Gray squirrels busily gathered plump acorns as browning elm leaves swirled across the Marin Art & Garden lawn, the Rose Garden now in the lengthening shadows of an Indian summer afternoon. I had come for inspiration for our last Rose of the Month column. The difficulty is not to be influenced by favoritism or personal […]
Spring, summer, fall and voila winter!!!! Fortunately or unfortunately, here in our lovely state, specifically Marin county, our winter is not snow, or ice but rather tons of rain. Normally, the rain starts in November and ends in March. So, compared to the rest of the country, our winter is mellow. Simply put, winterizing our
Rose Care for November/December Read More »
Cooler weather, dew on leaves longer in the morning, and the first real rains of the season, can bring with it a bane of the rose garden – rust. This fungal disease with orange, powdery pustules on the undersides of leaves makes rust easy to identify. They start out yellow to light orange and deepen
One Dastardly Disease Read More »
Fall is here and with it comes longer nights and cooler temperatures. This season can produce some of the best roses of the year; the plants are larger than in spring, fewer pests about and shorter days can produce some amazingly colored blossoms. If you have some gorgeous blooms, how about preserving them? Here are
Get Creative with your Roses Read More »
As I write this, it is hard to believe that fall officially starts tomorrow. But the calendar doesn’t lie, and if we have a normal fall, the rains should start in mid-October. Don’t let a few early showers fool you. If an inch of rain has not fallen during the week, you will probably still
Rose Care for October Read More »
Those leaves with the striking green and yellow marbled patterns festooning one of your rose plants may look like Mother Nature as artist, but don’t be fooled. More than likely, it’s the result of rose mosaic virus. You may see yellow, white, or brownish lines, bands, rings, wavy lines, vein clearing or blotches on leaves.
Is it Mosaic Virus? Read More »
Like most of you, I struggled through those blistering hot days of July and August with plants wilting in the sun, leaves and blooms of roses crinkly and scorched. Despite watering twice a day, it wasn’t enough. So, what could I have done? Well the old layers of mulch come to mind, but I’d already
Rose Care for September Read More »
Most of us know ‘Ballerina’ as it is a favorite of most rosarians given its dainty flowers, nonstop bloom and multiple awards on the exhibition table with an incredible American Rose Society rating of 8.5. This rose is a single flowered one with five petals shading from the pink bud to open white/pink and healthy
Seasons mark The passing years. Each one here- Then gone. It’s about time Every temperate climate is measured in terms of its number of frost-free days. Roses begin to grow in earnest when frosty nights go away. A clock begins ticking when the growing season begins. It is counting off the hours before the growing
Deadheading and Other Types of Summer Pruning Read More »
I only have 150 roses counting all the miniatures. Yet, I am always wondering what to do and what not to do to keep them blooming at all times since I am such a hog when it comes to rose blooms. Have you ever wondered about that too? As we all know, the weather, the
Rose Care for August Read More »
