|
|
|
|
SAN JOSE HERITAGE ROSE GARDEN The Latest from the Heritage! This page is updated from time to time to let you know what's up in the garden. Mel Hulse, Garden Maintenance Director Garden Report, March 2004 Another crazy season! December and January saw colder weather than usual. Most roses responded by doing their dormancy thing. Many even dropped all their leaves. Great for the Spring bloom! Everything turned around after that. Almost a year’s rainfall graced February. Great time for it, but then things went haywire! March has seen record breaking heat with the roses breaking out of dormancy at breakneck speed. Many of the Teas are already blooming and the whole garden is about two weeks ahead. We could use one more good session of rain if it comes very soon. We don't need rain in late April like last year. That rain brought disease and dead plants. We hope we have established a procedure for finding and treating sick and suckered plants. Two of our great volunteers now patrol the entire garden checking each plant and giving them needed care. Vandalism. December vandalism continued in February with a second break in at our toolshed. More tools taken. These have been replaced by the City. The City has installed a movement operated combination light, camera and voice device on a pole focused on the toolshed. That together with beefing up the toolshed door should provide the security needed. Winter Pruning.
We've completed the whole garden…almost… again this year. We started in early
November and have been forced to stop by the early spring weather. Only a few
Polyanthus and reblooming shrubs didn't get done. By the end of January, we were
way behind. To catch up, we gritted our teeth and used volunteers from two
outside groups to do light pruning of our reblooming OGRs. Interim Propagation Facility. This 1000 sq. ft. fenced facility will provide space with controlled irrigation for growing out potted roses, a soil bin for potting soil and a large potting bench Great progress since the last report!!! All conditions for City approval are being met. We have final design drawings and a material estimate. That estimate needs a bit of tweaking that will bring it within the funds donated by friends of the Heritage. Sacramento has approved all labor to be done by the California Conservation Corps free and they have fixed April 12th as the start date. Completion should require less than a month. By the end of May, our backyards should be empty of stored Heritage roses! Workdays.
Workdays are Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9-12. Bring a hat, bypass shears and
leather gloves if you have them. We'll show you how! Its snack & yack time in
the Garden center on Wednesdays after the Catalog. Our year 2003 catalog is available at the Garden Center for a $12 donation and by mail for $15. E-mail oldroser@gmail.com for details. Peak Bloom. There is always bloom to see at The Heritage. The first big show of the year is at the end of March when the old China and Tea roses produce a glorious bloom. The peak Spring modern rose flush is the end of April. Old Garden Roses peak about two weeks later and Polyanthas and Miniatures, a week after that. The peak Fall flush is mid-October. Garden Center Staffing. There is someone at the Garden Center from 9am-4pm, Monday - Friday. You can call with questions about the Heritage and other elements of the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens. Phone: 408-298-7657. If you get the answering machine, staff is probably out in the garden. Leave a message including your interest and they will return your call ASAP. To contact staff, check. http://www.grpg.org/ContactUs.htm Mel Hulse, March 16, 2004
Links to past status pages: This page was last updated on 02/27/06.
|
|
|
