GardenFaces February 2012

Garden Faces Birmingham Rose Society American Rose Society Affiliate www.BirminghamRose.org

February 2012 President’s Message These warm days are very tempting to me. I am tempted to take my sharpened pruners and go to work. I dare not prune this early, as I want to have as many blooms as possible to bring to the Rose Show this year.

Master Consulting Rosarian Bob Eskew tells me that prime pruning days in Birmingham will the first ten days of March in order to have blooms for the show. Many other factors play into to bloom cycles, so be sure to reach out to any of our Consulting Rosarians for details on pruning and fertilizing for the May Show. In the mean time, I am building a new raised bed and cleaning up other beds to prepare for about a dozen new roses that are coming at the end of this month. I want to be ready to plant when they arrive.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the gardens for our annual pruning event Saturday morning March 3. Bring your pruners and hopefully we’ll have some new folks join us that need to know how to prune.

It’s a great time to teach as well as help prepare the gardens for spring blooms.

Christopher R. VanCleave

President, Birmingham Rose Society

‘Dream Come True – Grandiflora Photo: Weeks Roses Passion can be an amazing thing. No…not that kind of passion! We’re talking rose passion here.

The love of the rose struck Dr. John Pottschmidt was hit like a ton of bricks, and has become a driving force in his life. One of his many rosy goals was to breed an AARS winner that everyone can enjoy. Dream Come True does just that. Its big clean vigorous bushy plant pumps out loads of long-stemmed scrumptious shapely yellow blooms edged in ruby red. Each eye-catching flower blushes to all-ruby on the finish, giving a multi-colored display that’s truly dreamy in every way.

Height / Habit: Tall / Upright & bushy Bloom / Size: Large, full Petal count: Around 40 Parentage: Unknown x Unknown Fragrance: Mild tea Hybridizer: Pottschmidt - 2008

American Rose Society Online: www.ARS.org

Birmingham Rose Society Online: Deep South District Online www.DeepSouthDistrict.org

www.BirminghamRose.org

Garden Faces – Birmingham Rose Society

Consulting Rosarian Report This is traditionally a slow month for rose growers. The main tasks for February are to get your pruners sharpened and in shape for the heavy pruning task in early March and preparation of new beds for planting new roses.

I have some bare root roses scheduled to be shipped February 21 so they will be planted early. Be sure that the rose or roses you ordered for your Valentine get planted with special care and in the right place unless you took the easy route and ordered cut roses.

It is also an ongoing project to keep your beds clean from weeds and other unwanted growth.

Spraying time will be here sooner than you think, so get prepared. Immediately after you do your heavy pruning is a good time to spray Lime-Sulfur to kill fungi spores. The manufacture recommends adding some dormant oil mixture to the spray. I find that Hannah’s Garden Shop normally has a good supply of Lime-Sulfur and at a lower price than Rosemania.

Don’t forget the Pruning Party scheduled for the BBG roses on March 3, 2012 unless otherwise informed by Robert Eskew.

Have a good month and we will see you at the gardens!

- Glenn Hodge, Consulting Rosarian

Pruning @ The Gardens Saturday March 3, 2012 8 am – 12 noon Sharpen your pruners and join us in the Dunn Formal Rose Garden for this annual pruning event. We’ll not only help beautify this garden, if you are unsure about proper pruning techniques, we’ll be there to show you how! Bring your tools! See you there!

Pruning @ the Gardens

Botanical Gardens Plant Sale The Spring Plant sale benefiting the educational programs at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be held April 12 – 15 at the old Mazer furniture building in Homewood. Volunteers are needed to staff the rose tables. Sign up at the Feb meeting.

www.ARS.org

I'm not going to list them all but Tom is the inventor of over 75 plant patents and has over 100 introductions to his credit. He has also left a legacy in the field. Since the time from initial hybridization to bringing a rose to market spans eight to ten years, we will be seeing Tom's creations for years to come.

Tom Carruth Retires From Weeks Roses After over 25 years with Weeks Roses, Director of Research and Marketing Tom Carruth announced his retirement this January.

Tom gave Weeks Roses the face it has today, from his style of rose hybridizing to his words and design sense in the catalog and Web site.

His innovations span from unique color creations to emphasizing the importance of natural disease resistance in his designs.

Tom's path through the rose garden began after college (a Bachelors in Horticulture followed by a Masters in Plant Breeding from Texas A & M University) in California with the late Bill Warriner, from Jackson & Perkins, and Jack Christensen, formerly of Armstrong's Nursery.

There are only a handful of rose hybridizers yet Tom followed his dreams and entered into this small but distinguished group. Since 1988 when he became the Research Director we have all been the benefactor of his vision, talent and, of course, humor.

Tom's whimsy shines through in the playful designs of his roses such as Scentimental, bringing old rose heritage with a modern twist.

Sometimes I believe he decided upon "Home Run" as a name for his flame red, disease resistant shrub just so he could have fun with the catalog description.

Accomplishments? There are a few of these.

How about 11 All-America Rose Selections winning roses in just 14 years. Take a look at this list and you can see his amazing ability not just to create one style of rose but incredible plants of different colors, styles and personalities.

