By Barbara Todd, President

It is October already and my roses are saying their farewells for the season. Hopefully, we will get the promised rain this winter and an easing of the drought.

Our September speaker presented a program on chemical safety. Jolene Adams, former president of the American Rose Society, gave a lively and timely talk to a full house including a few Consulting Rosarians from other rose societies. It was nice to spend some time with other members of the rose-loving community. Thanks to Jill and her crew for putting on a nice table of after-meeting refreshments. Please be sure to sign up to bring some goodies, and don’t forget to contribute to the kitty.

The fall NCNH District Conference and Rose Show is coming up, and promises to be a most informative event. Speakers include Steve Jones, whose speech topic is “A Rookie Rosarian” and Christian Bedard of Weeks Roses, who will present the new roses for 2015. The Conference is hosted by the Butte Rose Society, and will be at the Holiday Inn in Chico October 3 – 4. Besides being informative, the Conference is a great opportunity to talk about roses with a wide variety of people.

Our next membership meeting on October 16 promises to be an interesting and informative one. Our own Karen Flores and Marian Vanden Bosch will demonstrate how to make beautiful rose arrangements – a must for current rose arrangers and those who might want to give it a try.

Fall is here. Luckily, we continue to have nice weather and some of us have continued blooms. Soon it will be time to take an assessment of your roses and determine which ones to keep and which to “shovel prune.” It is also an exciting time, though, as we pour through rose catalogs for new beauties.

“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.” — Unknown