“Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty, like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom.”

― Matshona Dhliwayo

On March 20th at 2:24pm we enter the Spring Equinox. This is the time at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of approximately the same length of time.

What I enjoy about this time of year is we all can begin to spend more time outdoors in our gardens. Everything seems so fresh and happy to be alive.  The birds also enjoy this busy nest building time of year. No matter what time of day you can hear the joy of chirping birds.  At my house, for the past several years, around April 1st a mockingbird sings all day and night trying to impress his potential suitor by his various chirps and melodies. 

This is also the time for us to impress our roses by nurturing them for the busy blooming season ahead.  It is now the time to begin  adding nutrients and fertilizers to the soils around them.  For the inground roses our society offers a granulated, time release fertilizer.  It requires working it  into the soil but you only need to do this once during the blooming season.  I suggest liquid fertilizers for potted roses. If you would like to additionally support PRS you can purchase the granulated time release fertilizer through our member  Jim Crowther. The price is $15 for 4 pounds.  Please contact  Jim directly. 

I invite all of you to attend our upcoming March membership meeting.  This is a great time to drop in and learn ways to volunteer for our May 7th rose show. We always can use more help on several committees.  Please join us and see if there is a spot that is right for you. The more volunteers we have the less work for everyone. Keep in mind the day of the show does not require you to be there all day.  We also can use your help to set the room up on Saturday, the 6th, between 7am and 12pm.

Patti Spezzaferro and Lydia Truce have stepped into the positions of Show Chair and Vice Chair. Stu will continue to support the show chairs and committees.  Thank you Patti and Lydia for taking on this task and allowing Stu more time to deal with his damaged property.  Patti and Lydia will be announcing planning meetings both in person and via Zoom to keep our show momentum going. So please stay tuned.