Temecula Valley Rose Society

President's Message

It's the door to the future of our society and the future of Rose Haven Heritage Garden. Funding needs our attention on a priority scale. Some of our capital is now transferred to an investment account which should provide a better income than the standard bank account.

If you have an idea for fundraising or want to volunteer your assistance, please contact me. Everyone's help is needed and appreciated.

The hinges are rusty and creaking, and the door is so difficult to push open, but we can do it! We have enough strength within our community to be successful in this challenge.

An English Box

You are asking, what in the world is an English box? And what does it have to do with roses?

In the rose exhibiting world, the English box can be part of the Schedule for the rose show. The rosarian needs usually six roses of superior quality, all very similar in appearance and contours. They are placed in the specially‑designed box, which has hidden water tubes. They can be all the same cultivar or different harmonizing varieties and colors. Miniatures or minifloras work well. The exhibitor is free to choose the design.

Only the blossom is used, with no leaves showing. This gives the exhibitor the freedom to use roses from a plant which isn't looking its best, having leaves that are damaged or wilted.

Another fun exhibit is the picture frame which holds just one Hybrid Tea (HT) blossom, against a black or green background. Floating a large HT blossom in a glass bowl can also be on the Schedule.

We haven't had a rose show in a while – maybe it's time?

A Memory – The Iris Garden at Rose Haven Heritage Garden

About 10 years ago, the Rose Society set aside an area for an iris garden. Leon and Norma Vogel offered to donate 40 irises in 1 gallon pots from their wonderful collection at their home in Murrieta.

Using her Rototiller, Kathy Katz worked the needed amendments into the soil and the water lines were laid out. On the appointed day in March of 2009, the Vogels brought the irises and many hands were there to plant them. Norma provided labels with the proper names of all 40. After the bed was completed, Norma and Kathy set flat stones as a nice border around the new bed.

The irises have been a wonderful companion for the roses, trees and shrubs that we all enjoy when visiting Rose Haven. Maybe you were a part of this special event. If so, thank you for your participation.

Riverside Area Annual Plant Sales

Inland Region Iris Society
Saturday, September 21, 2019, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rhizomes and potted Iris available. Offered for sale will be named iris cultivars, mostly tall bearded, recent introductions as well as historic irises (introduced 30 years or more ago) from well known hybridizers. The irises are locally grown by us and are thus adapted to local conditions. Rebloomers and space agers are also available. The rhizomes will be freshly dug 2-3 days prior to the sale. Cash or check only. At the moment we are unable to accept credit cards.
Jurupa Mountain Discovery Center, Riverside, CA. 7621 Granite Hill Dr, Jurupa Valley, Riverside.

UCR Botanic Gardens: Garden Market & Fall Plant Sale
Saturday, October 19, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Free Parking in UCR campus Lot 13 with a shuttle to the garden entrance.

California Native Plant Society: Fall sale Saturday November 2, 2019 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District, 4500 Glenwood Dr, Riverside, CA.

Grocery Cards Benefit TVRS

Dear Members: I trust that you have made a determined effort to use Stater Bros. Scrip/Gift Cards for your everyday normal purchases. Even in these financially difficult times we all must eat. Purchasing a $100 Scrip Card will let you spend $100 for groceries at Stater Bros. There is no extra expense or donation coming out of your pocket and the Rose Society will get a $6.00 donation for the upkeep of the Garden. Your support is greatly appreciated. Email Ann Coakes to order Scrip Cards, or phone (951) 693‑5635.

Temecula Valley Garden Club

This Month's Program

Bob Martin is the 56th President of the American Rose Society, the nation's largest plant society. Bob will speak on growing shrub roses that perform well on the show tables, as cut flowers for the kitchen table and in the garden.

Varieties emphasized include the best of the David Austin roses and others in the style of his "English Roses'.

