steve jones, district director fall 2003 kitty belendez, editor - santa clarita … · 2009. 11....

MMEESSSSAAGGEE FFRROOMM TTHHEEDDIISSTTRRIICCTT DDIIRREECCTTOORRSteve JonesDistrict DirectorPacific Southwest [email protected]

It is with mixed emotions ofdeep sadness and great pleasurethat I write my final DistrictDirector’s message. It is the end of

my term as District Director representing the largestdistrict in the American Rose Society for membership, butit also begins my new job as ARS Vice President. This isa new and exciting job, and I have already begun workingwith Marilyn Wellan, the next ARS President, on some ofmy campaign promises to help improve membership andeducational services. I want to thank all of our districtmembers who supported me in the election.

With good news comes the bad. We lost three toprosarians since the last district bulletin was issued:renowned hybridizer Joe Winchel of Harbor City, CA; CoeApplegate of El Cajon, CA; and John Farleigh of SanDiego, CA. All will be missed for the great things theybrought to roses.

Joe Winchel hybridized many great roses like ‘DollyParton’, ‘Ain’t She Sweet’, ‘Lynn Anderson’ and ‘LouiseEstes’. He also was awarded the District OutstandingConsulting Rosarian in 1984.

Coe Applegate was District Co-Chair of HorticulturalJudges (1994-1997), Consulting Rosarian, Judge, andexhibitor. He and his wife Rita were awarded the SilverMedal in 2002 and Outstanding Judges in 2003.

John Farleigh was a dear friend who taught me a lotabout judging arrangements when I was an apprentice.John and his wife Jane traveled all over the district tojudge until Jane passed away a few years back. Johnwon the Silver Medal in 1981, Outstanding ConsultingRosarian in 1977, and Outstanding Judge in 1993.

On a personal note, our local society, Santa ClaritaValley Rose Society, lost one of its early and morecolorful members. Norm Siefert passed away after a

battle with cancer. Norm was always the life of the partyand an expert gopher catcher at Heritage Gardens. Heeven froze a stringer of his catch one week to show me.He will be sorely missed at our meetings. There is amemorial for Norm atwww.pswdistrict.org/text/articles/normsiefert.html.

All directors received a message from ARSheadquarters asking for members to become Patrons. Ibelieve that this is a great idea. All members who areserious about ARS and our hobby will want to be aPatron. Likewise, every local society should be Patrons. Itis only $100 a year and there are several other categoriesfor $250, $500, $1000, $2500 and $5000. Paul Wrightchallenged all of the Arizona rose societies to becomePatrons and he succeeded. Let’s carry Paul’s challengeto all PSWD rose societies. I’ve been a Patron for manyyears and plan to sign up again. Just send a check toARS or call them with a credit card number using the toll-free ARS number: 1-800-637-6534.

September 28, 2003 will mark the beginning of mynew office and Bob Martin taking over as your DistrictDirector. I know Bob will do an excellent job and continuethe education programs we worked so hard to establishduring my term. It has been a pleasure serving our districtmembers and I hope the tradition continues during myterms as ARS Vice President and President.

FALL 2003 PACIFIC SOUTHWEST ROSE PAGE 1

Steve Jones, District Director Fall 2003 Kitty Belendez, Editor

HHIIGGHHLLIIGGHHTTSS ooff TTHHIISS IISSSSUUEEMessage from the District Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2From the Editor’s Desk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Approved Exhibition Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Society Gems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3How I Propagate Roses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Report from the All-Mini Rose Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Walk in the Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Our Lady of Guadelupe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The Glorious Roses of Joe Winchel . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Magic Elixirs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Consulting Rosarian Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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uRRuOOuSSuEEuQUARTERLY BULLETIN u AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY u PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT

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PEARL ESSENCE

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From the Editor’s DeskBy Kitty Belendez

Congratulations to Steve!If you haven’t heard by now, our

District Director Steve Jones won theARS election for Vice President. It was avery narrow margin, a mere 32 votes. Allfour candidates were well qualified,especially the top three. Steve simplyworked a lot harder during his campaignto squeeze out those extra 32 votes ...the important 32 that made the

difference in the final results:

Steve Jones 1626Ed Griffith 1594Jeff Wyckoff 1391George Hartley 633

New EditorWith the next issue of the district bulletin you will

have a new editor, as I am retiring from the position. Yournew editor will be Sue Munday of the Ventura CountyRose Society. Please direct all inquiries regarding thebulletin, or subscription renewals, to Sue [email protected], or (805) 484-9937. Thanks toeveryone who submitted articles for publication during my3-year term as editor of Pacific Southwest Rose.


Saturday, September 13Yavapai Rose Show

First Congregational ChurchPrescott, AZ

Info: Phyllis Kelly (928) [email protected]

September 20-21Albuquerque Rose Society

Fall Rose ShowNew Mexico State Fairgrounds

Info: Alan Troyer (505) [email protected]

September 24-29ARS Fall National Convention

Washington, DCInfo: [email protected]

Saturday, September 27-28California Coastal RS &

Armstrong Garden Centers Rose ShowCarlsbad, CA

Info: Chris Greenwood,[email protected]

Saturday, October 1110th Anniversary

Santa Clarita RS Rose ShowValencia Town CenterInfo: Kitty Belendez

(661) [email protected]

Saturday, October 11East County Rose Society ShowFoothills Adult School, El Cajon, CA

Info: Miriam Yoder(619) 463-6977

[email protected]

Saturday, October 11Rose Society of Tucson

Consulting Rosarian SchoolInfo: Liz Strong (520) 797-7890

[email protected]

Golden Celebration

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October 18-19Los Angeles RS Rose Show

Descanso GardensLa Canada, CA

Info: Lynn Snetsinger(626) 446-5371

[email protected]

Saturday, October 25-26Orange County RS Rose Show

Rodgers GardensNewport Beach CA

Info: Jan Brider(714) 779-8032

[email protected]

Saturday, November 1Desert Rose Society

Rose Arrangement SeminarPortola Community Center

Palm Desert, CAInfo: Henry McCarty


Sunday, November 2Rose Society of Green Valley

Rose ShowEast Social CenterGreen Valley, AZ

Info: Rosemarie Beall (520) 393-7063

Saturday, November 8Desert Rose Society Rose Show

Palm Desert Community CenterPalm Desert, CA

Info: Henry McCarty (760) 346-9842

[email protected]

Saturday, November 8West Valley Rose Society &

Sun City Rose & Garden ClubRose Show

Bell Recreation Center, Sun City AZInfo: Ken Paris (602) 788-6027

News Flash from ARS

AAPPPPRROOVVEEDD EEXXHHIIBBIITTIIOONN NNAAMMEESSThanks to Phil Schorr for providing this clarification

on the Approved Exhibition Names from the AmericanRose Society. Judges and exhibitors are pleased tofinally have the previous misinformation corrected.

Under current ARS rose show rules a rose not listedin an official ARS publication may be exhibited if it islisted in the Combined Rose List. Exhibitors and judgesmay take the primary name shown in the CRL as atemporary Approved Exhibition Name until the ARSpublishes an AEN for the rose. This applies whether thelisting in the CRL shows an “NR” after the name or not.Once the ARS publishes an AEN for the rose, the ARSlisting takes precedence in case of any conflicts.

The Rose Registration database page on the ARSwebsite is also considered as an official ARS publicationfor purposes of establishing AENs. Roses listed thereare eligible to be exhibited using the AEN shown.

The new Guidelines for Judging Roses will bepublished later this fall. They will state that a rose listedonly in the Combined Rose List will be considered tohave received a “temporary AEN” until it is listed in anARS publication. Once it is published in an ARSpublication the ARS publication will take precedencewhen there is a conflict of fact such as class, color, etc.If a rose has never been listed in an ARS publicationthere can be no conflict with the listing in the CRL.


SSOOCCIIEETTYY GGEEMMSSAlbuquerque Rose

Society presented an engravedplaque to Ms. Louise Major forher many years of service.Louise joined the rose society in1972 and has been on thetelephone ever since. She isalways willing to gathervolunteers for any event. In

addition to all of her rose society work, for the past thirtyyears Louise has volunteered at all of the flower shows(roses or otherwise) associated with the New MexicoState Fair. That is eight shows in a two-week period eachyear. We are proud to have a volunteer of Ms. Major’scaliber.

Desert Rose Society Several members of the DesertRose Society helped Henry McCarty celebrate his 80thbirthday on July 5 with a surprise party hosted by SherrySzabo. A special challenge class is being added to thisyear’s Desert Rose Show in honor of Henry’s birthday andhis contributions to the Desert Rose Society.

Los Angeles Rose Society For our June Potluckmeeting we were treated to a fascinating and highlyinformative tour of the diverse Descanso GardensInternational Rosarium by Robin Corwin, Editor of theFriends of the Rosarium newsletter. Additionally, ourrecent annual garden tour provided members with visits togardens at Rose Hills, City of Hope, and the beautiful homesof Peter Lin, Robert & Mary Gonzalez and Alex Bout.

