May
Meeting
Location/Time
DATE: Thursday, May 28, 2009 LOCATION: Taltree Arboretum & Gardens 71
North, 500 West PROGRAM: “How to Show Roses” by Adolph, Dale & Karl TIME: 7:30
PM Meeting & program, followed by refreshments |
|
President Adolph Ferber 219-322-5848 1st Vice PresidentPatricia Stimmel 2nd Vice
President Sam DiMaio Show
Chairman Karl Bapst 219-956-3936 |
TreasurerKathleen Vargas SecretaryLisa Mella Editor
Yvonne Peterson 708-895-4811 or |
February
22 Presentation
by Dale Fadley – “Where We Find Roses”
March 26 Pruning
Seminar – Karl Bapst hopes to have roses for everyone to practice on. Bring your own pruners
April 30 “Color
through the Seasons” by Jean Starr
May 28 “How
to Show Roses” by Adolph, Dale,
Karl
June 14 Duneland Rose
Show,
July 30 Stan Sims – “Caring for and
Growing Better
Roses”
August 16 Date
tentative - Garden Walk and Picnic
September 24
DRS members’ “Small Rose Show”
October
29 Vicki Jostes – “Maintenance
Through the Seasons”
November 19 Annual Potluck Dinner
Have questions
about growing roses? Consult an expert.
|
219-956-3936 |
Adolph
Ferber, MCR 219-836-1476 |
|
Clarence Albers, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
Norm Backus, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
|
Agnes Medvecz, Emeritus Consulting Rosarian |
|
by Adolph Ferber
The Joy of Shopping
Let me start off by saying that I
am not a shopaholic with one exception -- buying garden supplies, plants, tools
& equipment. I love to browse around any garden center. In fact I haven’t met one I really didn’t
like. I don’t mind standing in long lines, fighting the crowd for a cart,
looking for a live body to answer questions. However, if this was grocery shopping,
banking business, etc, I would become somewhat impatient and teed off
especially if the person(s) in front of me is fussing around for a credit card,
loose change. Not so at a garden center.
Arguably April is the best time
to go hunting for your garden items. The crowd are smaller, parking is very accessible
(helps when one is hauling 1 or 2 cubic foot bags of soil), and best of all,
many items are on sale. I’m a
comparative shopper and naturally seek out the best prices. Now I won’t spend
$20 dollars in gas money to save $5. Naturally there is a tradeoff. However I
found a lot of clearance items as operators try to unload their old inventory
which I can readily use immediately.
Also in April, I check out the new
rose varieties in stock. With few exceptions Sauk Trail’s offerings are so
superior which makes me feel good. I
laugh at the packaged roses for sale. To think I used to buy these 45 years ago
and thought I was getting a good deal. I wasn’t thinking about the small root
systems and the canes loaded down with paraffin.
Now some of you may stock-up in
the fall. No doubt one can purchase a lot of left-over potted roses from
reputable dealers which are in good shape as well as reasonably priced. This
goes for fertilizers, plant containers, and similar supplies.
I don’t have the space to store
large, bulk items nor do I have the inclination to plant new roses in
October/November. Hey guys, I’m winding down for the year. I’d rather make my
purchases in April when “my blood is running high” and I can put my purchases to
immediate use.
So if you see someone running down the aisle in April at
Busy Bee or Home Depot with Discover in one hand and Visa in the other, that’s
probably me.
See you at the next
meeting,
Caio.
by Karl Bapst
Here we are in May already. After
having to prune most of my bushes back almost to the ground, they are now
growing well and will be blooming by early June as usual. Some of the hybrid Rugosas
that required only minimal pruning are already blooming.
Hybrid Rugosas are rugged and
hardy. The only problem is they sucker a lot. That’s not so bad if one pots up
and sells the suckers as I do. Rugosas are hard to root so suckers are the
easiest way to propagate them.
