2012 Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show

Sustainable Rose Garden in Montreal

 The 2012 RI Flower Show runs from Thursday Feb 23 to Sunday Feb 26. Mike and I will be there on opening day, Thursday February 23, to present our new PowerPoint program “Anatomy of a Sustainable Rose Garden” at 1:00 PM.

“Anatomy of a Sustainable Rose Garden” explains how to build a rose garden from scratch. This seminar provides a practical blueprint for anyone to start rose gardening. It includes everything from the value of water and nutrients to proper soil to selecting the right rose varieties as well as suggestions for companion plants. We’ll also sign copies of our book, Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening.

We’ll be back on Friday February 24 and Sunday February 26 at 11:30 when Mike and I will present a demonstration, “How to Grow Roses,” as representatives of the Rhode Island Rose Society. This demo will focus on rose gardening basics such as proper planting, pruning, fertilizing, insect and disease control and plant selection. It also includes a hand-out as well as practical rose gardening tips.

Hope to see you at the RI Flower Show! If you have any questions you’d like answered, please leave a comment below or email me at angie@rosesolutions.net

Visit the RI Flower Show website at http://www.flowershow.com/

Looking Forward: 2012 Programs Plus a Trip to Paris

Now that we’ve finally had our first real snowfall of the winter, it seems like the perfect time to sit back and review plans for the upcoming 2012 Rose Season. While our rose gardens are sleepy and peaceful under a pristine layer of snow, inside Mike and I are busy contemplating future rose programs on our 2012 lecture schedule as well as planning the itinerary for our much anticipated trip to Paris.

We’ve developed two new Power Point programs for 2012. The first focuses on pesticides and garden safety. As certified American Rose Society Consulting Rosarians, we created this program to address the concerns of rose gardeners in dealing with rose garden pests. Gardeners have choices available to them regarding insects and diseases in their gardens. One choice is Integrated Pest Management – the method we follow – when deciding whether, when and how to treat garden insects and diseases. Along with IPM we also have chosen to plant sustainable rose varieties which can remain healthy and attractive without the use of pesticides at all. But we feel that gardeners should know the pros and cons of all choices available to them including the use of pesticides as well as precautions that need to be taken when using them. For instance, just because a product is labeled organic, doesn’t mean it is harmless to people or animals. So we have designed a new program called “Pesticides and Garden Safety” which we will debut at the RI Rose Society’s February meeting. This meeting is free, open to the public and all are welcome. For more information go to www.rirs.org

Our second new Power Point Program will be introduced at both the 2012 Rhode Island and Boston Flower Shows. It’s called “Anatomy of a Sustainable Rose Garden” and describes how to build a rose garden from scratch. This program provides a practical blueprint for anyone who wants a rose garden and includes everything from choosing a site, design choices, plant selection, the value of water and nutrients, proper soil, selecting the right rose varieties as well as suggestions for companion plants. This program will address the multitude of questions gardeners have when planning a rose garden. “Anatomy of a Sustainable Rose Garden” will be presented on Thursday, February 23 at 1 pm at the RI Flower Show and Saturday March 17 at 1:30 at the Boston Flower Show.

Eiffel Tower at Philadelphia Flower Show

Meanwhile, while fine tuning our new rose programs and deciding which new rose varieties to plant next season, we’ve been planning our trip to Paris! Ever since we went to the Philadelphia Flower Show last year and saw the Eiffel Tower, the gargoyles of the famous French cathedrals, and all the other famous Parisian venues, we’ve been eager to explore the City of Light for ourselves. On top of our agenda is a visit to the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay and a stroll or two down the Champs-Elysees. We’ve also planned day trips to Versailles and to Giverney – Monet’s garden. Then a river cruise on the Seine as well as a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral to admire the extraordinary stained glass Rose Window.  