Rose Society of Green Valley has created theLadies Rose Brigade who meet every Tuesday at 7 a.m.in our Community Rose Garden to deadhead roses, drinklemonade, and foster friendships. No men are allowed asthey are too distracting. Gets the job done, and wewelcome and teach how to non-society helpers.

San Fernando Valley Rose Society is holding theirannual potluck and auction fundraiser at the Augustmeeting. Then, at the September meeting, the amazinglytalented photographer and SFVRS member, SherryPatton, will be discussing the best way to photograph rosegardens and roses.

Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society held garden toursin May at two members’ gardens. One was at the home ofIngrid and Carlos Gonzalez in Sylmar, and the other wasat the home of Suzy and Jeff Miladin in Placerita Canyon.Both gardens featured more than 100 roses. The Miladingarden featured huge specimens of southwestern nativeplants integrated among the roses, while the Gonzalezgarden had a fountain as a focal point. Additionally, thesociety is publishing the second edition (revised) of“Growing Roses in the Santa Clarita Valley,” a 48-pagebooklet written by Consulting Rosarians Kitty Belendezand Steve Jones. It will be available for sale at their 10thAnniversary rose show on October 11th.

A Memorial For

NNOORRMM SSIIEEFFEERRTTNorman Bruce Siefert, 62, died

of lung cancer on July 3, 2003, inNewhall, CA. He was born onAugust 10, 1940 in Santa Monica.He grew up in North Hollywood andresided in Newhall with his family

for 31 years. He is survived by his wife of 40 years,Elissa, and three sons: Scott, Sean and Todd.

Norm always had a green thumb, and most recentlyhe had a love of roses. He grew many beautiful rosesand tended them with great care. Norm was a memberof the Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society since January1993, a member of the Los Angeles Rose Society, amember of the American Rose Society, and was aConsulting Rosarian. He was generous with his roseadvice, and enjoyed promoting the benefits of becominga member of the rose society.

Norm was employed as a roofer during his workingyears. His claim to fame was his Ocean Wave Roofs aswell as the roof on the Krishnamurti school in Ojai. Hewas especially talented with wood shakes and shingles.Through the years, he had many and varied interestssuch as homing pigeon racing, skydiving, camping andfishing in the Eastern Sierras, and he was a CB radioenthusiast. His CB handle was “Stormin’ Norman.”

Norm loved his Boston Terrier dogs, Dolly and Dinky,and he was famous for his July 4th antics. Norm was anunconventional, unforgettable character with aninfectious laugh, colorful language and a big heart.

Louise Major and Fran Hardy

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Scottsdale Rose Society held their successful “FiveRose Gardens” tour on April 20th, a much enjoyedfundraiser chaired by dedicated member Rose AnnTrubisky. At tours’ end, she and husband Leonard hostedthe attendees to a wonderful dinner at their ParadiseValley home and expansive garden. Tour proceeds help todefray costs of our rose shows. Plans are being made forour September hands-on pruning demonstration anddiscussion of fall rose care.

South Coast Rose Society hosted a summer potluckon August 9th at Peggie Wormington’s house. She’s justfinished landscaping her yard – it’s beautiful. We’ve gotour SCRS website up and running. Peggie Wormington iswebmistress. We created an award to recognize memberswho have contributed a lot of time and energy to thesociety over the past year (outstanding service andcontribution). We call this award the South CoastSweethearts Award, and this year we awarded it to GloriaLeinbach and Carolyn Grayson. We would be lost withoutthem! Gloria has been President for the last 6 years andCarolyn is the editor of our newsletter. They are at everysociety event and are very knowledgeable and proactive.

Thanks to the society presidents who contributed reports.


HHOOWW II PPRROOPPAAGGAATTEE RROOSSEESSBy Harold BakerLakeland, Florida

Let me start by stating that I am not touting that whatI do is the one and only way to propagate roses. I amsimply sharing with you what I do and I am happy with theresults. I would also like to state that I have beeninvolved with roses for many years and I have neverheard of anyone being hassled in any way forpropagating roses for their own use. If you were to startselling certain varieties is when you would get intotrouble.

When someone tells me that they do certain things Ialways want to know why. I expect you may be the sameway. Therefore, I will try to explain.

Why do I propagate roses instead of buying themat a nursery?

(a) You can tailor make a plant just the way you wantit as far as the type of rootstock, height of the graft etc.and, by taking your time, you can produce a superiorgraft.

(b) By exchanging budwood with like-minded peoplearound the country you can be growing new varietiesbefore most nurseries have them available.

(c) You will find that about 14 of 15 new varieties willbe inferior to the roses that you already have. You can trythem out, keep the winners and discard the losers withoutlosing a lot of money.

(d) If you search out superior specimens and use thebest budeyes from these specimens you can produce asuperior bush for yourself.

(e) It’s a lot of fun to wait, with great expectation, tosee what the new blooms look like.

Why do I use Fortuniana rootstock? The sandy soils of Florida are teeming with

Nematodes. These invade the roots of most roserootstocks and lead to the decline of the bush. Fortunianarootstock has superior resistance to this pest. In addition,tests have shown that roses on Fortuniana Rootstockproduce more blooms and larger blooms than the samevariety grown on other rootstocks.

Why do I graft instead of bud onto Fortuniana? Because I can produce the bush much faster if I graft

where I have the rose foliage producing energy, and I canstart with bud eyes that have already began to break.

Why do I make a V notch in the top of therootstock instead of simply cutting a slit like mostnurseries do?

Because this enables me to make a superior graft.Time is money in a nursery so many of them simply slitthe top of the Fortuniana because it is faster. But thiscauses problems. The only way the point of the V cut onthe stem of the scion (desirable variety) can go all theway to the bottom of the slit is if the portion of the caneon each side of the slit is broken over, crimping thecambium layer and xylem tubes. This is a problem. If thepoint of the V is not driven all the way to the bottom of theslit this leaves a hole. This too is a problem. Cutting the Vnotch in the Fortuniana to match the V point on the scion

takes a little longer but it has neither problem andproduces a superior graft.

Why do I make my grafts about 8 inches abovethe bed when many nurseries place their grafts about3 inches above the bed?

Part of most nursery’s sales are to people in areasthat have to be concerned with freezes. Therefore, theywant to be able to protect the bud union. That is not aconcern in my Central Florida location. Having the grafthigh makes everything easier. The high graft allows myDramn system to water and liquid feed the entire surfaceof my rose bed without being blocked by low canes.Weeding, water wanding, spraying, feeding, mulching,and pruning are all easier.

Why do I use Dip-n-Grow, a liquid rootingcompound instead of a powder?

Rooting powders lose potency with time. Since I do alimited amount of grafting, I fear that I would have tothrow away much of the powder that I would buy. It is myunderstanding that Dip-n-Grow does not have this shelflife problem. Just to be safe I store it in my refrigerator. Iam not aware of any loss of potency but, should thisoccur, it would be simple to change the Dip- n-Growdilution ratio from 5 to1 to a 3 or 4 to1 ratio tocompensate for this.

Why do I root the Fortuniana in the small traycompartments instead of larger cups or pots?

The small rootball on the Fortuniana allows me to useone hand to hold the Fortuniana and scion in the air androtate it to wind the grafting tape onto the joint. If theFortuniana is rooted in a cup or pot the, weight of the cupor pot makes it necessary that I set it on the table. Then Imust try to wind the grafting tape around a vertical,stationary joint. This requires more dexterity and patiencethan I possess.

Why do I pre-root the Fortuniana instead ofrooting and grafting at the same time?

It is my experience that I get essentially 100%success with my grafts. While my success rate withrooting the Fortuniana is good, it certainly is not perfect.In the wintertime I would even rate it as poor. If I graftonto unrooted Fortuniana, and the rooting does not takeplace, I lose the specimen even though the graft healssatisfactorily. I previously rooted and grafted at the sametime to avoid having to wind the grafting tape around astationary pre-rooted start in the cups. After Ken Muncyshowed me the small compartment rooting trays, Iadopted my present method which I will describe. I find itto be a better way.

Now that I have given you all this background on whyI do things the way I do, let me give you a step-by-stepprocedure on how I do it.

EQUIPMENT USED FOR THE GRAFT v 1”x 2” board about 2-1/2” long v Small plastic scraper holding a replaceable single

edge razor bladev Parafilm “M” Laboratory film v Eye dropper v Small test tube 5/8” in diameter by 3-1/2” long that

holds 15 times the volume of the eye dropper Continued on page 5


v Vase to hold the test tube uprightv Dip-n-Grow rooting compound v Small knife v 16 oz. Styrofoam cups v Fafard #2 Soilless Mix v Perlite v Labels & permanent marking pen

EQUIPMENT USED FOR THE MIST HOUSE v 10-minute timer with pins set to mist for 6 to 12

seconds 3 times during the 10-minute interval v A photocell or a cheap “security” timer to turn the

10-minute timer off at night v Solenoid valve v Flora-Mist Fogger

WHAT I DO 1. I previously grafted and rooted the Fortuniana at

the same time. Now I try to root the Fortuniana ahead oftime. I have plastic rooting trays that have compartmentsthat are about 1-1/2” square by 2 inches deep. I make amixture of 2/3 Fafard #2 and 1/3 Perlite and thoroughlysoak this mixture with water before filling thecompartments.

