Garden News

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, MidWinter 2007

Last February, we told you about problems in the garden that were causing us to lose roses. Since that time, we have been consulting with a specialist in organic growing about problems such as ours. He had both a chemical and a biological soil analysis done. He had us spread a very thin layer of especially amended city composted greenwaste. After that, he made compost tea with special equipment he has and applied it as a drench to all our rose beds three times. The objective is to bring the soil into a balance.

At present the soil in most of our rose beds has excessive bacteria, and almost no beneficial fungus and nematodes. The objective of the soil drench is to change the soil composition so as to bring the soil life into balance. He made a second biological test to determine the results of this initial action. The tests should show some improvement.

Besides these efforts to make the Heritage more fertile, we are taking a number of actions to replace the roses we've lost.

A shade house facility that the city is letting us use at Almaden Lake Park has been converted to a greenhouse where we could propagate roses. Volunteers John Rizzi, David Giroux and Scott Papenfus have removed the shade cloth, covered the frame with translucent film, built benches and installed a mist system. Friends of the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens bought us the 300 understock sticks, 250 of Manetti and 50 Fortuniana (to push early for teas). We picked these up, de-eyed them and potted them under mist. These are rooting along with other cuttings at this writing.

South Bay purchased another 150 Manetti sticks at the same time. We took them to Vintage Gardens Nursery the same day to de-eye them and stick them. Meanwhile, Jill Perry, our curator, is making contacts in Sweden to import budwood in the spring to bud to this understock. We will also take up an offer from the new Ashdown West nursery for budwood from rare roses they have imported. The understock should be ready for budding in May.

During October, we were fortunate to receive 79 donated roses into the nursery. Thirty five of these are imports from Sangerhausen that Vintage Gardens had been keeping in quarantine for us. Most of the rest of these are from the last two rose rustles. Sequoia Nursery donated others.

On Saturday, November 4, we had many people come help us plant almost 100 plants from the nursery that were ready to go in the ground.

On Sunday, December 3rd we planted about 125 plants grown out at Tom Liggett's. We had so much help we got done in an hour and a half!

Rose Rustle Results. Many of the roses, newly planted, in the nursery and in Mel’s terrarium at home are from rose rustles in October 2005, June 2006 and by Jill during the summer.

All of this planting together with rose losses has created major work for our Curator, Jill Perry. She deserves our appreciation for the hours of research and computer work which is resulting in a major improvement of the Heritage as a museum of roses.

So you see, it's been a busy time for Heritage volunteers!

We've registered two of the garden’s new babies. Out in front berm is a rose near the sign. The foliage, and its suckering habit are obviously Gallica, however it blooms like a modern rose. When Jeri Jennings saw it, she said that it had to be called 'The French Strumpet'

Almost 2 years ago, Mel found a little rose coming up and blooming right next to Kim Rupert's Purple Buttons. He dug it up, potted it up and put it in the nursery. Beginning the next March, it started growing and growing and blooming and blooming, and it hasn’t stopped since! It is an amazing flower factory. It puts out panicles of almost 150 blooms sometimes on 6' stems/Basals! To recognize the garden and the rose it came from, we registered it as 'Lupe's Buttons'.

"Lupe's Buttons"

Our latest find is a small white apparent miniature that bloomed on the eastside of the garden. Obviously a birddrop! Mel’s calling it ‘Lupita’. using the name suggested by Kim Rupert.

"Lupita"

The Heritage Nursery. The nursery now is a little over half full! The next reduction will be in taking about a dozen climbers to Santa Clara University for their ½ mile fence. After that, we’ll be planting a number of found roses from summer 2006 rose rustles.

Workdays. Workdays are Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting 9 - 12. Bring a hat, bypass shears and leather gloves if you have them. We'll show you how! COME and work in the roses for as long as you enjoy it.

Mel Hulse, January, 2007