|
|
|
|
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, New Years Eve 2004 Hot – Cold – Hot – Cold – Wet!!! That was the story all year. I wonder what the weather will bring in 2005? The end of 2004 was a doozy finishing up with rainfall almost double normal! The accompanying cold temperatures and high winds have stripped most plants and sent the roses into the most profound dormancy in the life of the garden. Still, there are roses blooming. Mme. Alfred Carrier was in full bloom last week! Summer started with gorgeous, slightly below normal temperatures. Frequently July temperatures in the 100s push roses into summer dormancy. Not last summer! The second flush and in some cases third, made the garden a wonder to experience. And then it got HOT in September and then cold. What a year! Pruning. By starting earlier this year we were able to finish pruning the once bloomers by the end of September. We’ll start even earlier on this next year. We pruned the Chinas and Teas in October and November. Shrubs, Section N, are in nearly done. We are doing this section early because; in the past it has suffered by being last. We begin the new year on the Hybrid Tears and Floribundas with pruning lessons. Throughout this period, Marianne Sugg and David Giroux have worked on pruning climbers, a necessary, but time consuming job that pays big dividends. Public Pruning Lessons. As usual we are holding free, public pruning lessons on regular work days beginning January 8th and lasting through February 16th. This year’s lessons will be conducted in Section L, Old Floribundas and Hybrid Teas. The Heritage Nursery. It was completed in June and we are no longer calling it the Interim Propagation Facility. It is near full with 256 roses on automatic irrigation as I write. 26 of these are roses being grown out for the nearby Grant Ranch Rose Garden. The San Jose Conservation Corps did the basic work. Material was donated or provided at cost. Many friends of the garden including the Heritage Rose Foundation provided cash grants. Our volunteers, John Rizzi, Georgina Lawrence, David Giroux and I did the above ground installation work of stringing the irrigation hose and punching the emitters into that hose. Our backyards are empty of stored Heritage roses! Thanks to the Heritage Rose Foundation and generous donors that made the Nursery a reality! We are fortunate to have a new volunteer, Georgina Lawrence, who has taken on the job of managing the Nursery although, at present she is setting into her new home. Recycled Water. The Heritage is now irrigated by recycled water. Our post 1988 miniatures have been irrigated by recycled water for several years with no detrimental affects. We hope use of this water by all our roses will be affective. Workdays. Workdays are Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9:00 - 12: until June 4th when workdays will revert to 8:00 - 11:00. Bring a hat, bypass shears and leather gloves if you have them. We'll show you how! It's snack & yack time in the Garden center on Wednesdays after the work session. Stone Soup time is the first Wednesday of each Winter month. Bring a vegetable! Catalog. Our year 2004 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 (usually!) 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. Mel Hulse, December 31, 2004
Links to past status pages: This page was last updated on 02/27/06.
|
|
|