2. Cut long canes of Fortuniana that are then recutinto approximately 11-inch lengths. Make sure which is thebottom end. Remember, the bud eye is always above theleaf. Use a razor blade to make a square cut on thebottom of the Fortuniana stick just below a bud eye. Use asmall knife to scrape 2 strips of bark, each about 1-inchlong, from opposite sides of the stem base. Then use thepoint of the knife to make 3 or 4 shallow slits the length ofthe scraped areas.

3. Dip the end of the Fortuniana for at least 6 secondsinto the small test tube containing water and 3eyedroppers full of Dip & Grow. This is to make a 5 to 1mixture.

4. The prepared Fortuniana is inserted into theFafard/Perlite mixture with the foliage on each stick facingin the same direction. Then, when the tray is placed in themist house, it is placed so the foliage faces the sun. It isimportant for the best rooting of the Fortuniana that themist house is in full sun.

5. Rooting of the Fortuniana takes place in about 4weeks during the summer. In the spring and fall it takesabout 6 weeks and in the winter 8 or more weeks.

6. When I get ready to graft I take a cutting from thedesired variety (scion). Ideally the cane would haverecently bloomed and the bud eyes would be very swollenor maybe even started to grow with a 1/4 inch or so ofgrowth. Each cutting should contain 2 sets of healthyleaves and have at least 1 inch of stem below the bottomset of leaves. The cutting is conditioned in warm water.

7. I put an old plastic table cloth on the dining roomtable and do all my grafting there where I can becomfortably seated, have air conditioning, and goodlighting.

8. I take the tray of rootstock out of the mist houseand place it on the table. The cutting of the desired varietyis held next to the various “sticks” of Fortuniana to selectwhich stick best matches its diameter. This stick is slowly

and carefully pulled from the tray so the delicate roots arenot torn off.

9. I lay the Fortuniana horizontal with the top endresting on the board. Rotate the Fortuniana until themaximum amount of foliage is pointing toward the ceiling.Use the razor blade to cut off the Fortuniana about 1 inchabove the top set of leaves. Then hold the razor bladestraight up and down and press straight down to make anapproximately 3/4 inch deep V notch in the top of theFortuniana leaving a small shoulder on each side of the Vat the top.

10. Place the scion horizontally on the block of woodand rotate the scion so that the bottom leaf is pointing atthe ceiling. Holding the razor blade straight up and downpress down with the razor blade to cut a matching V pointon the bottom of the scion. The sides of this cut are slightlylonger than the V notch cut in the Fortuniana so a bareportion will be exposed after the two parts are joinedtogether. Make the top of this V end just below the bottomof the bud eye in the scion.

11. Stick the two parts together with the bottom leafletof the scion turned toward the side of the Fortuniana thathas the most foliage. They should fit snugly together withthe cambium layers lined up. Cut a piece of Parafilm about1/4” by 1-1/2” and wrap the joint by rolling the 2 piecesusing one hand while stretching the Parafilm tightly withyour other hand. The entire joint including the exposedportion of the scion just above the Fortuniana is wrapped.

12. Prepare the Styrofoam cups ahead of time byusing a pencil to punch 4 holes in the sides just above thebottom plus 1 hole in the center of the bottom. The newlygrafted starts are planted in the cup using a wet mixture of2/3 Fafard and 1/3 Perlite as before. However, now that wealready have roots, a small amount of Osmocote andSuperphosphate is added to this mix

13. The cup is then watered and a nametag displayingthe variety name and grafting date is inserted. A triggerbottle is used to apply a mist of water above and below thefoliage to keep the grafted specimens, as well as the trayof rootstock, from drying out while additional specimensare prepared.

14. The cups are set in a plastic tray that has 3-inchsquare compartments before being placed in the misthouse. Each cup is turned so that the maximum amount offoliage is facing the sun.

15. You can see the V notch graft through the Parafilm.When it initially heals it will make a white V. The graft is notwell healed at this point. Wait until the graft turns brown.By this time there should be roots visible at the holes in theStyrofoam cups and it is time to remove it from the misthouse. This will take about a month depending upon thetime of the year.

16. The start is potted up in a 1-gallon pot and set inthe shade and watered daily. After about a week it isgradually worked out into the sun. When staking the smallstarts, it is important that the tie is made above the graft,because if it is only secured below the graft the top maybreak off in high wind.

This article is a 1999 American Rose Society Award ofMerit winner. Originally published in the Bradenton-Sarasota Rose Society newsletter “The Bulletin.” Reprintedwith permission.

PPRROOPPAAGGAATTEE RROOSSEESS Continued from page 4


The theme of the 5th Annual All Mini Convention inCharleston, SC was “Doing The Charleston,” which was afast dance and the hot fad back in the Roaring Twenties.At this convention I think the main people who weredancing were co-chairs Bob & Sandy Lundberg ofBluffton, SC. The convention had about 190 registrants,and I don’t ever recall aconvention of any size going offwithout a hitch. Bob & Sandyand their committee peoplewere very well organized andthe hotel was exceptionallyhelpful to the attendees. By theway, the 190 attendees was anew record for an All MiniConvention.

The convention did do well.The only problem was when theroses on ARS PresidentsTommy Cairns’ plane opted foranother trip to somewhere elseand did not show up until afterthe judging was over. Tommywas pretty lighthearted about itas there was little he could do.But for all of the otherexhibitors and arrangers, theshow was very good and hadgreat quality. There were 751 entries in the horticulturesection and 125 arrangements. I judged thearrangements and we had our work cut out for us.

The first night we went to different restaurants aroundthe area. The Lundberg’s and I, with close friend BarbaraSchermerhorn, went to a place visited only by locals. It ison the water in a residential section. In fact, you betterknow where it is as there are neither signs nor the nameof the place on the building. It is called “The Wreck” andthe no-frills dinner was excellent, all fresh seafood thatjust came in on the boat. While waiting for dinner, I sawthree porpoises swimming up the river channel next to therestaurant.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to enjoy theHospitality Room. I must say that the room was great. Itwas open 24/7 and it was well organized and run byPeggy Heinsohn and Priscilla Fletcher, who is the currentPresident of the Charleston-Low Country Rose Society,the sponsors of the convention. Afterwards we weretreated to a dessert bar full of cakes, pies and othersweets. One thing about the hotel and the meals, therewas always plenty to eat. Some of us stayed up andothers caught a few hours of sleep before entering their

roses the next morning.The show as mentioned was very good. The winner of

the Harm Saville Trophy was Harold & Jean Baker ofFlorida. The two special challenge classes, the Williamsand Mini-Flora, were won by Ray & Julie Guillebeau andBob & Sandy Lundberg respectively. Mini Queen was

Baby Boomer by FrankBenardella, Mini King wasArcanum by Bob & SandyLundberg, and Mini Princesswas Carolina Lady by John &Linda Godwin. Mini FloraQueen was Tiffany Lynn byPaul & Charlotte Blankenship,Mini Flora King was Ferrin byTom & Ilse Estridge, and MiniFlora Princess was Tiffany Liteby Mike Denson. On thearrangement side, LeeJeramias won the BestArrangement in the Show withan underwater design, JimHarrell won the Ralph Moore,Susan Waites won the GoldCertificate with a greattraditional mass, Marily Youngwon the Silver with a greatmodern arrangement, and

Linda Benson won the Bronze with her oriental mannerarrangement. Overall, trophies were won by most of theexhibitors. It is nice to see everyone win at least onetrophy and the show not be dominated by one or twopeople. Congrats to all of the winners!

The afternoon had great talks by Satish Prahbu onstaging, Bob Martin on new minis, Paul Blankenship ongrowing minis his way, and Lee Jeramias and HazelHruby with an arrangement forum.

The awards dinner had to go down as one of themost relaxing. It was casual and featured a “CharlestonBoil” dinner. It was very good. Mike Williams was honoredfor all of his work hybridizing minis. Many of you know heclosed his nursery, Mini Rose Gardens, and now will justhybridize. On a side note, word from John Saville is thathe is offering Nor’East Minis for sale. It appears that the80-hour workweeks are finally getting to John, and thefamily is not interested in the nursery. Since there was nobusiness meeting, the only noteworthy news item was theintroduction of the three new Award of Excellence winnersfor 2004: ‘Picotee’ by Frank Benardella, ‘Andie McDowell’by Michael Williams, and ‘Salute’ by Nor’East (Wendy

Continued on page 7

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RREEPPOORRTT FFRROOMM TTHHEE AALLLL--MMIINNII RROOSSEE SSHHOOWWBy Steve Jones

Bob & Sandy Lundberg, Charleston Hosts

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White). Also, Snow Bride and Little Jackie wereinaugurated into the Mini Hall of Fame.

