By Carol Wong, President

“The new introductions are very disease resistant. I can still have beauty and fragrance along with an organic rose garden,” wrote garden designer Dan Bifano in “American Rose”, January-February 2017. In February, our speaker Jolene Adams screened and commented on a wide variety of new rose introductions including hybrid teas, floribundas, modern shrubs, minis, mini-floras, and climbers; exciting and thrilling us.

If seeing them did not prompt you to go to a nursery or a website to search out a rose for your garden, then maybe we can encourage you to look for a new rose to try. “American Rose” also lists the new Roses in Review for the latest high-ranking roses for showing, regional trials and a Nursery Guide which includes accessible Regan Nursery at Decoto Road in Fremont. It is one of the few local nurseries that stocks minis. Other nurseries include our sponsors Wegman’s, Half Moon Bay, Ladera Gardens and Gifts, Orchard Supply and Summer Winds nurseries.

There is nothing like a new rose or plant to spark interest in your garden—-a new scent, color combination, or shape. The newer varieties are not only more disease resistant but the range of colors now includes deep tones like black, brown and deep purple, making roses look smoky or glow mysteriously. Some have a dark or white eye, strong fragrance, or colors that change as the bloom ages. If you grow a newer rose, plan to report on how it does for you to us and in the Roses in Review ratings collected online in the late summer. That is how we arrive at the highly useful ratings in the “Handbook for Selecting Roses” sent to ARS members at the end of each year.

Have we heard from everyone who wants to go to the Quarry Hill Botanical Garden lecture and/or tour in Glen Ellen on March 25th? If you want to go, please call for a $20 reservation for the 10 a.m. lecture by the famous hybridizer Ping Lim, or drive up to join our group which meets at 11:30 at the picnic tables weather permitting. For a 12:15 p.m. walking and cart-riding tour led by a docent, let Carol Wong know by phone message at 854-6434 ASAP in order to include you in the count. This docent-led tour costs $15 and includes entry. Self-guided touring does not require an extra fee, but you might miss out on the stories about these rare plants.

There is no food or drink sold in the gardens, so please bring your own hat, water, and food. As a reminder, the website is www.quarryhillbg.org. and the phone number is 707-996-3166. Those who wish to go up on their own later in the year can check the website for scheduled events.

Although we are not putting on a rose show for the public this year, we encourage members to attend or show their roses at the Santa Clara Rose Show on Sunday, April 23rd at the Almaden Community Center/Library from 1-5 p.m. Entrees are accepted for showing from 7-10 a.m. The East Bay Rose show is in May, and The Golden Gate/San Francisco Rose Society’s Rose show is in June. Check their websites if interested.

On April 18th, May 16th, and June 20th we will have a rose show at our monthly membership meeting where you can bring your own roses and arrangements to be judged. There will also be tables in the hall where you can bring roses simply to share or to learn how to present. Look for a schedule of types of roses and an arrangement schedule that will be printed in the Rosarian. Someone can help show you how to display your rose if you come by 7:00 p.m. before the meeting. To help us learn how to prepare roses, we will have winners tell us about their roses as time permits.

The Apex once-a-year granular fertilizer is still available from Jim Crowther for $15/5 lbs. Call him to order and pick them up at the March 21st meeting.

We have several opportunities for volunteering in March. We would like to have people help Barry and Brian Johnson plan an exhibit for the San Mateo Fair held June 10th-18th. PRS has committed to displaying old and new roses at the Filoli Flower Show June 1st-4th with the theme “Time Began in a Garden”. We will be looking for people with many old or new roses blooming at that time in order to set up and maintain a rose display. Our liaison is Pam Schenk. Last year our display was beautiful.

We are hoping members will volunteer for a raffle committee to help us work out ideas for our raffles. We will make signup sheets available for volunteering and we urge you to try something. Our goal as a rose society is to promote and educate about the cultivation of roses and we have a constantly evolving and growing job!