking a little later is best when we've had winter rain since the rains are cold and the ground is wetter and colder than usual. This year, even with the rains, the weather hasn't been severe enough yet to actually prevent new growth on the roses. I have observed that pruned or not, new growth is appearing. Different parts of the yard may have other conditions. A south facing wall backing the plants will be warmer than a shadier area. The composition of the soil will have differing effects. Whether there is still a generous layer of mulch can affect soil conditions.

If you haven't began or finished pruning, don't fear there is still plenty of time to have blooms for rose shows or special spring events. I would suggest from what I've been seeing lately as a result of the rainy periods and warmer than usual weather which has created a great environment for fungi diseases, that you investigate your roses and if you find any rust then remove all the leaves at once and discard into a green waste bin.

The main reason for the major late-winter pruning is to reset the plants' biological clock. A wake up call to begin a new life cycle-like restarting a factory. After this pruning, you can usually expect a flush of blooms 8 to 12 weeks later, depending on the temperatures during that period—the warmer it is, the shorter the time to blooms. But all things being equal, if you prune in the latter half of February you will likely have blooms for 2019 rose shows scheduled in mid- to late-April. If you would like blooms for a specific date, count backwards approximately 10 weeks from that date. Pruning should be complete on this date.

The following procedures mostly apply to hybrid teas and floribundas, but are reasonably serviceable for minis. They are not really applicable to climbers, ground cover roses, trailers, or shrub roses—all those types have their own pruning methods.

In general, it is recommended that you have good pruning tools and gloves with arm protectors, long handle loppers, and sharp clean "bypass" hand pruners. What does "bypass" mean? Take a look at your pruners: Bypass pruners 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). The sharp blade "by passes" or over shoots the dull curved blade. It's a good idea to have a range of pruner sizes handy. Each size has a limit to the diameter thickness for which it is most efficiently used; 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 that fit comfortably in your hand. A hand saw can be handy if you have some older plants with large canes that may need to be removed.

All tools should be kept clean, sharp, and in good repair. Rubbing alcohol is ideal for cleaning cutting blades, 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. A good pair of leather gloves are necessary with long sleeves or separate pair of sleeves to protect your arms.

Before starting the job, lubricate the moving parts with a little light oil (such as 3-in-1 oil), 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! To minimize damage to the cane keep this rule in mind: The sharp blade should always face the part that will be left. This will minimize the crushing of the cane or stem as it will be the part that is discarded. This rule also works for preparing stems for arranging or putting into a vase.

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 "axil" 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 you prune lightly to moderately, and if frost damages the tender young growth, then you can still re-prune to the next bud down.

In Southern California our rose bushes can grow quite large, so 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 you examine the structure of the bush, and to use your hand pruners to more easily remove canes that are twiggy, dead, crossing other canes, or passing through the center of the plant. Also remove old leaves as you go along so you can easily see the structure of the plant. 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.

You will make two kinds of cuts. Some cuts remove an entire branch; make these 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. 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).

 

For shrub roses, cut them back to conform to the space you want them to fill, inspect and clean out dead and diseased material from the center, shorten canes and remove about one third of the growth.

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!

Clean the ground thoroughly of all rose debris and dispose of all cuttings and other materials in your green waste bin and put it on the street: Do not compost it! Apply a dormant spray to the plants and the soil surface to ward off diseases. Then apply 2"-4" of composted mulch to cover the entire garden area.

The first fertilizing will be when new growth is about 2 inches long. I recommend lower values of the three elements (Nitrogen [3], Phosphate [4],K Potassium [3]) with slightly higher value for Phosphate. In two weeks begin with heavier feeding every 2 weeks for great blooms or at least monthly. Now would be the best time to assess the irrigation system for any needed repairs while there is no new growth and mulch has not been spread.

For more ideas, visit TVRS' Rose Haven garden located at 30592 Jedediah Smith Rd., Temecula, at the corner of Cabrillo Avenue and Jedediah Smith Rd., Temecula, as well as our web site at TemeculaValleyRoseSociety.org. Spread the joy of roses!

Thank You to Our Friends

This newsletter is web-published monthly for members. TVRS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corpor­ation dedicated to the purpose of encouraging the appreci­ation, study, and culture of roses. Members are encouraged to join our affil­iate, the American Rose Society, at www.rose.org.

Our monthly Member meeting is held the 3rd Thursday of the month (excluding July and August) at 10:00 a.m. at the Ronald H. Roberts Public Library, Community Room B, 30600 Pauba Rd., Temecula.

Do not send any mail to Rose Haven Garden on Cabrillo Ave. There is no mail box there.

For more information about our sponsors go here.

For additional information please visit our web site at temeculavalleyrosesociety.org/