 

The Louvre

We had imagined that the once-fabulous gardens at Malmaison, home of Empress Josephine, Napoleon’s wife, would be a magical must-see side trip. But after reading a few reviews, we discovered that the gardens that were once so magnificent have fallen on hard times. Fortunately, the famous Roseraie de l’Hay, only 8 km south of Paris, is in tip-top shape and till worth seeing so we’ve added that to our schedule.  We realize that we won’t be able to see everything in Paris, but if you have any suggestions for gardens or other cool places we should see, please leave a comment.

Meanwhile, we look forward to meeting many of you at our upcoming programs this year.

The Louvre Photo Courtesy of http://www.world-city-photos.org

Christmas Roses

Christmas is next week and the winter solstice is a few days away. The days are short and temperatures are sharply colder. Our gardens have been winterized and the roses are sound asleep with visions of blue ribbons dancing in their bud unions. The season is over.

The older I get the faster seasons go by – 2011 came and went in a blink. And as much as I enjoy rose gardening, by this time each year I’m ready for a few months off.

Rose Crib

I started closing our gardens in mid-November by packing the potted roses closely together in cribs where they spend the winter. By Thanksgiving, our garden roses were completely dormant even though they didn’t look it. I lightly prune them, leaving heavy pruning until spring. I broadcast an application of lime on each bed – rain and snow will wash it in.

Then I waited…and waited…and waited for consistently cold weather before I hilled up each rose with 12 inches or so of horse manure, finally getting my chance last week. This winter cover will ensure that all roses remain dormant during freeze/thaw cycles that occur in January and February as well as providing an important organic amendment to garden soil next spring.

Raking leaves is another story – an end-of-season ritual that I do not enjoy. In years past, it took me two long weekends of raking and bending and bagging all the leaves on the property, leaving me tired and weary.  This year, instead of discarding all the oak and maple leaves, I shredded them and made compost. I was amazed at how much easier it was to process leaves as compost rather than as a waste product. More on this experiment later this winter.

Each season is different from all past seasons. Plants never behave the way they’re supposed to. New roses get planted and old ones get the boot. Maybe a dramatic weather event like a springtime hailstorm or late winter blizzard or a week of drenching rain or a month of hot dry weather happened, affecting the gardens – and us – for the rest of the season. This year it was a heavy fallen branch from a late night wind storm that damaged the garden last June as well as Hurricane Irene in August whose winds literally blew the second bloom cycle away.

But all that is past and now we look towards 2012. We’re excited about a new season of lectures including a return to the Boston Flower Show and an invitation to speak in Manhattan.  Then it’s off to Paris later in the spring.

Angie and I went out this morning and placed a few Christmas decorations in the back rose garden. It was the perfect thing to do.

Merry Christmas.

 Our 2012 lecture schedule is now posted at http://www.rosesolutions.net

Roses for New England: A Perfect Christmas Gift for Gardeners

Wondering what to get your gardening friends for the holidays? If you’re in the Providence, RI area on December 10, come to the RI Rose Society’s Holiday meeting. Mike and I will be selling and signing our book Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening for the discounted price of $20.00.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will feature a Gift Craft Fair by members who will display and sell their hand-crafted items – many of them rose and garden related. There will also be a demonstration on how to make frames to display your favorite rose. The meeting is held at in the Garden Classroom at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and begins at 9:30 AM. Our book and RIRS members’ crafts will be available for sale from approximately 11 AM to noon.

We look forward to meeting you and chatting “live” about our book, our blog, and roses. If you can’t make it on December 10, but want to give our book as a gift, visit our web site (http://www.rosesolutions.net/). Shipping is Free!

Winterizing Public Rose Gardens

Dortmund in Bloom at Clayton Garden

Mike and I have been cleaning up our rose gardens in preparation for winter. We’ve replaced a few older roses, removed some day lilies, divided and transplanted others, and planted bulbs – daffodils and blue globe onions (allium caeruleum). Our horse manure has been delivered and stored in the back of the garden. Now we’re just waiting until the weather turns consistently colder so we can hill-up the base of each rose bush with the manure as winter cover.