Scentimental (1997) His first AARS Winner Fourth of July (1999) The first climber to win the honors in 23 years Betty Boop (1999) Two awards in one year Hot Cocoa (2003) Break through color Memorial Day (2004) To honor, celebrate & remember About Face (2005) Incredibly unique twotoned color Wild Blue Yonder (2006) Don't get to see purple like this on roses very often Julia Child (2006) Consistent, hardy & floriferous Strike it Rich (2007) Brings out the gold digger in any gardener Cinco de Mayo (2009) Eye-catching & flowerful Dick Clark (2011) AARS Winner Cohybridized with Christian BĂŠdard Tom's influence on the industry, and many of us, cannot be overstated. His stories about the history of a single rose, some unique part of the process of hybridization, or just one of his own personal experiences was always a pleasure to hear.

Taken From Weeks Rose Musings February 2012

2012 Rose Show Update AD SALES February Meeting Details Join Us!

February 27, 2012 – 6:30 p.m.

Hodges Room Birmingham Botanical Gardens Topic: “Organic Gardening” Sally Lee, Urban Region Extension Agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Office will be our guest speaker for the evening. She will be discussing organic gardening as it relates to the rose garden. I hope you will join us!

Gloria Purnell, Program Chairman

Executive Committee Meeting Monday February 27, 2012 5:30 p.m.

All Officers should attend

Revenue from ad sales are critical to the financial success of our rose show. This funding is used to underwrite the cost of the show and your help is needed selling ads for this year’s rose show. The deadline to turn in your ad and $$ is March 31, 2012. See Chris VanCleave to submit your ad 205-5859687 Chris@ChrisVanCleave.com

Show AWARDS & Sponsorships If anyone has awards they would like to recycle, please bring them to our Feb meeting. If you can't come, contact Hyacinth Prince so a count can be taken and we will have a better idea of what remains to be purchased.

Sponsoring a particular show award is a great way to honor a loved one or showcase a business. If you would like to sponsor an award or know of a business that would, please contact Hyacinth as soon as possible.

All award purchases, donations and sponsorships need to be completed by March 31.

Annual Birmingham Rose Society dues are due by Feb 29, 2012 $20/single - $30/family Pay at the society meeting or send your check payable to the Birmingham Rose Society to: Judy Williams 22605 Ironstone Cove McCalla, AL 35111

Minutes of the January 2012 Meeting Chris VanCleave. President called the meeting to order. We had thirty-seven in attendance. Hostesses Brenda Bodine, Nora Coffee and George Ann Hamilton were thanked for providing refreshments for the meeting.

Under old business: Ballots were passed to each member to vote on the following change in the ByLaws. Raise the membership dues to $20.00 for single and $30.00 for family membership. The second item on the ballot: If someone becomes a member of Birmingham Rose Society during the months of October, November or December, their dues would carry over to January when dues become payable for the New Year. Both measures passed with Thirty-four voting members present. Total cast for raising dues; 28 in favor and 6 against. The second item passed unanimously in favor.

There were no minutes to approve for November or December 2011.

Hyacinth Prince gave the treasurer’s report. As of January 30, 2012, the checking account balance is $3,697.73 and the CD is unchanged at $5,047.47.

The Annual Pruning of the Rose Garden will be Saturday March 3, 2012 at 8:00 am until the pruning is finished. A signup sheet was passed around for members to volunteer for the day. If the date is changed everyone will be notified.

The Spring Plant Sale benefiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be April 12, 13 and 14th. The sale will be held at the old Mazer building on Greensprings Avenue. A signup sheet for volunteers for all days was passed around.

Dean Hodge gave a report on the Deep South District Show. A new award will be given to the person who enters the most rose show. So keep up with the number you enter. This award is to encourage us to enter other rose shows in our area other than our own.

An award was given to our own Chris VanCleave for hid digital photo of “Cherry Parfait”.

Chris VanCleave reported that Ann and Carl Jones would not be able to Chair the 2012 Rose Show.

When this occurs the Chair falls to the President therefore he will take on this responsibility. This will be our 60th Rose Show for our society. Our rose show costs around $3000 to $3500 each spring. To raise this amount we sell ads in our show booklet. Ad sales last year raised $2300 for the show. We need to increase ad sales to pay for the rose show. It is the responsibility of each member to do his or her part in this effort.

Volunteers are needed in five areas to help with the show. Awards – Money or donation of awards you may want to pass on. Placement – Exhibitors are not allowed to place their own roses except in certain Divisions. Volunteers are needed for the placement of rose entries, Hospitality Breakfast for the Judges, and many other duties such as the rose sale table – This means income and we need volunteers on Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s show will add classifications for KnockOut and Earthkind Roses and a FREE seminar on rose care to be held on Saturday afternoon.

Gloria Purnell, Program Chairman opened the program for the evening “What Judges look for when judging a Rose Show”. We have six judges in our own society, Mayre Parr, Dean Hodge, Glenn Hodge, Gloria Purnell, Martha Eskew and Bob Eskew. Each of the judges explained what the duties of a judge are and what they look for in arriving at the best roses in a show. The program was excellent and full of information to make all of us better exhibitors.

The Meeting was adjourned at 8:40PM Respectfully submitted, George Ann Hamilton, Recording Secretary

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February 2012

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While the advice and information in this newsletter is believed to be true and accurate at the time of publication, neither the authors nor the editor accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

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here. Editor: Chris VanCleave Phone: 205-585-9687 E-mail: Editor@BirminghamRose.org

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Garden Faces A Publication of The Birmingham Rose Society an American Rose Society Affiliate

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