April
Meeting
Location/Time
DATE: Thursday,
April 24, 2008 NEW LOCATION: Taltree Arboretum & Gardens 450
West, 100 North PROGRAM: “Growing Roses in Pots” by Andy Plasz TIME: 7:30 PM Meeting & program, followed by refreshments |
|
2008 Officers |
|
|
President Adolph Ferber 219-836-1476 1st Vice
President Dale Fadley 219-762-2925 2nd Vice Presidenttba Show
Chairman Karl Bapst 219-956-3936 |
TreasurerDoris Fadley 219-762-2925 SecretaryLisa Mella Editor
Yvonne Peterson 708-895-4811 or |
February
28 Presentation
by Patty Stimmel, Taltree Arboretum
March 27 Pruning
Seminar – Karl Bapst hopes to have roses for everyone to practice on. Bring your own pruners
April 24 “Growing Roses in Pots” by Andy Plasz
May 29 tba
June 26 tba
July 31 tba
August 28 Annual Picnic – date tentative
September 25
DRS members’ “Small Rose Show”
October
30 tba
November 27 Annual Potluck Dinner
Have questions
about growing roses? Consult an expert.
|
Karl
Bapst, MR 219-956-3936 |
Adolph
Ferber, CR 219-836-1476 |
|
Clarence Albers, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
Norm Backus, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
|
Agnes Medvecz, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
|
by Adolph Ferber
Howdy
Y’all from the
Lone Star State
Howdy, folks! I’m writing this message while on vacation at
my daughter’s in
The
1. I saw my first zonkey* today at the
2. At the supermarket, I saw a novel approach to
adding additional color to a vase of flowers.
Of course, this does not include roses.
Instead of buying more flowers, use fruits like apples (red), lemons
(yellow) to spruce up an arrangement.
Cut the fruit in half, skin intact and let sink about halfway down the
vase. The display will catch your eye.
3. The water table in this part of
4. I don’t know if this business is going to
make it, but I saw a combination car wash / grill. In other words, you can grab a bite to eat
while you wait and watch your car being washed.
Will it catch on up North? I
don’t know…
5. I did like this combination, though: I
ordered a Caesar Salad for an appetizer.
It not only had the regular fixings, but slices of strawberries and
apple wedges as well. It was very
refreshing and delicious.
* Oh, by the way, a
“zonkey” is a cross between a zebra and a donkey – body of a donkey with
striped legs. If I come across other
unusual items, I will mention them at our next meeting.
Kudos to Sauk Trail Rose Society for hosting the
upcoming Fall District Rose Show in September.
Taking on this responsibility is praiseworthy, considering the short,
short window.
See you at the next
meeting!
Ciao,
by Karl Bapst
We finally had a nice day to prune at Taltree. Adolph, Maria, Dale, Doris, Patty, Sue, a
Taltree volunteer, and I showed up at 4:00 on the 15th. It was a
sunny day and the temps were comfortable. Everybody chipped in and we were done
by 5:30. Last year, the roses were just lightly pruned and Patty did not get
the look she wanted. The Taltree rose garden is supposed to be a formal rose
garden which means the bushes need to be hard pruned to control their height
and overall size. They then need to be kept tidy throughout the season to
maintain that formal look.
A cursory inspection of the bushes showed many were not
planted properly. Some are too close together and not planted deep enough.
These were pointed out to Patty and helpful tips were given so the roses will
have the look they want.
Someone donated 20 hybrid teas. Right now they are potted
and growing in a hoop house. They would like to get them planted sometime in mid-
May after the danger of frost is past. I’ve told them I’d be available to help,
when they pick a day, to make sure the roses are planted properly.
Remember, we pay nothing for our meeting room and as a bonus
they have coffee ready for us which is another savings, so we should help with
the rose garden when we can. Most often that help will be in the form of
consultation and advice but they don’t care if we want to get our hands dirty. When they plant I think they’ll have
volunteers on hand to do the grunt work.
Hey, did any of you feel the earthquake Friday morning at
4:30? It woke me up. My bed was rocking a little and the glassware on my book
shelves was rattling. I listened to make sure it wasn’t a heavy truck on the
nearby county road but all was quiet.
When I got up I asked
I know many of you are sick of the cool weather we’ve had
this spring. We’re finally getting some temperatures that are closer to the
seasonal averages. This is the latest I’ve pruned in many years. Most of my roses just were not ready to be
pruned. The cool temperatures kept them dormant and even now I have trouble
finding a swollen bud on many bushes. These warm days plus the rain we’ve had
will bring out the leaves in a hurry.
I’m about 75% done pruning.
Everything looks like it’s survived although I’ve had to do some severe
pruning on a few bushes. With all my
hardy shrubs, I’m not cutting back as far as I have in the past. The hybrid
rugosas and Canadian roses are mostly green so I’m only pruning dead tips and
damaged, dead, and crossing canes. I want to see if I can get some size to
these roses.
Frankly, I like a spring when the plants are in no hurry to
grow. My forsythia is just now blooming. Last year it was bloomed out by the
end of March.
My grass was brown until April 5th. It seemed to
green up overnight. I had to cut it this
week to even it out.
Two years ago I planted a few “hardy” climbers from Great
Lakes Roses. Last year the late freeze caused a lot of die back but this year
many are looking good. Perhaps I’ve found a few that will end up actually being
climbers and not just tall hybrid teas. Those with lots of surviving cane are
Other hardy roses to consider, and although they are not
classified as climbers they act like they one, are John Davis, Gen Jacqueminot, and Lousie Odier. Autumn Sunset and Fourth of July experience some dieback
but don’t start the season from ground level. My four have four feet long green
canes. None of the above had any winter protection except the leaves that blew
onto the base.
I’m really happy with the hybrid rugosas. They all looked
like dead sticks, then began to show tiny green buds. Mine range from 3 to 5
feet tall which is their mature size. If
you want a hardy tree rose, Polar Joy
from Bailey’s is the one. Mine is
planted in a large tree pot and is green to the tips. It’s advertised to be
hardy to minus 30 and some cold climate growers are reporting that it’s true.
Ever the optimist, I’ve not completely given up on hybrid
teas. I have six hybrid teas that I’m planting this year plus a few
floribundas. Of the 38 varieties of hardy shrubs I picked up, 20 are not in my
garden. So, naturally I have to set aside one of each for myself. I’ll be
scoping out the roses at the various nurseries, Lowes, Home Depot, and garden
centers as the days pass and possibly pick up a few more.
Unlike the old days, I’ve become very selective. It’s easier
to walk past roses that I’d otherwise put in the shopping cart. I prefer
growing potted roses but will pick up a boxed rose if it’s one I want.
When you take inventory of all the work you have in your
garden, don’t get worn out by the list. Take one chore at a time and finish it.
You’ll be surprised how soon that list gets done. Just stick to it and one day
you’ll find yourself sitting on your porch admiring your roses with nothing to
do.
Take advantage of these pleasant spring days to prune and
clean the winter mess from the beds. If you choose to spray a fungicide to prevent
black spot, start spraying as soon as leaves appear. Get in a habit and
spray regularly for the best results. May the year bring rain when needed and
only at night so our days aren’t messed up.
Think Spring!
Remember to
And don’t sweat the
small stuff.
Real Men Grow Roses
Refreshments – 2008
March Adolph
Ferber, Lisa Mella
April Yvonne Peterson, Patty Stimmel
May Barb Rohr
& ??
June Rose show – no
meeting
July ??
August No meeting if
picnic
September Agnes Medvecz,
Kitty Vargas
October ??
November Annual Dinner –
Potluck