The program is accompanied by beautiful photographs, many by Dona Martin. It concludes with an update of the Great Garden Restoration at America's Rose garden in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Bob has been growing roses for more than 47 years. He and his wife Dona live in Escondido, California, where they maintain a rose garden of more than 540 roses of all types. Bob is an active rose exhibitor at all levels and the 2007 recipient of the ARS Guy Blake Hedrick Jr. Award for lifetime achievement in rose exhibiting. He is also a hybridizer with 15 named varieties, including the show roses, 'Dona Martin', 'Butter Cream', 'Peter Cottontail' and 'Pasadena Star'. One of his latest roses is an orange blend shrub he has named, 'Ruth Tiffany'.

He is an American Rose Society Master Rosarian, an Accredited Horticultural Judge and an Accredited Arrangements Judge.

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

Birthdays and New Members

Little Rose Show

The cooler weather should bring us some blossoms, so please try to bring at least one to share. A big display of color and variety can be breathtaking. The entries are labeled and classified, so it's educational too, as viewing the rose could help determine what you will purchase. Color and fragrance are important too. You have probably noticed, everyone reaches down to catch that sweet perfume!

Rose Haven Garden

Our beloved roses in the garden are recovering from the strong heat of summer and one can see new growth popping out. Soon there will be buds just waiting to burst into bloom. We recently fertilized so the garden will look lovely for the Last Rose of Summer Event with a music ensemble and light foods on Saturday, October 5th 2 - 5 p.m.

Walking up the hill toward the gazebo there are several Flowering Peach Trees planted by Frank and Wayne several years ago that have glorious pink blooms in the spring, but for the first time the trees are abundant with peaches as shown in the photo. Perhaps I'll taste one as the squirrels seem to be enjoying them immensely.

We invite you to come out and enjoy a stroll through the garden and enjoy all the wonderful sights. If you are so inclined some raking and weed pulling would be very helpful. Wednesday and Saturday mornings are volunteer days, however you can work on your own anytime convenient to you.

Flowering Peach Tree

Peaches!

The address to Rose Haven Heritage Garden is 30592 Jedediah Smith Road, Temecula. Click here to see the map to Rose Haven Garden.

Rose Haven Committee Meetings

Our committee did not meet in August so we have scheduled two meetings for September. We will meet in the Rose Haven Education Pavilion at 10 a.m on Wednesday, September 11 and Wednesday, September 25. Any member interested in joining the committee is welcome to attend.

At our meetings we discuss maintenance and operations issues plus long‑term garden projects (1 to 5 years). We are hoping there will be many willing to participate in the planning and implementation of the various garden projects. Future newsletters will detail our hopes and dreams for the next 30 years of our garden. Rose Haven is will be celebrating its 30th Year of Growing in 2021.

We also discuss Garden Events as well. September events: Families in the Garden on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9:30, Community Volunteer Day on Saturday, September 28 from 8:30 to 11 a.m. October events: Saturday, October 5 WindSong Consort will perform from 2 to 3 p.m., then there will be Tomato Tasting after the concert and a Last Rose of Summer Supper. Details at our Member Meeting on Thursday, September 19 and through email blasts.

We will be participating in Public Gardens Week, from Monday, May 11 to Sunday, May 17, 2020. Please let me know if you would like to be on the Planning Committee.

Rose Care FUN­da­men­tals

As I look back over my previous articles I noticed that since 2013 we have what I suggest is a new normal of high temperatures for August‑September. The average day‑night temperatures in the first 25 days of August 2018 were higher than nearly every day in August 2017. The average daytime high for August 2019 was 1.6 degrees cooler than for 2018, the average night time temperature for 2019 was 4 degrees cooler than for 2018. I checked the weather projections and learned that temperatures for the next 7‑10 days for So Cal are for low 90s, cooler than the 100+ predicted for same period in September 2017. Add to that higher than normal humidity due to warmer ocean temperatures at local beaches. All in all temperatures are trending higher in the last five years.

