Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

See (and smell) the best roses from four states

ARS conference in Sacramento features huge rose show; plus hear Debbie talk roses and horses

Rose fans take time to smell the flowers at a previous show. The district-wide rose show this weekend will feature the best rose exhibitors from four states.

Rose fans take time to smell the flowers at a previous show. The district-wide rose show this weekend will feature the best rose exhibitors from four states. Courtesy Peninsula Rose Society

It’s time to smell some champion roses – and learn more about America’s favorite flower.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, Sacramento hosts the Northern California Nevada Hawaii district conference for the American Rose Society. Representatives from dozens of rose societies from four states (southern Oregon is also part of NCNH) will gather at Wyndham Hotel on Date at Madison avenues, just off Interstate 80.

Highlighting the conference: A district-wide rose show featuring the best rose exhibitors from four states. The rose show is open free to the public from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

Besides the seriousness of the competition, what makes this show so unusual: Lots of challenge classes. Those are special classes where exhibitors must meet certain goals, such as multiple matching perfect blooms.

A large rose photo contest and arrangements competition also are part of the district rose show. Come see autumn roses in all their beauty.

In addition to the show, the conference features several speakers, but those talks are only open to those with conference registration ($80 for speakers only). Registration is open until 10 a.m. Saturday at the host hotel.

Saturday’s speakers include Debbie Arrington of Sacramento Digs Gardening. A master rosarian and longtime turf writer, Debbie will present “Thoroughbred Roses: The Queen of Flowers and the Sport of Kings” – a look at roses and racing connections. Her talk will start at 11 a.m.

First speaker of the day is Gwen Quail, past president of the Butte Rose Society, who will discuss “Fragrance: From Your Rose to Your Nose” at 10 a.m. She’ll discuss how chemistry and botany influence our perception of flower fragrance.

At 2 p.m., award-winning author and NPR show host Jennifer Jewell will present “Cultivating Place: Cultivating a Garden Culture of Care and Roses.” Her talk will focus how individual gardeners can be agents for change, one backyard at a time. The popular garden writer also will sign copies of her latest book, “What We Sow.”

At 3 p.m., Jacqui Nye will teach how to take better photos with your cellphone in “From Snapshots to Wow Shots.”

Wyndham Hotel is located at 5321 Date Ave., Sacramento.

Details and forms: www.ncnhdistrict.org.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Garden checklist for week of July 12

Get out early in the morning to take care of garden chores. Temperatures are expected to stay below 80 degrees before 10 a.m.

* Remember to water early and deep; your garden depends on you.

* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water before fertilizing vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Feed vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week. Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* If your melons and squash aren’t setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

Contact Us

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

Potatoes from the garden

Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth