Garden Faces February 2016

Garden Faces February 2016

Birmingham Rose Society An American Rose Society Affiliate

President’s Message

The rose has long been a symbol of love and romance. That makes it the best expression of those sentiments on Valentine's Day. About $1.9 billion is spent for roses each year as gifts. This is followed by $1.6 billion for candy. I was surprised that diamonds, gold, and silver out sold them both at $4.4 billion, but they outlast the others except in memories. Most of the roses bought for this holiday come from South America, mainly Colombia, due to weather. In buying, three roses mean, "I love you" and three dozen mean "My heart belongs to you".

Please welcome our newest members, Will & Sally Legg and Peggy Holley. We are delighted to have you all with us.

As we are welcoming the new members we are sad at the loss of an old one, Azilee Mary Adams who died earlier this month. She was a Rosarian, Judge, and former President of BRS from 19992000. I know she is well remembered.

If you have not paid your dues this year to the BRS they are due now. Dues are $20 for a single membership and $30 for a couple. Paul Saeger is our Treasurer and can take care of that for you.

Pruning of the Dunn Formal Rose Garden at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens will take place February 27th from 8 a.m. to noon. Please dress for the weather, layers are best, and bring your pruners, loppers, gloves, hat and any seating you need. This is a great way to be of service to our Botanical Gardens and enjoy the tips on pruning and fellowship with members and other volunteers who will be there. Rain or snow day makeup is March 5th, 8 a.m. to noon.

Spring Plant Sale is April 14th to 17th at the Brookwood Village parking lot. Please volunteer to help man the Rose booth at the sale.

Our February meeting will be in the Adventure Classroom, one floor down from the Conference Room and will be a panel discussion on the basics of rose growing. Don’t miss this!

Executive Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Our main topic is the Rose Show in May. Sharon Bamberg, President

Consulting Rosarian Report

The Birmingham Rose Society has for many years worked with the Birmingham Botanical Garden and its members performing and handling the pruning of the Dunn Formal Rose Garden. Every member needs to be at the pruning of the Garden, Saturday 27 February, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm to prune the rose garden. Bring your pruning tools and your gloves. Instruction on pruning will be given and this is a good time to learn how to prune your rose garden.

Be sure to sign up at our February and March meetings for the annual Birmingham Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale. The dates and times are; Friday, April 15, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm; Saturday, April 16 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; Sunday , April 17, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A sign up sheet will be at our February and March meetings or call me 205-823-6621 or e-mail me, daddybobsq@att.net, and let me know what day and time you can help.

February is one the most important months of the year for rose care. It will determine how well your roses perform in the year 2016.

The following are steps that I have used in my rose garden over the years.

1- Spring clean up of rose beds and the rose plants: remove all last year foliage of the roses. Clean out your rose beds of all old foliage, weeds, and any other items that need to be removed; add soil and do any repairs to the rose beds if needed.

2- Prune all dead canes and winter die back out of your roses, as it has been a hard winter. You may have blind breaks (canes without a bud being formed) due to the cold weather. You may need to prune them and let the plant recycle with new canes.

3- Check out your watering system, if you have one, to make sure it is in working order. Install a rain gauge to keep up with the amount of water you receive from rain. On the average, roses require one inch of water per week 4- Add mulch if your rose bed needs it. Mulch needs to be one to two inches thick for weed control and to conserve water.

5- Continue to use your integrated pest management program that you will use this coming year [ spray program ] and spray your roses every one or two weeks depending on the sprays you are using. Don’t forget to spray the ground around your roses as this is the source of black spot spores.

6- Safety is a must when you spray roses. Long sleeve shirt, long pants, hat, chemical resistant gloves, respirator and splashproof goggles are a must. Always spray down wind and always be careful when handling your spray materials.

7- I have about two hundred roses and I use the following spray materials on my roses. Make sure you always follow the label on the spray material container for spray quantity and correct use. a. Fungicides: I use Banner Maxx or Honor Guard mixed with liquid Mancozeb every ten days to two weeks during the growing season. b. Insecticides: I use 97% Orthene on my roses for the control of aphids, thrips and other common insects.

8- If you have fifty roses or less you can use Ortho Rose Pride every week for your fungicide and the other spray material as listed above. For good information spray materials and how to use them and rose care products, go to rosemania.com.