If you are participating in my prescribed practice of allowing a summer of rest for your roses, you still have several weeks to take it easy before a mid‑season pruning. As a wise man once said, "Predicting things is difficult, especially in the future," but one can only assume it will look a little like the past, especially with the weather. So I'll give it a try: This year I'm starting to do my mid‑season pruning first of September in hopes of having blossoms for fall Rose Society Shows. If you have a special event for which you would like to have fresh rose blooms, count back 6‑8 weeks from that planned event to determine when you should do your end‑of‑summer pruning. You can possibly have two more bloom cycles this calendar year. Remember, a mid‑season pruning is light, removing any point along a cane where many stems of blooms came out. For quicker repeat blooming, prune each cane back to just above the outward facing bud at the base of the first leaf with five leaflets.

During periods of sustained high temperatures it is necessary to ensure plants receive adequate water to stay hydrated. It takes only a few days in these temperatures without sufficient water for a bush to be severely damaged or killed. Assess conditions every morning. Look for wilted or dry crisping foliage. Sometimes if you discover it soon enough, dousing the stems and leaves with plenty of water in addition to applying plenty of water to the ground, may save the plant. If you wait to inspect until the afternoon or evening it may be too late or you might not get a good assessment of the plant's condition: After a hot day, most plants can appear wilted while still receiving sufficient hydration. Also inspect your irrigation system to make sure it is delivering enough water, isn't clogged, and isn't over watering – all problems that come with age in drip irrigation systems. If an emitter is delivering much more or much less water than others on the line, it can change the system pressure and affect the other emitters. The simple solution: Replace it!

Plants in pots require more frequent watering than those in the ground. As the soil dries it pulls away from the sides of the pots allowing water to run through the soil with out penetrating the soil. Sun shining on the pot (whether black plastic or clay) can steam the roots of the plant which also requires more water to maintain a cooler temperature of the soil. This being said, plastic is still preferred over clay as clay loses moisture through its many pores. Double potting can moderate drying. This practice would at least have a curtain of cooling air between the pots, an insulation of some type would be more efficient. One more thing: The longer the soil is in a pot, the less porous space is available in the root zone – so repot every two years or so.

This time of year with hot temps also attracts spider mites. This topic was covered in a previous care column which you can find on TemeculaValleyRoseSociety.org newsletter; look for Care for September 2013. If you see signs of yellowing foliage you may have an infestation. Check the underside of the lower leaves for grainy feeling substance or tap onto a paper to see these very small critters. The easiest way to treat is to use strong spray of water from below to give the plant a shower and rinse the mites to the ground. If you see fine webbing you may need a stronger method.

I've noticed another problem as result of the weather this year: High temps and humidity have increased instances of Black Spot (indicated by yellow leaves with usually round shaped black spots). I have not seen any sign of black spot in my garden yet. With the humidity comes dewy nights which then tends to incubate powdery mildew. I have been troubled by this mildew throughout this year in my garden. To date I have not discovered damage from Chili Thrips, however that is difficult to recognize until it becomes obvious. At the first signs of any of these it is best to start treating with fungicide or a pesticide (preferably one containing Spinosad).

After the pruning has be accomplished and at least one thorough application of water, apply a good fertilizer. Read the directions on the container to discern type of application and what to do. I use granules, powder or liquid and water it in for the quickest effect. My colleagues are recommending the use of fish emulsion and seaweed fertilizers at the rate of 1 Tbs each per gallon of water applied now. REMEMBER: Never fertilize a dry or stressed plant – always water the day before.

Now would be good time to order composted mulch. Here is a formula you can use to determine the quantity you will need. An area 10' x 50' needs 4‑5 cubic yards to cover the garden 3"‑4" which is the depth I recommend. This is the best product you can apply to protect your roses roots from heat and cold.

A valuable bi‑monthly magazine which covers rose topics is the "American Rose" published by the American Rose Society (ARS). Go to American Rose Society for more information on obtaining it.