“A good garden may have some weeds” – Proverb
Isn’t it amazing how lush and beautiful some of the weeds are at this time of year and the rose lies resting in its dormant state only to surprise us with its beauty throughout the year. Since we’ve had so much rain this season those unwanted weeds are easily removed. However, give a second thought to those in your flower beds. Control them but don’t remove all of them. As I learned this past year, weeds help our gardens by bringing nutrients and water up from deep in the soil and down from the air, and subsequently make them available to microbes and plants. Some weeds break up compact soils and control erosion. It’s up to you to decide which ones to keep and which ones must go.
Did you know that Rose Day is on February 7th and marks the beginning of Valentine’s week? On this romantic day, roses are gifted to that special someone to celebrate love and affection. It is believed that Victorians began the practice of exchanging roses with their loved ones to communicate unspoken feelings. (In the 21st century we need to thank the greenhouse rose growers and Costco in order to do this).
With this much needed break in the rain, I hope you have found some time to prune your roses and get them ready for springtime fertilizing. PRS will be hosting a pruning demonstration at one of our sponsors, Hassett Ace Hardware in Redwood City, on Sunday, the 29th of February, from 12pm-1pm. Stu Dalton will be demonstrating and answering questions. So please come by and say hello. If you would like to help please get in touch with me.
Our guest speaker at this month’s membership meeting will be Foothill College, Program Director of Environmental Horticulture, Frank Niccoli. The topic will be “How Climate Affects Plants in the Bay Area”.
Our May 7th Rose Show chairman, Stu Dalton and many of our committee leads will be having monthly ZOOM meetings to keep everyone informed and the momentum going for our show. If you have volunteered or would like to know how things are progressing please join us at 7:00pm on Thursday, February 16th. I will send the link out to everyone a day or two beforehand.
I hope to see you, in person, at our next monthly membership meeting. Tuesday, February 21st at 6:30pm. VMSC 1455 Madison Ave, Redwood City.