Speaking of minis, the rose named for the convention,Miss Charleston, looks like a real winner and has goodexhibition potential. It is an electric medium mauve miniwith great fragrance. The plant is very clean with darkglossy foliage. I had to bring one home! It was hybridizedby Mike Williams.

The next day was the garden tours. By this time, theweather turned to the normal pattern of storms in theafternoon, and clear, hot and humid weather during theday. It was about 90/90. So during the tour we moved towhatever shade we could find. The first home wasFletcher Derrick which is one of the older row homes indowntown Charleston. He has a beautiful garden and withso little property, the roses on Fortuniana really growstraight up and with lots of blooms. I was impressed withthe size of his Kew Rambler, even though it was not inbloom. This is a house eater. His home was built in 1650,and is still a gem today. The row homes in Charleston aretwo rooms wide at the street so they could build morehomes and usually three stories high. They can go backin the lot for as many rooms as they have space for,usually 2 or 3. The front door is really a door to the porchor patio, so the house actually looks out over the yard,which is a greatidea.

Next we wentto the back-to-back homes ofJulian Hayes, andMike Denson &Doug McGill.Julian growsseveral roses, butis best known forhis camellias,whichunfortunately donot bloom thistime of year.Through a pathyou enter thebackyard of MikeDenson and DougMcGill. They grow a lot of hollyhocks, squashes,tomatoes, etc. as well as a good number of roses, all onFortuniana. Mike is an exhibitor so most of his roses areshow quality, but make great garden plants as well. A sidenote is that Mike would not exhibit until he had a Queenquality bloom. Well he did and won Queen with Veterans’Honor at his first show in Augusta, GA.

The last stop was at the Boone Plantation which isstill a working plantation today. You enter a long lane ofmature live oaks with Spanish Moss hanging from them. Iam sure we have seen this lane in many movies. The firststop was the Cotton Dock where we had an excellent pigpicking lunch. The whole pig and chicken were cookedover a BBQ grill and the meat was so tender you just pull

CCHHAARRLLEESSTTOONN Continued from page 6 it apart. Afterwards we had a tour of the house andgardens. In the gardens were many plantings of Bermuda“found roses” and several chinas, teas and noisettes.There were two huge specimens of Rosa roxburghii thatwere in full bloom. It was quite a sight!

It was sad to see the convention end as we all had agreat time. I rode down with Bob & Sandy to their

beautiful home in Bluffton, SC, which is just before you goover the bridge to Hilton Head Island. Their 470+ rosegarden was a beacon to all that drive by and acomplement to their home. The garden is arranged inoctagonal rings with sectional beds. The minis are in theinner rings, the hybrid teas and floribundas in the outerrings, except for some new beds in the outermost ring,which are mostly varieties that Bob has grafted onFortuniana. Once again, the Fortuniana plants are somuch larger and had more bloom than other rootstocks.The plants were clean and very healthy. I think we foundabout 20 Monday Queens in the garden. About 35 peoplefrom the convention came over to marvel in the gardens. Ihelped out and then chased bugs for Baldo “Bugman”Villegas who couldn’t make the convention. Everyone hada great time and Sandy treated everyone to lunch. I madea long list of new roses I wanted to try at home. It isamazing how a rose like Dancing Flame has so much redat home, yet is very pale in the South Carolina climate. Asa judge, I appreciate learning the differences due toclimate. One of the must-have roses is Bob Martin’s‘Butter Cream’. It is a slightly darker version of ‘Fairhope’with better petal substance. Bob had a sister seedling thatwas pure white. I suggested “Cream Cheese” or “SourCream” for a name.

Unfortunately it had to end and I flew home the nextday. But it was a great convention and everyone lefthappy. On the Steve Scale of Conventions, this one rateda 5, based on the average hours of sleep I got during theconvention. Next year the All Mini Convention will be inFort Worth, Texas. They have their work cut out for themto out-do the Charleston convention.

Reprinted from the July/August issue of “RoseEcstasy,” bulletin of the Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society,Kitty Belendez, Editor.

The Bakers’ Harm Saville Challenge

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The Boone Plantation

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AA WWAALLKK IINN TTHHEE PPAARRKK ......By Jim Delahanty

The Problem: To evaluate new rosesYou cannot expect rose catalogs to be better than

any other commercial property or advertising copy. Deepdown, no rosarian proprietor wants to sell a dog of a rose,but something deep within his soul prevents him advisingthe public that “… this rose is a dog, but the kids needglasses” or “buy this rose only if you want your grayhouse paint to match the foliage.” And the pictures inmagazines, slides in presentations, and the enthusiasm ofearly planters are not of much help either. For one thing,you know that no one opts forpictures or slides that emphasizeugly except in governmentsponsored art exhibits. Earlyplanters are people who get thelatest and trendiest rosesbefore the rest of us; they tendto be exhibitors and we allknow that exhibitors spray likeunspayed animals.

Solution No. 1: So it is not a bad idea to

take a walk in one of the publicgardens featuring AARS roses.There are about 130 plus suchgardens in the country andslightly more than a baker’sdozen here in California. None, however, is in VenturaCounty. You can drive north to the A. C. Postel Garden inSanta Barbara or you can go south to the InternationalRosarium at Descanso Gardens, or the Tournament ofRoses Garden in Pasadena, or the Exposition Park RoseGarden among the half dozen or so in the SouthernCalifornia metroplex. Of these, the largest in Los Angelesis reputedly the Exposition Park Rose Garden.

As opposed to single cultivars or a few rose busheslinked together in the recommended triangle of three,public gardens can provide a view of beds of 50 or moreas a means of evaluating roses with a reasonable degreeof sanity. And the questions can be personal.

Will ‘Memorial Day’ provide a sufficient number ofblooms without ruffled edges to reduce the risk of lookingragged in competition? Will the large blooms and heavypetal count cause the necks to sag in imitation of ‘SweetSurrender’? Will excessive heat turn the color to pinkrather than mauve? How do the roses stand up to aregimen of not being sprayed with petrochemicals? Will‘Day Breaker’ fade as ugly as ‘Kaleidoscope’? Will theluscious scent of ‘Honey Perfume’ obscure the rathersquat shape of the rose bush?

In order to arrive at the answers to these and otherintriguing questions, I went with Kim Rupert, hybridizer,plantsman, and all around good guy, to view the roses atExposition Park Rose Garden. The Exposition Park RoseGarden first found ideation almost a dozen years beforeits final completion in 1928 when some 15,793 roses

were planted at its inception through the generosity ofseveral Los Angels nurseries, especially those of FredHoward. (Does anyone else wonder about the job skills ofthe reporter who reputedly counted those rose bushes?)

Over the years the number of roses has varied, withthe current number ranging from about seven thousand(according to Huell Howser and the current ExpositionPark pamphlet) or twenty thousand (a former director ofthe Garden in 1987), or possibly some number betweensixteen and nineteen thousand (various contemporarywebsites). The number of different cultivars may varyfrom 145 to 200 depending on which source is beingconsulted. The sunken garden also features a central koipond and fountain as well as four wood gazebosfestooned with climbing roses and the illusion of cool in

the middle of an open space.The walkways and lawndelineate the beds, most ofwhich are rectangular, but varyin shape and size with theapproaches to the centralfountain and the circular pond.Other instructive featuresinclude masses of pinkhydrangeas along thesouthern and northern axes aswell as ice cream vendors withmodern pushcarts and deepfreezes. The non-traditional LAWeekly has nominated theExposition Park Rose Gardenas the “Place to Watch the

Smell of Roses” and recommends a picnic blanket and agood book as essential to the experience but only in themornings or afternoons when tourists have departed.

The most important thing is that the roses are plantedin recognizable beds of as many as fifty roses or morethus massing the roses for better contemplation andevaluation. This possibility of evaluation was the originalpurpose of the Garden in its function as a public displaygarden. Namely, the ordinary rose grower was supposedto be able to view the garden in recognizable growingconditions and decide whether or not to purchase theparticular rose for private enjoyment.

On a hot day in early July when the overnight fog isstill combating with somewhat late but ominous SantaAna desert winds, one thing is clear: none of the 2004AARS roses have any scent worth talking about. Even thetwo roses touted for scent — ‘Honey Perfume’ and‘Memorial Day’ — are almost totally devoid of fragranceunless you bury your nose right into the centers of theblooms and fake it. A comparison with typically fragrantroses like ‘Secret’ or ‘Mr. Lincoln’ verifies that fragrance isjust not on the menu today in this garden.