Clayton Sustainable Rose Garden

Meanwhile we’ve attended two Garden Closings — the Chet Clayton Sustainable Rose Garden at the University of RI and the Roger Williams Park’s Victorian Rose Garden in Providence. The schedule for closing these public rose gardens are determined months in advance and it’s very difficult to change dates at the last minute if the weather does not cooperate. In this case, despite the warm weather, the gardens got closed when they did because that’s when the volunteers were available.

Deanne, one of the Project Leaders and Mike

The Chet Clayton Sustainable Rose Garden at the University of RI is maintained by University of Rhode Island Master Gardener volunteers who do a great job taking care of this garden. The Clayton Garden is ending its seventh season and continues to thrive as an excellent example of sustainable rose gardening.

Volunteers Adding Manure

The day of the closing was October 29, the Saturday of the big storm that brought serious early season snow to northern RI and surrounding MA and CT. Still, Master Gardener volunteers came out despite the forecast and, with Mother Nature patiently waiting until we were done, we managed to winterize the garden before the maelstrom roared in that afternoon. As you can see from the photos, the climbers, as well as many of the other roses, were still blooming, flummoxed by the warm temperatures.

Hilled Up rose

On Saturday, November 12 we had a beautiful, sunny day to close the Roger Williams Park’s Victorian Rose Garden in Providence. RI Rose Society members, along with the public (who are always welcome to attend meetings to learn how to care for roses), lightly pruned roses that needed it, filled wheel barrows with horse manure from the Providence Mounted Command horse stables, and hilled up the 500+ roses in the garden.

Mike with Manny "Big Boy" Mendes

At lunchtime, there was plenty of socializing during the “Chili Cook-Off” that’s become an annual event of the Rose Society.

President of RI Rose Society, Dacia Nickerson with Vice President Frank Karikas

The meeting ended with the rose raffle — donated potted roses and other plants (Mike and I brought the daylilies from our garden) plus garden items. Mike won and chose a small climber called Morning Magic.  If you live close enough to Providence, try to join us at Roger Williams Park when we open the garden in April. It’s a lot of fun, the members are friendly, and you’ll learn a lot, not only about rose horticulture, but also how various varieties perform in a public garden that receives no pesticide intervention.

Donated Plants

We plan to winterize our gardens on Thanksgiving weekend – we’re hoping for cold and clear weather.

Pegging Roses

Graham Thomas

I don’t remember exactly when I planted Graham Thomas where he is now. It must have been during a reconfiguration of the back rose garden close to twenty years ago. I planted and replanted him twice until he settled into the cozy spot as a specimen plant in his own private bed that he occupies today in front of the garden.

This star treatment has agreed with him and over time he grew to 8 feet by 8 feet – some years I let him go, growing easily to ten feet. And star he is. Each June he produces a massive display of buttery yellow, cupped flowers with a distinct tea fragrance – 4 to 6 blooms on each long arching stem, perfect for cutting. The June bloom is so heavy it requires a half dozen stakes to support the major canes to prevent them from breaking under the load.

Graham Thomas with "hole"

In April before the foliage breaks while I can clearly see the bones of the bush, I prune Graham back to five feet or so, thinning out dense growth from the previous season and sometimes removing one or two gnarly old canes to encourage new basal growth. Several years ago, a “hole’ developed on the north side of the bush where I had pruned out a heavy old cane but no cane grew back to replace it. I tried nudging nearby canes over to fill the void with mixed results.

I remember my mother recalling her father, an Irish estate gardener who immigrated to this country in 1914 from Scotland, pegging roses back in the day when she was a child. The goal then was to propagate more of the same variety by bending canes still growing on a bush over into contact with the soil and pegging them down, hoping they would take root.

