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Learn about roses from national experts

New series of free webinars features Sacramento's Bug Man

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 31, 2022

Baldo Villegas will be among the rose

experts presenting a free series of

webinars in February. (Photo courtesy

Baldo Villegas)

Here’s your opportunity to sit in on a series of rosy master classes and soak up knowledge from some of the nation’s leading rose experts – including Sacramento’s own Baldo Villegas.

The American Rose Society is opening its educational webinars, designed to train Consulting Rosarians, to all interested rose growers and gardening enthusiasts, with four classes scheduled for February.

Consulting Rosarians are the master gardeners of the rose world. Gardeners who complete the coursework and pass an extensive exam are certified by the ARS as Consulting Rosarians. But to keep that certification, CRs need to regularly refresh their skills and stay up with new research via continuing education and seminars.

Due to Covid restrictions, in-person workshops have been harder to host, so webinars have filled the gap. The online nature of these webinars allows the ARS to open the virtual doors and let all interested gardeners share in these truly informative classes.

Anita and Mike Eckley, the ARS National Consulting Rosarian co-chairs, recruited experts from across the country to host these sessions. All scheduled for Saturdays in February; each workshop starts at 11 a.m. PST.

The workshops are free but each requires advance registration. Find the links here: https://bit.ly/3KYQt88 . (When signing up, your District is likely NCNH, Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii.)

Other than Consulting Rosarian candidates (who must attend all four), participants can pick and choose which sessions to attend:

Saturday, Feb. 5: “Soil and Water,” with Pennsylvania rose expert Bill Kozemchak. In addition, ARS President Diane Sommers will discuss the CR program.

Feb. 12: “Fertilizer” with Brenna Bosch, a New Jersey rose expert.

Feb. 19: “Insects and Disease,” presented by “Sacramento’s Bug Man,” Baldo Villegas, a retired state entomologist as well as master rosarian.

Feb. 26: “Chemical Safety” with Don Swanson, a Nebraska rose expert.

All of these experts are rose-growing all-stars. BothVillegas and Bosch have rose varieties named in their honor.

For more information on roses and Consulting Rosarians, go to www.rose.org .

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GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

Sacramento American Rose Society online workshop water pests roses free workshop webinar fertilizer insects soil consulting rosarians gardening Baldo Villegas

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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