The roses at Exposition Park do not appear to besprayed with petrochemicals—as is the case with almostall public gardens these days; this decision is either oneof devotion to the principles of Integrated PestManagement, or the fear of lawsuit liability for the ills ofthose utilizing the garden, or the powerful arguments of


Continued on page 9

Exposition Park

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those against the use of these toxic agents by publicfacilities coupled with the even more powerful threat ofpublic picketing. However, the rose beds are meticulouslyweeded and mulched. In fact, the gardens are closed tothe public for the first ten weeks of the calendar year forreplanting and renovation of the rose beds, removal ofolder less well performing roses, and the introduction ofnew AARS roses as appropriate.

Signage—the identification of the roses in the variousbeds is generally effective although there are a fewanomalies. Kim identifies one bed of putative ‘SterlingSilver’ as more likely to be ‘Lagerfeld,’ by virtue of height,vigor, and color. A bed of roses called ‘Eden’ is actually‘Abraham Darby.’ However, if you want to see a massplanting of a 1979 Hybrid Tea, ‘Edwin T. Meredith,’ withcoral pink flowers in an orange blend, look quickly sincethe rose is no longer in commerce; the same commercialunavailability is true of ‘Fireside,’ a 1977 rose that featuresred, yellow and white colors in imbricated petalssurrounded by glossy dark foliage. An old favoriteincludes a 1954 HT called ‘Roundelay,’ deeply fragrant,deeply dark red, tall as a leading man, and currently onlyavailable on the open market at three boutique mail ordernurseries. Some identifying signs are missing (perhapstwo or three), but no more than to be expected in anexposed urban area.

The seven acres of roses are bound by ExpositionBlvd., the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Countydirectly across Victory Walk, and State Drive. Theentrance to the gardens is at 39th Street and Figueroa;parking costs six dollars. There are various restroomfacilities studded about the 160 acres. It is wise to seekout those associated with buildings as those in the RoseGarden seem to be frequented by bipeds with a totalinability to aim correctly through any aperture.

And the answers to the questions are: No. Yes.Yes. Yes. No. And Yes.

Solution No. 2: Find an early planter who doesn’tspray and still has the plants left.

Good luck.And Kim thinks that Zary’s ‘Flirtatious’ is a “wow” of a

scented rose.Not to be forwarded or reprinted without the written

permission of the author.

RRoossee ooff tthhee MMoonntthh

OOUURR LLAADDYY OOFF GGUUAADDEELLUUPPEEBy Kitty Belendez

Floribunda, Pink Blend, Zary, 2000

“Our Lady of Guadalupe” is the Virgin Mary whoappeared in an apparition to a poor Aztec Indian,“Quauhtlatoatzin” (later given the Christian name of JuanDiego) in Mexico City in 1531. Since then an incrediblelist of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed toHer. Yearly, an estimated 10 million people visit herBasilica, making her Mexico City home the most popularVirgin Mary shrine in the world, and the most visitedCatholic Church inthe world next to theVatican. The Feast ofOur Lady ofGuadalupe iscelebrated onDecember 12th.

The rose ‘OurLady of Guadelupe’was bred by KeithZary andintroduced by BearCreek Gardens in2000. This rose was developed in a partnershiparrangement between the United Farm Workers Unionand Jackson & Perkins. Part of the sales of this rosegoes to the Hispanic College Fund.

‘Our Lady of Guadelupe’ is a very lovely floribundawith clusters of 3-inch pink-blend blooms of about 25petals. The blooms have a mild fragrance. The foliage issemi-glossy dark green and has good disease resistance.The plant makes an excellent landscape bush of short tomedium height up to 3 feet, and produces very goodrepeat bloom throughout the year, even in the fall whenmany other floribundas produce few blooms. ‘Our Lady ofGuadelupe’ has also become a winning exhibition variety.

It is interesting to note that the spelling of the rose isdifferent than the spelling of the Patroness (Guadalupe)versus the rose (Guadelupe). Initially this rose wasintroduced as ‘Our Lady of Guadelupe’ in 2000. Thefollowing year the name was changed to ‘Shining Hope’which caused considerable confusion among roseexhibitors as well as the general rose growing public.Thankfully, in 2002 the name was changed back to theoriginal ‘Our Lady of Guadelupe’.

EEXXPPOOSSIITTIIOONN PPAARRKK Continued from page 8

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Our Lady of Guadelupe

Rose Arrangement SeminarSaturday, November 1st at Palm Desert, CA

9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.Featuring Kreg Hill & Bill Christensen

With Oriental and Modern ThemesCost is $25 per person including Lunch

Deadline to Register is October 14Make check payable to Desert Rose Society

and mail to Henry McCarty at 74409 Angels Camp Rd., Palm Desert, CA 92260

For more info: (760) 346-9842, [email protected] registration form is online at the district web site:

http://www.pswdistrict.org/text/calendar.html

TTHHEE GGLLOORRIIOOUUSS RROOSSEESS OOFFJJOOEE WWIINNCCHHEELLRROOSSEE HHYYBBRRIIDDIIZZEERR EEXXTTRRAAOORRDDIINNAAIIRREE

By Kathy DeRooE-mail: [email protected]

Kathy DeRoo interviewed Joe Winchel at his home inthe summer of 1993. This article was originally publishedin the November 1993 issue of “Rose Ecstasy,” bulletin ofthe Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society, Kitty Belendez,Editor.

Joe Winchel passed away on April 23, 2003. Joe wasa member of the South Coast Rose Society. His widow,Agnes has suggested that the familywould appreciate donations in hisname go to the American RoseSociety test garden.

“All of this was an accident,” ishow hybridizer Joe Winchel describedthe beginning of his love affair withroses. He was best known for creatingroses such as the hybrid teas‘Flaming Beauty’, ‘Dolly Parton’,‘Jean de Tilleaux’, ‘Dallas Gold’, ‘TheTemptations’, and ‘Agnes Winchel’,named for his dear wife, of course.

Joe and Agnes Winchel weremarried in 1956 and bought a newhouse in Michigan in 1957. They hireda professional landscaper who broughtplans and photos of previous jobs.They all included roses for both the front and back yards.

“Well, I don’t know anything about roses, so why don’twe put something else in there,” was Joe’s first reaction.

Fortunately, the landscaper convinced him to plantroses. Some of the varieties in his first garden were‘Talisman’, ‘Tropicana’, ‘New Dawn’, ‘Floradora’, and‘Blossomtime’. (‘Blossomtime’ later gave him his very firsttrophy.)

While trying to find a cure for aphids, he discoveredand joined the American Rose Society. The ARS promptlysent a Consulting Rosarian to his house to help himeradicate the pests.

Three years later, he joined a local rose society, andthat fall he was given a rose hip with instructions on howto grow seedlings. He put the seeds in some wetspaghnum moss in a baby food jar, then put it in therefrigerator and forgot about it. When he remembered tocheck the jar, he found 3 seedlings had sprouted.

Soon, he discovered he could grow seedlings in thebasement under lights, and was growing 2000 plantsthere until they could be moved outside in May. Thissystem produced ‘Flaming Beauty’ and ‘Dolly Parton’.

In fact, one frosty February when snow blanketed thelandscape, Joe was preparing to host the board meeting

for the Detroit Rose Society. A bit of impishness took himdown to his blooming basement, as he relates: “I picked abowlful of rose petals and put them in the refrigerator.When Agnes served refreshments, she gave me this bowlof rose petals. I put some salad dressing on it, and ittasted pretty good!”

In 1975, Joe and Agnes moved to Shreveport,Louisiana, where they found the weather hot and humid.When they came to California for the National Conventionin June 1978, they fell in love with the mild climate. Theywent home, packed up the roses, and made the move totheir home in Harbor City, California.

The house was on a modest corner lot, where Joeused every available space for roses. Each area had apurpose: he planted all his seeds and raised theseedlings in the front yard, put grafted plants and cuttingsin a section of the backyard, grew rootstock along the far

side of the house, and parent plants forhybridizing were in the backyard, sideyard, parkways, and up the side of theneighbor’s property. These plantsproduced 40,000 seeds per year!

Joe shared some of his techniquesfor successful hybridizing:

1. Wait until AFTER the first springbloom to begin hybridizing – plants willbe much more productive.

2. He combined the pollen of manyvarieties, “screening” it (i.e., through afine mesh sieve) into a baby food jar.The pollen, covered, lasts up to 4weeks in the refrigerator.

3. The pollen is applied to aprepared bloom (emasculated and“defrocked”) with a camel hair or ox hair

brush (synthetics don’t carry the pollen as well). Joe didn’tlabel the pollen or hips with parentage.

4. The sepals are NOT removed until after the hipsare harvested, as they are there to protect the developinghips from the hot sun.

5. He continued to hybridize through to the end ofAugust – these last hips will be collected in December, atplanting time.

6. Hips are harvested when the STEMS begin to turnyellow or brown, for full maturity.

7. A blender is half-filled with water, hips (sepals andstems removed) are added to about an inch from the top,and the blender is turned on at medium to medium-highspeed. The pulp is then sieved away (any seeds chewedup are not viable).