Even Great Lakes Roses found it
difficult to root Rugosa cuttings. They bought their stock from a Canadian
grower. Heat must be supplied to the rooting medium to help them root. I
purchased a 10 foot long heating pad from them in their “Going out of business
sale” last year and will be using it in an attempt to propagate Rugosa
cuttings.
I only lost two roses last
winter, The McCartney Rose and Taboo. I’m trying to force them both with
plastic bottles placed over the stubs. Sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn’t but I have to try.
My biggest problem so far this
year is rabbits. They’ve all but destroyed a dozen of my bushes, eating the
tender new canes and leaves off many others. I spread blood meal on the ground
around the affected bushes in the hope the scent will keep them away. I also
placed a live trap in the bed in the hope they’ll try to get to the corn placed
inside. Any I catch get taken to a local wildlife sanctuary and released. It’s
close but far enough away they’ll not find their way back.
So far insects have not been a
problem except for the aphids in my greenhouse-growing potted bushes. Once
moved outside, natural predators find and destroy them, usually in one day.
I have a dozen new roses, planted
in pots, waiting in the wings to be planted in my rose beds. All I need to find
is space. There are a few openings but if there are not enough I’ll expand a
bed to accommodate them.
Those who spray fungicides should
have begun or begin now their regular spray regimens to prevent black spot and
powdery mildew. If insecticides are used wait until a damaging insect appears
-- never use an insecticide as a preventative. Overuse will lead to super
insects that are immune to your insecticide. Better yet, learn to live with any
damage and don’t spray insecticides unless you exhibit, then you’ll have to do
what you need to do.
The Bayer Three in One product
contains a systemic insecticide which will kill insects when they bite into a
leaf. It also contains a similar fungicide and fertilizer. Many report good results
with this and other Bayer products. It’s used as a drench, not a spray. I’ve
heard some reports of worm damage due to its use but it may be better than
spraying the environment with insecticides. At least any damage will be
confined to the immediate area of your roses.
If you only want a fungicide,
Bayer Advanced Disease control has been reported to give excellent results
against fungus damage. With many fungicides being taken off the market or on
the expensive side, for those having a few bushes, the Bayer products are an
inexpensive and effective way to control disease and insect damage in your
garden.
Or live with it and don’t do anything like me!
Good Luck with your roses this year.
Until next month, remember “Don’t
sweat the small stuff.”
Remember,
Real Men Grow Roses, Never enough Roses,
Karl Bapst
by
The day started out
overcast but the sun came out early and it wasn't too bad although it was a bit
cool. There was a shortage of good plants but we had a good turnout of
helpers and customers, who were plentiful in the morning and just before
closing. Not having a sale last year sent people elsewhere so we have
to get them used to coming to ours again.
Even so, the society realized a net profit of $320.
For next year:
Healthy looking
plants sell best. Those recently dug up and placed in pots or in plastic bags
can hardly be given away. By days end they're wilted and very sad looking. We
know a sale is coming up so plants should be dug and potted the previous
fall or early spring so they can perk up and look good. I have most of mine
ready by fall except for the tomatoes, peppers and annuals I pick up by
the flat and transplant into individual pots. The weather this spring put
off many veggies and annuals so that the size was not as large as previous
years. The roses were budded with a few showing a little color. Mother's
day was a little early which made our sale early too. The roses needed
another week or two as did the veggies. Blooming roses sell best. Even at
that we sold 19 0f them.
We owe a big thank
you once again to Sandy and Bill Kopko
for letting us use their place for the sale!
Recap
of April Meeting
Jean
Starr was
the guest speaker last month and gave an inspirational slide show presentation
of how to have color through the seasons in our gardens. Jean, as many of you know, writes a weekly
garden column in The Times. Her
presentation depicted many beautiful gardens and she named many different types
of plants along with their blooming times.
She is particularly fond of using non-blooming plants to provide
textural interest as well as color. Many
took notes and seemed to be inspired to plant something besides roses to add
all-season interest in our gardens.