Hmmm…why not take the long rogue canes that Graham typically throws off at mid-summer that grow to 12 feet or more and yield nothing and, instead of pruning them back in the fall, bend them over the hole and tie them off low to a nearby cane? By changing the orientation of each long cane from the vertical to the horizontal, the potential lateral stems along each cane would grow longer and stronger next season much the same way climbing roses are more floriferous when trained horizontally. Thus the hole is filled.

Selecting canes

Placing cane

Tying Off

Pegged cane

I first tried this technique three years ago and the results were excellent, but temporary, with the effect lasting only one season. The bent canes did indeed develop longer stems with roses that filled the void but the rebloom was sparse. The best results were achieved when pegged canes were pruned back and fresh canes replaced them each year.

 

Pegged Rose

 

 

I pegged Graham again last week and look forward to another flashy display next summer.

Graham Thomas is the senior rose in the garden and, like me, is not only growing older but growing better.

Ping Lim & “Remember Me” Roses

Ping Lim in Shanksville, PA

Remember Me Rose Garden

Last month I posted “Remembering 9/11 with Roses” and Ping Lim, whom we became friends with several years ago, added a nice comment to that post.  Ping, in addition to hybridizing the Easy Elegance roses that Mike and I like, has also developed several “Remember Me” roses. Because of his contribution, Ping was invited to and attended the 10th anniversary of September 11 held at the “Remember Me” Rose Garden in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Above photos courtesy of Ping Lim)

Mike with Ping at the Chet Clayton Sustainable Rose Garden at the University of Rhode Island

Ping, who immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen, was pleased to become “a part of American history” by being involved in the creation of the “Remember Me” gardens. His rose ‘Forty Heroes’ honors the 40 heroes of Flight 93 who bravely fought back against the terrorists. (Photo of Forty Heroes courtesy of Ping Lim)

Roses, aside from being America’s National Flower, symbolize different things to different people and evoke memories of those we’ve lost. Ping expresses his thoughts in an essay he shared with me. He writes, “I am very honored that among the many roses chosen, four of my bred roses were selected to be part of the event to commemorate the 911 victims, including the 40 heroes on UA93.”

He continues, “This is indeed an opportunity that, as a rose breeder, I would never dream of having in my career. The rose has charm and beauty, is a symbol of love and brings sunshine to deeply soothe. It touches more than any political language….The rose shares love, remembrance and respect. It far transcends the meaning of a rose and I was totally awed by such a great honor.”

Thank you, Ping, for using your talent in creating beautiful, hardy and disease resistant roses to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11.

Visit Ping’s web site (http://rosesbyping.com to learn more about his roses.

Autumn Roses

A few days ago Angie stood looking out the kitchen window and remarked about all the roses in bloom – they seemed to have opened over night. Now in early October when the 3^rd and final bloom cycle is traditionally modest due to the loss of sunlight and dropping temperatures, our rose gardens were a mass of color due to drenching rains and above average temperatures.

Outta the Blue

I cut a few sprays of Outta the Blue roses and they’re now sitting on our kitchen table, filling the room with the sweet scent of clove and roses. This beauty has very fragrant, deep magenta blooms with golden yellow stamens, but no tolerance for heat. While the petals burn and shatter the minute they open in intense mid-summer heat, the cooler autumn display is spectacular with clusters of 3 to 5 old-fashioned, wine-colored blooms.

Playboy

This isn’t the only variety affected by seasonal change. The colors of some varieties morph from season to season. The gold and scarlet hues of the beautiful but fussy Playboy are more saturated in October than in June and the stunning reds and whites of Cherry Parfait are sharper in the fall. Some whites turn a pale pink and bi-colors show stronger contrasts.

Cherry Parfait

Regardless, these are the last roses of summer and I’ve already started the annual rite of fall – preparing the gardens for winter. Three yards of horse manure have been ordered for delivery later in the month; potted roses are being gathered together and lightly pruned, ready to be pack away into cribs after Thanksgiving. The long, long arching canes of our very mature Graham Thomas that shot up in mid-summer will be swung over a bare spot in this large elegant specimen rose and pegged down to fill the bare spot with blooms next summer.