8. Joe never worried about the “float test.” InMichigan, where July 4th is considered the end ofpollination season, he had pollinated ‘Lady X’ in August. “Itook the hips and shelled the seed; I gave them the watertest as I always did then, and every seed floated. Well, Iplanted them anyway, just to check and see. Almost everyone of them grew, five were good enough to bud, and


Joe and Agnes Winchel at their Harbor City, CA home in 1993

(Agnes is holding her namesake rose)

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Continued on page 11

‘Dorothy Anne’ was one of those.”9. After the seeds were drained but still damp, Joe

added one heaping tablespoon of Captan per gallon ofseed before packing it into 1 to 1-1⁄2 quart plasticcontainers to be stored in the refrigerator until plantingtime in December. (He didn’t necessarily consider this tobe stratification, but simply maintaining viability.)

10. During October and November he removed theprevious year’s seedlings which didn’t make the grade,and fumigated the soil with Vapam, covering it with plasticfor 3 days. When the plastic came off, he cultivated thesoil with a rake, letting it “breathe” according to directions.

11. In December, he cast the seed over the soil andcovered with 3/4 inch of Fison #3 For Seeds (available atMcConkey’s in Garden Grove). Fison is good for seedsthat are difficult to germinate. Itcontains a wetting agent so it can beused dry and sprinkled with waterafter it is on the ground.

12. Seedlings were given up to ayear to perform; the most promisingare budded onto rootstock (hepreferred the “069” – it doesn’tmildew and is nearly thornless).

13. When budding, Winchelchose a stem (still on the growingrootstock plant) of about pencilthickness and grafted the budbetween two leaves. Then,immediately taking his cutting fromthe bush, cut the stem to keep twoleaves above the graft and one leafbelow it; this lower leaf and its bud eye were removedbefore rooting the cutting.

14. To root cuttings, Joe had a technique that put hismist propagator out of business: He removed a plug ofearth from his planting ground with a circular bulb plantingtool, mixed half of this soil with Redi-Earth potting soil(available at Orange County Farm Supply, and alsoMcConkey’s) and refilled the planting hole. He made ahole with a pencil for the cutting, dipped the cutting inRooTone before planting it, and slowly watered it in with awatering can, careful not to wet the graft itself. Using alarge opaque white “vitamin jar”, he covered the cutting,twisting the jar into the soil a bit, “so it won’t go nowhere.”These were in direct sunlight but Joe said, “It’s amazinghow they don’t get hot. So far, it’s the most successfulway of rooting that I’ve ever tried.” He watered daily for 5minutes right over the jars to keep the soil moist, and inabout 4 weeks he removed the jars – no hardening off!Once the bud eye showed good growth, the top stem ofthe rootstock was cut completely away.

When evaluating a new seedling, Joe looked forexhibition form first: “People in rose societies, people whogrow a lot of roses, want form. It’s got to have somethingunusual if it doesn’t have form. And I like fragrance, butit’s hard to get.”

Also, he pointed out that the petals should be as wideas they are long, and be broad at the base. If they are toothin, the bloom will open too fast and drop its petals.

If a rose had been grafted but was not quite up tosnuff, it was removed and (usually) given away. But Joewould still watch its progress in a neighbor’s yard: “I’vegot some on the market that I had given to the neighbors.I decided a year or two later that they were too good tothrow away, so I sent them to the growers and one ofthem even got into the AARS trials! (It didn’t win, but notmany of them do.)”

One of Winchel’s roses is ‘Lynn Anderson’, the pinkand white hybrid tea that won the Silver Certificate at theARS Test Gardens, the top award for 1993. Once knownas “Omigod” because of its extremely tall growth habit,‘Lynn Anderson’ was registered in time to be shown at theNational Convention in San Diego in June 1994. Joe

Winchel had already trophied with it inthe “unregistered seedling” class atprevious shows.

He advised, “If you want to exhibit‘Lynn Anderson’, the best way is not tolet it get over 4 feet tall. I got 2-1⁄2 (5gallon) bags of hips from 3 plants, sothat is the reason I grow it as aclimber.”

One of Joe’s favorites was theorange-red ‘Ain’t She Sweet’, whichwas introduced in 1994 by Weeks. It isa good mother plant, has better formthan its pollen parent, ‘Dolly Parton’,and a slightly different (but as much)fragrance. And it is fairly diseaseresistant.

‘Donna Darlin’, previously nicknamed “Wow!,” wasanother stunning new introduction for 1994. Joedescribed it as “white and yellow with some dark pink oralmost red, depending on the weather.” As it ages, it getsa little black line around the outside edges of the petals(he almost named it “Eyeliner”). Coiner introduced thisone. ‘Louise Estes’ is an exhibition rose, pink with whitereverse having very good form and foliage, which wasintroduced around the same time.

‘Pearl’ is an exquisite, creamy white hybrid tea thatcame up with the previous year’s seedlings and was onits way to the Test Gardens. Usually, the introducers liketo name the roses, but Joe was firm on naming this one“after my mother, my sister, and my niece.” The name, aswell as the honor, certainly suits this rose.

These are just a sampling, of course. Joe had manyother roses which hadn’t even been named yet! He had33 different varieties submitted to the AARS Trial Gardensthat year.

When asked about his goals for the future, thisoctogenarian responded, “I’ll hybridize ’til I’m 102 and bythen, hopefully, I’ll have an AARS Award winner. AndAgnes, she’s going to live forever, so SHE can spend theroyalties on that one!”

© 2003 Kathy DeRoo. All rights reserved.


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‘Lynn Anderson’

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MMAAGGIICC EELLIIXXIIRRSS::AALLFFAALLFFAA,, EEPPSSOOMM SSAALLTTSS,, SSEEAAWWEEEEDD && OOTTHHEERRGGOOOODD SSTTUUFFFF

By Kitty BelendezSanta Clarita, CAE-mail: [email protected] Site: www.scvrs.homestead.com

ALFALFAI remember when I first became a member of the

American Rose Society 18 years ago, long before theSanta Clarita Valley Rose Society was even a glint in theimagination of our eyes. I was fascinated with an articlewritten by Howard Walters, “The Rambling Rosarian,”where he extolled the virtues of “alfalfa tea.”Howard said to buy a sack of alfalfapellets and let a handful steep in a bucketof water for a couple of weeks. Then wewere to splash some around all of ourroses, and he said that it would workwonders. Hey, it sounded easy enough,so I tried it.

Two weeks later, my cat Tigger washowling on the side of the house. I ran out tosee if he had some animal cornered orsomething. I smelled a foul odor and figured thepoor critter must be dead already. Or, was it askunk? But, Tigger was only howling at thelittle bucket of alfalfa tea that I was brewing.Pweweeey! Boy, did that stuff stink to high heaven. Goodgrief, if this is how the stuff smelled, I wasn’t so sure Ishould put it on my roses. I wondered how it would affecttheir fragrance. Well, I had to dump this nasty stuffsomewhere, and it sure wasn’t going down the gutter,because I was afraid of being arrested for dumping toxicwastes. So I applied about a cup to all of my roses(thankfully I didn’t have very many roses at the time), andwatered it in well. The next day, I couldn’t smell a thing,because the alfalfa tea had been washed deep into thesoil. My roses grew extremely well that year, and I havebeen using alfalfa ever since.

I don’t make alfalfa tea anymore. It makes my nosehairs stand on end. Instead, I just apply a handful of thepellets around each bush and water them in thoroughly.We do this about 3 times a year. The pellets are almostodorless. In just a few days the pellets dissolve and theearthworms come up from the depths of the earth to eatthem, thereby tilling the soil. We buy a 50# sack of horsepellets from Fox Feed store in Canyon Country. It costs$7.50. They now have a smaller 1/4-inch pellet withoutmolasses. We try to get the kind without molasses andgrains, but that isn’t always possible. One year I tried

alfalfa meal, but I didn’t like how the fine powder of themeal got up my nose and made me sneeze. I find thepellets are much easier to apply around the rose busheswithout flying about in the air on a breezy day.

Alfalfa is an important feed for horses, cows andother animals. Why is alfalfa good for roses? Becausealfalfa (Medicago sativa, also known as lucerne) is rich inprotein, vitamins, and minerals, and it has the ability to fixnitrogen, improve soil structure and tilth. Alfalfa containstriacontanol, which is a growth stimulant, and it is said toproduce higher yields. Farmers grow alfalfa in their croprotations and then plow it under to make the soil morefertile. If it’s good enough for farmers to grow crops, itmust be good for our roses. But, use it in moderation. Donot apply it as a heavy mulch. You only need to use ahandful around each large rose bush (less for minis) threetimes a year.

EPSOM SALTSIt wasn’t long after I started using alfalfa that I heard

about the benefits of using Epsom salts on theroses. Now, this sounded really silly, and I felteven sillier going to the drug store to buyseveral boxes of Epsom salts for my roses.