9- I will fertilize my roses after each blooming cycle after I dead-head them. I will use half and half 15-5-10 with trace elements and high nitrogen 33-0-0 with sulfur. I will broadcast this mix all over my entire rose beds. I will also spread a light coat of epsom salt over the beds to encourage basal breaks . The fertilizers are available at the co-op in Columbiana AL, HWY 70, phone no 205-669-7082. I will be glad to answer any question anyone may have at the February meeting. Have fun, grow great roses and enter them Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the rose show. Pruning schedule for the show is to prune your hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas 60 to 70 days before the show and miniatures and mini-floras 55 to 60 days before the show. Bring your roses and enter them - it’s a lot of fun.

Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Rose Events 2016 Feb 27 Feb 29 Mar 28 April 14-17 May 7-8 July 29-31

Pruning Event 8-Noon – Dunn Formal Rose Garden – Birmingham Botanical Gardens BRS Monthly Meeting – Rose Growing Basics Panel Discussion –Hodges Room, Birmingham Botanical Gardens BRS Monthly Meeting – Hodges Room, Birmingham Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale – Brookwood Village Birmingham Rose Show American Rose Society Miniature Nationals – Harrisburg, PA

Send photos of our events to: Editor@BirminghamRose.org

Meeting Minutes Rose Society Meeting Minutes

George Ann Hamilton – Recording Secretary Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Birmingham Rose Society January 25, 2016 - 6:30 P.M. Sharon Bamberg President called the meeting to order. We had twenty-six members in attendance. Our guests attending were William and Sally Legg. The hostesses for the evening were Martha Eskew, George Ann Hamilton, Jennifer Phillips and Gloria Purnell. They were thanked for providing wonderful food for the evening.

Paul Saeger, treasurer, reminded everyone that membership dues were due tonight. Single membership is $20.00 and Family membership is $30.00. Checks should be made payable to Birmingham Rose Society.

Sharon Bamberg announced that next month sign-up sheets would be provided for the Annual Spring Plant Sale. There will be a space for work time slots on those sheets.

Pruning day for the Dunn Rose Garden will be held on Saturday February 27 th from 8:00am to 12:00pm. The rain date will be the following Saturday March 5th at the same time.

Peggy Holly was recognized and welcomed as a new member of the Birmingham Rose Society.

Charles Prince was recognized for his winning photography in the Deep South District Photography Contest and the ARS Rose Photography Contest.

Chris VanCleave presented our program for the evening. He prepared a slide show titled “New Roses for 2016”. He showed us the new Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Shrubs etc. He also challenged each member in our society to be active in membership this year. The slide presentation included the Top Ten show roses: Moonstone, Veterans Honor, Gemini, Let Freedom Ring, Louise Estes, Randy Scott, Hot Princess, Black Magic, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon’s Day. Our Rose Society will be in hosting the Deep South District Mid-Winter Meeting that will be held January 20, 21 and 22, 2017. Committed speakers for this event are Pat Shanley, President of the American Rose Society, David Clemons, Rose Grower and Hybridizer and Lynn Hunt from North Carolina.

Robbin Phillips won the door prize for the evening. He received a David Austin catalog and a gift certificate for a rose.

Our next meeting will be held Monday February 29, 2016 at the Botanical Gardens at 6:30 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, George Ann Hamilton, Recording Secretary

Treasurer’s Report for January 2016

2016 Rose Society Dues Are Due!

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS Birmingham Rose Society Membership Directory We will be publishing an updated membership directory in the Spring of 2016.

All paid members of record as of 3/31/2016 will be included in the directory.

Please see Tina VanCleave, Membership Chair, at the February meeting, to verify that the information we have on file for you is correct.

Social Media Stats: Facebook Followers: 1,492 Twitter Followers: 204

$20/Single $30/Family Mail to: Birmingham Rose Society 1012 Southlake Cove Birmingham 35244 Or, Pay at the February meeting.

AWARDS NEEDED! Please bring any awards you would like to donate to this year’s rose show to the February meeting.

Thanks, Hyacinth Prince

Don’t Miss This!

Garden Faces Deadlines: Submission Deadline: 10th of each month Publication Date : 15th of each month Editor: Chris VanCleave Phone: 205-585-9687 E-mail: Editor@BirminghamRose.org

Birmingham Rose Society 219 Chadwick Lane Helena, AL 35080

Grow Roses. Show Roses. Share Roses.

Birmingham Rose Society American Rose Society Affiliate 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. The Birmingham Rose Society makes no warranty, expressed or implied with respect to the material contained herein.