But despite the calendar, this may be one of those rare years when the rose gods are kind and really hard frosts are delayed, making it possible for us to have roses from our gardens on the Thanksgiving table. We’ll let you know.

Six-Pack Rose Show

Back Row: Easy Does It, Ebb Tide, Outta the Blue, Julia Child; front row: Playboy, Hot Cocoa

Serious rose gardeners love to talk (and write) endlessly about roses. And we also love to exhibit roses, which is what we did on Saturday when the RI Rose Society had its annual “Six Pack Rose Show.”

Roses to bring to Show

This show is very low key and lots of fun. Everyone is invited to bring in no more than 6 roses displayed in bottles of any kind — water bottles, wine bottles, juice bottles or beer bottles. This late season, informal rose show encourages Society members, who may never have exhibited roses before, to give it a try. It’s also educational because Mike organizes an “open-judging” format. Judges verbalize the judging process out-loud as they critique each exhibit, explaining the awards – first, second or third place – that each entry receives. It’s an interactive process with the audience that asks questions throughout the judging.

Mike and Dave

On Saturday, Mike was joined by fellow ARS horticultural judge Dave Long from Old Lyme, CT. They presented an informative peek into the enigmatic world of show roses and how they are judged. Especially appreciated by novice and seasoned exhibitors alike, were their tips and insights on grooming show roses.

Another perk at having an informal rose show in the fall is that we get to appreciate the subtle differences that occur in roses due to changes in light and temperature from June to September. Our Playboy and Hot Cocoa roses have more saturated color now than they did last spring and our Julia Child roses were smaller than they were in June. We also have more of a chance to check out all the entries than we do at our big June rose show. This helps us decide what varieties to add to our “wish list” for next year.

Distant Drums

At the end of the judging, Mike and Dave culled all the “Blue Ribbon” winners (we used blue stars instead of ribbons) down to five. Then the members were polled to determine the best two entries. They voted again for “Best of Show” which went to Clive Nickerson for his picture-perfect bloom of ‘Distant Drums’.

The “Six Pack Rose Show” was one more way to enjoy rose gardening as this 2011 rose growing season winds down. Plus, look at the beautiful vase of roses I had when I came home!

Remembering 9/11 with Roses

The rose, a beautiful symbol of concern and sympathy, is America’s national flower.  So it comes as no surprise that an organization called “Remember Me” Rose Garden is planning on establishing rose gardens to honor those who died on September 11, 2001.

The “Remember Me” Rose Garden – Flight 93 has already been created on 15 acres located across from the Flight 93 National Memorial Park in Shanksville, PA. Gardens are also planned for locations on or near the sites of the attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

The rose industry has been generous and supportive in this endeavor and a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of “Remember Me” roses will be donated to the “Remember Me” Rose Gardens. The following are some of the roses now known as “Remember Me” roses that can be purchased at garden centers throughout the United States.

Firefighter

Firefighter in honor of the 343 firefighters who died on September 11

Soaring Spirits in honor of the workers who died in the World Trade Center Towers

Forty Heroes in honor of the crew and passengers of United Flight 93

We Salute You to honor the 125 people who died at the Pentagon

We Salute You

The Finest in honor of the 23 NY Police Department officers lost in the line of duty

Patriot Dream in honor of the crew and passengers of American Airlines Flight 77

Survivor in honor of those who survived the collapse of the World Trade Center and the attack of the Pentagon

Wings of Courage in honor of the crew and passengers of Flight 11, the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center

For more information on the “Remember Me” Rose Garden visit their website: http://www.remember-me-rose.org

The photos of Firefighter and We Salute You are by Gene Sasse © 2007 used courtesy of Weeks Roses.