Epsom salts is used not only for soaking the feet,but also medicinally as a purgative, or laxative. Tosave myself embarrassment, I told the clerk itwas to soak my sore body after digging holes forall my new roses.

Epsom salts was originally named for themineral springs of Epsom, England, although nowEpsom salts are commercially produced. Epsom

salts is not a “salt,” it is magnesium sulfate. There is atrace amount found in our local water supply, but becauseof our alkaline soil in Southern California, an extra dose ofEpsom salts helps to neutralize it, which makes the rosesgrow more lush. I apply one tablespoon of Epsom Saltsaround each rose bush once a month. You can sprinkle itdry around each bush and then water it in, or you can mixit with other soluble fertilizers, dissolved in water, andfeed it to your roses all at one time. I now buy it in 50#bags from Orange County Farm Supply, for about $21.You can also get it from Western Farm Supply in Fillmorefor about $17.50, but they are only open on weekdays.I’ve seen Epsom salts on the Internet being sold for asmuch as $60 for 50 lbs., and at the drugstore it is pricedat $3 for a four lb. box.

SEAWEEDSeaweed (or kelp) is available in many forms. I buy a

50# bag from Fox Feed for about $29. I apply about 1/4cup of kelp meal around each large rose bush severaltimes a year. I also use two forms of liquid kelp. One is aclarified version under the brand name of Response. Thisproduct can only be obtained via mail order.


Continued on page 13

Merlin the Magician

In MemoriamCCOOEE AAPPPPLLEEGGAATTEEBy Tommy Cairns

The East County Rose Society and theAmerican Rose Society has lost one of itsgreatest supporters and friends. From the firstday I met Coe and Rita Applegate, some 20years ago, I instantly recognized Coe as aman of integrity with a deep respect for values

and lasting friendships. There is no one who has not been touched by hisgentle manner and kind words as he traveled life with roses uppermost in hisprivate life. Giving volunteer service was second nature to this gentlemanrose grower, never failing to offer whatever help he could under whatevercircumstances. His service to local rose societies, whether it be asPresident, Board Member or just a pair of helping hands was given freelywithout the expectation of recognition. For Coe Applegate the act ofvolunteer service was seemingly reward enough – a rare attribute withinmodern mankind.

To borrow a saying from Will Rogers, Coe never met a man he didn’tlike and I know from my own personal experiences I don’t know of a man orwoman who didn’t respect Coe Applegate. His life and irrefutable respect forothers was his hallmark – a rosarian dedicated to one great hobby and itsenjoyment, that of course is roses! His search for knowledge in how to growprize winning roses was passionate dominated by his cross examination ofme as I tried to explain the latest chemical or feeding program. I am pleasedto report that some morsels of wisdom must have been picked upsuccessfully for he, along with Rita, were constant winners at rose shows.But it was not this thirst for knowledge that drove his passion to victory, for itwas his own desire to win and be proud of his achievements. And he hadjust cause to celebrate constantly.

In May 2002, he and Rita won the much coveted silver punch bowl forQueen of Show at the Rose Hills Mothers Day Rose Show. They had wonmany other top honors but this one was the granddaddy of all. For almost 20years he had admired this traditional trophy. Now at long last he and Ritahad won it! What an incredible lift he got from winning this trophy. And thenthat very evening at the Pacific Southwest District Convention he and Ritareceived the highest honor of all, the “ARS Silver Honor Medal’. That day willalways be remembered as “Applegates Silver Day.” In retrospect, howwonderful it was for Coe to experience the delights of recognition with adouble header and that it happened when he could enjoy the thrill ofaccomplishment. Having served a full and wonderful life in roses, the zenithof achievement has not escaped him.

No obituary can do full justice to a man of this caliber, for his characterand achievements are extensive indeed – a quiet man with a soul devoted tofamily and roses. He will be remembered for expounding on his favoritesubjects – new exhibition roses, gophers, ‘Missy’ his cat, and the latestchemicals for mildew. His compassion and concern for his friends waslegendary – always there, always helping, always encouraging, alwayspositive, always being just Coe Applegate!

We are all left with memories of a great rosarian and true friend, asincere character often truthful in criticism but more often freely with praise,a kindness I was privileged to enjoy for the past 20 years. Quoting fromRobert Burns, the great Scottish poet “A man’s a man for all that!” Life willnot be quite the same without Coe. A great man will no longer frequent ourdaily lives. On behalf of the American Rose Society I offer my affectionatesympathy to his wife, Rita, and daughter, Denise, who must contend andcontinue life without Coe, a loving husband and a devoted father.


www.rosemania.com sells it for $18.95 per quart, whichincludes shipping. Response is added to my pesticidespray solution on a weekly basis. I use half as much asrecommended as I feel that it has a tendency to make thefoliage too large if using the higher dosage. It does makevery lush, green foliage. I have never noticed any sprayburn from using Response. The other liquid version ofkelp I use is a seaweed extract made by Grow More,which I buy from Orange Country Farm Supply. A one-gallon bottle is $17, and 2.5 gallons is $28. Because theGrow More product is brown and not clarified, you shouldapply it to the rose roots and not as a foliar feed, becauseit will discolor the blooms.

SUPERTHRIVEIf you’ve ever seen the label on this weird product,

you’ll think it was made by a witch doctor, or a medicinedoctor during the wild west days. There are so manyclaims on the label that you can’t even figure out what isin it. I’ve been using it for about ten years, and eventhough I can’t tell you what’s in it, I swear it makes myroses grow big and strong. Some say that the productmay contain seaweed extract, vitamin B1, and othermysterious hormones. It’s extremely expensive at $128per gallon. But a little goes a long, long way. I only useabout two tablespoons in a 50-gallon barrel of water (onedrop per gallon), and I add it to the liquid fertilizer abouttwice a month, so a one-gallon bottle lasts me about fouryears.

CHELATED IRONI’ll finish this article by mentioning chelated iron.

Roses need iron, and the chelated iron is best. GranularIronite is not as good because it takes too long to release.Also, the granules of Ironite tend to get all over thecement and causes stains. The chelated iron ispowdered, which you mix in with the liquid fertilizers. Itgets to the plants quickly and greens up the foliage inabout a week. I use it once a month, especially during thepeak growing seasons when we are giving the roses a lotof water, which leaches out the soil. I always make sureto apply the iron chelate about 2 weeks before a majorrose show to ensure the greenest foliage. You can buy 5lb. bags of chelated iron at either Western Farm Servicein Fillmore (Sprint 330 at $36), or at Orange County FarmSupply (Grow More at $26).

These elixirs must be used in combination with aregular fertilizer schedule for best results. I do use all ofthe above products on a regular basis, and my roses arebig, strong, lush and full of beautiful blooms.

This article is an American Rose Society Award ofMerit winner. Reprinted from the March 2002 issue of“Rose Ecstasy,” bulletin of the Santa Clarita Valley RoseSociety, Kitty Belendez, Editor.

MMaaggiicc EElliixxiirrss Continued from page 12

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The Rose Society of Tucson Hosts an ARSConsulting Rosarian School & Seminar

Saturday, October 11, 20038:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Reid Park DoubleTree Hotel445 S. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85711 — (520) 881-4200

Hotel Reservations: The DoubleTree Hotel has set aside a block of 10 rooms available to CR Seminar attendees at aspecial rate of $89 per night, double or single. Reservations must be made no later than September 10, 2003 toreceive this special rate. Otherwise, the room rate is $139 per night.

Directions from Interstate 10: Take the Congress Street/Broadway exit and proceed east. Congress becomes BroadwayBlvd. downtown. Proceed east on Broadway Blvd. just under 4 miles to Alvernon Way. Take a right (south) onto AlvernonWay. The DoubleTree Hotel is on the east side of Alvernon, across the street from Raldolph Golf Course.

Schedule

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast. Please sign in and pick up your badge and seminar packet.8:30 – 8:40 a.m. Welcome & Introduction – Liz Strong and Lou Pavlovich8:40 – 8:50 a.m. The ARS Consulting Rosarian Program & Mission – Bob Martin,Outgoing Pacific

Southwest District Consulting Rosarian Chairman8:50 – 9:35 a.m. Soils, Mulching and Amendments9:35 – 10:15 a.m. Fertilizing and Feeding10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Break10:30 – 11:15 a.m. Watering Systems 11:15 – Noon Rose Selection, Planting and LandscapingNoon – 1:00 p.m. Lunch1:00 – 1:40 p.m. Spraying, Chemicals and Safety1:40 – 2:30 p.m. Bugs, Pests and Natural Predators2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Questions and Answers, Review of Key Points – Bob Martin3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Consulting Rosarian Open Book Test – Bob Martin

(The test is optional – Those wishing to become CR’s must take the test.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DEADLINE FOR CR SEMINAR REGISTRATION IS OCTOBER 4, 2003

$30 per person, includes Seminar, Continental Breakfast and Lunch

Mail the lower portion of this form and a check payable to the Rose Society of Tucson to: Liz Strong, 441 E. WinePlum Drive, Tucson, AZ 85704. For more information call Liz at (520) 797-7890 or e-mail to [email protected].

