By Karen Flores, President

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, meaning we should have all of our pruning completed by then and begin to think about feeding our roses. The February meeting will focus on that exact subject! See more details in the newsletter. The January meeting was fantastic with the separate pruning stations set up and great hands-on learning. Thank you to Heather for this new idea for a great program.

We have made good progress filling positions for the May Rose Show but still could use some additional volunteers – if you can help in any way, please check the rose show update on page 6 of this month’s newsletter! This year, all volunteers will get a free mini rose plus lunch!

Also, as many of us have watched with great sadness the terrible fires in Southern California, it has affected one of the great rose hybridizers, Tom Carruth, who also has been a presenter for the PRS. He lost everything and was only able to get out with the clothes he had on and a few items when his home in Altadena burned to the ground. There is a GoFundMe page set up if you would like to help Tom out. Details later in the newsletter, and they have also been sent out in an email blast.

And mark your calendars for March 29, 2025 – the San Mateo Rose Society will host the NCNH district meeting in San Mateo. They have an excellent speaker lined up – Ping Lim. Please plan to attend, as it is rare that this meeting is so close to home! The registration info will be emailed out as soon as it is available.

Lastly, can you help to provide care to a few potted roses? Stuart is growing over 100 for our Rose Sale and Show, and it would be great if anyone can take a few to care for them until May. If we had 10 people take 10 roses each, that would be 100! All you need to do is water if dry and then get them to the sale location in May. They have all been potted up and are ready to grow and be sold!

Happy pruning, and I hope to see everyone at our February meeting!