Name(s) _____________________________________ Phone___________________ E-Mail _____________________Address ____________________________________ City ____________________ State _______ Zip______________Number of Persons ________ Amount Enclosed $ __________ Your Local Rose Society? _______________________

Would you like to take the CR test and become a Consulting Rosarian? ____ Yes ____ No ____ I’m already a CRIf yes, please contact Bob Martin for eligibility requirements and an application: [email protected] or (480) 558-3224.

COST OF TEST IS ADDITIONAL: Enclose a separate check in the amount of $10.00, payable to ARS, together withyour CR application. To study for the test (which is advised), CR Manuals may be purchased directly from the ARS for$10, or $15 with a 3-ring binder. To order call (800) 637-6534 or purchase on-line at ars.org.


ALBUQUERQUE RSFran Hardy

8408 Vista Verde PL NWAlbuquerque, NM 87120-5388


ARIZONA WEST VALLEY RSPeggy Jones

6130 W. Claremont StreetGlendale, AZ 85301-4401


CALIFORNIA COASTAL RSJoel Ross

P. O. Box 9575Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067


DEL MAR RSHilde Koessler149 10th Street

Del Mar, CA 92014(858) [email protected]

DESERT RSBarbara Steffensmeier74-237 Catalina Way

Palm Desert, CA 92660(760) [email protected]

EAST COUNTY RSRoger English

4630 Cajon WaySan Diego, CA 92115


EL PASO RSBud Dehrkoop

8004 Tonto Place, El Paso, Texas 79904


FAIR FRIENDS of ROSESBarbara Schneider253 McKee StreetVentura, CA 93001

(805) 648-7322

GLENDALE RSJudy Hudgeons

8636 W. Daley LanePeoria, AZ 85383(623) 362-3197

[email protected]

GREEN VALLEY RSDoris Eiland

1103 W. Placita InspiradaGreen Valley, AZ 85614Phone: (520) 648-7145eiland@the river.com

INLAND VALLEY RSTeresa Hull

7045 Pine Bluff CourtRancho Cucamonga, CA 91739


INVITATIONAL RSSamuel T. Trivitt

7017 Elias AvenueBakersfield, CA 93308-2039


KERN COUNTY RSBetty Wachob

3324 La CrestaBakersfield, CA 93305

(661) 392-8418

LAS VEGAS VALLEY RSJohn Vinson

6673 Grand Stand Ave.Las Vegas, NV 89131


LOS ANGELES RSPhil Anderson

6647 Arthur CourtChino, CA 91710-5740

[email protected]

MESA/EAST VALLEY RSEvelyn Gannon

1802 S. Brentwood PlChandler, AZ 85248


ORANGE COUNTY RSTom Cooney

38 DiamondgateAliso Viejo CA 92656-1910


PACIFIC RSEvelyn Reed

10623 Las Lunitas AvenueTujunga, CA 91042


PHOENIX RSJoanna Chamberlain

526 East Wesleyan DriveTempe, AZ 85282(480) 967-7001

RIVERSIDE RSLinda Sun

10062 Hedrick Ave.Riverside, CA 92503-2378


SADDLEBACK MOUNTAIN RSBonnie Andrew

307 Camden PlaceLaguna Beach, CA 92651-1425


SAN DIEGO RSSteve Berry

3888 Pringle StreetSan Diego, CA 92103-2724

(619) 549 [email protected]

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY RSKatie Shanks

20751 Bassett StreetWinnetka, CA 91306-3304


SANTA BARBARA RSSusan Scott

3744 Greggory Way #4Santa Barbara, CA. 93105-4068


SANTA CLARITA VALLEY RSKaren T.S. Gubert

28029 Wildwind RoadCanyon Country, CA 91351-1270


SANTA FE RSShelby Green12 Elk Circle

Santa Fe, NM 87506(505) 983-9683

SCOTTSDALE RSJeannine P. Byrnes

11602 N. Sundown DriveScottsdale, AZ 85260


SOUTH COAST RSLesley Smith Bruns

28151 Highridge Road #52Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275


SUN CITY ROSE & GARD. CLUBHomer McCarthy

11207 N. 109th AvenueSun City, AZ 85351


TEHACHAPI RSRobert Hedlund

22601 Camp DriveTehachapi, CA 93561


TEMECULA VALLEY RSWalt Kilmer

40648 Chantemar WayTemecula, CA.(909) 693-5568

[email protected]

TINSELTOWN RSAlice M. Hart

12236 Magnolia Blvd.Valley Village, CA 91607


TUCSON RSElizabeth Strong

441 E Wine Plum DriveTucson, AZ 85704


VENTURA RSJim Delahanty

4118 Saugus AvenueSherman Oaks CA 91403-4403


WASCO RSMarlea Wagner

P O Box 91Wasco, CA 93280


YAVAPAI RSStirling Daykin

1096 Pine Country CtPrescott, AZ 86303-6402


PPAACCIIFFIICC SSOOUUTTHHWWEESSTT DDIISSTTRRIICCTT RROOSSEE SSOOCCIIEETTIIEESS && TTHHEEIIRR PPRREESSIIDDEENNTTSS

NOTICEThis list is only as accurateas the information provided

to us. Please notify the editorwhen you have any changes

in your rose society info.

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IRENE WATTS

PPaacciiffiiccSSoouutthhwweesstt

RRoosseeQuarterly Publication of the Pacific Southwest District

of the American Rose Society

Published February, May, August,

and November

Your Subscription Expiration Dateis on Your Mailing Label (MO/YR)

SUBSCRIPTION$10 Per Year

Make check payable to PSWDand mail to:Sue Munday

177 La Veta DriveCamarillo CA 93012

(805) 484-9937

DISTRICT DIRECTORSteve Jones

25769 Miguel Ct.Valencia, CA 91355-2144

H: (661) 254-7741W: (909) 396-2094

Fax: (909) 396-3867 (24 hour)Fax: (661) 254-5881 (by appt.)

[email protected]

VICE DISTRICT DIRECTORDr. Bill Christensen

P O Box 6408Albuquerque, NM 87197-6408


SECRETARYMarylou Coffman213 N. Riata StreetGilbert, AZ 85234(602) 926-3064

[email protected]

TREASURERChris Greenwood

1029 Woodland LaneGlendora, CA 91741-3669


ARS NATIONAL NOMINATIONSPRIZES & AWARDS

Dan Bifano710 Palermo Drive

Santa Barbara, CA 93105(805) 682-8048

[email protected]

HORTICULTURE JUDGESFrank and Cherrie Grasso

2235 Tierra Verde Rd.Vista, CA 92084(760) 727-2436

[email protected]

ARRANGEMENT JUDGESKreg Hill

P O Box 6408Albuquerque, NM 87197-6408


DISTRICT NOMINATIONSLou Pavlovich

2049 E. Ninth StreetTucson, AZ 85719-4912


EDITOR & EDUCATIONKitty Belendez

21133 Kingscrest DriveSanta Clarita, CA 91350

(661) 296-5033Fax: (661) [email protected]

ROSES IN REVIEWDona Inglish

4659 E. Glade CircleMesa, AZ 85206(480) 807-3475

[email protected]

PARLIAMENTARIANLeah Watterberg

1615 Adelita Drive NEAlbuquerque, NM 87112


GARDENSDonna Banovich-Pybus

8002 N. 14th AvenuePhoenix, AZ 85021


CONSULTING ROSARIANSRobert B. Martin, Jr.3645 E. Park Avenue

Gilbert, AZ 85234-4344(480) 558-3224

[email protected]

TROPHY REVIEWLillian Biesiadecki

1527 Anita LaneNewport Beach, CA 92660


HISTORIANCheryl Hume

2395 N. Leonard LaneLas Vegas, NV 89108-3004


BYLAWSAlan Troyer

13317 Desert Flower NEAlbuquerque, NM 87111-5509

(505) 299 [email protected]

WEBMASTERGlenn F. Fiery, Jr.

[email protected]


NON-PROFITORGANIZATIONU. S. POSTAGE

PAIDSANTA CLARITA, CA

PERMIT NO. 523

PPAACCIIFFIICC SSOOUUTTHHWWEESSTT DDIISSTTRRIICCTT OOFFFFIICCEERRSS && CCOOMMMMIITTTTEEEE CCHHAAIIRRSS

TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL

Kitty Belendez, Editor21133 Kingscrest DriveSanta Clarita CA 91350-1934

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VISIT OUR GOLD MEDAL AWARD-WINNING DISTRICT WEB SITE:www.pswdistrict.org

steve jones, district director fall 2003 kitty belendez, editor - santa clarita … · 2009. 11....

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