Sierra Foothills Rose Society offers free workshop with expert hands-on advice
In a previous workshop, Baldo Villegas demonstrates his pruning technique while Charlotte Owendyk assists and holds the microphone. Courtesy Sierra Foothills Rose Society
Need to sharpen your pruning skills? Here’s a great opportunity to learn how to prune your roses faster and better – and taste some great chili, too.
On Saturday, Jan. 13, the Sierra Foothills Rose Society will host its annual Winter Care Workshop for Roses, featuring master rosarians Baldo Villegas, Linda Knowles and Charlotte Owendyk. To be held at the Orangevale Grange Auditorium, the free workshop starts at 8:30 a.m. with registration. The seminar starts at 9 a.m. and includes hands-on practice as well as demonstrations.
“Practice under the watchful eye of experienced rosarians who prune hundreds of their own roses,” say the organizers. “When you leave, you will confidently prune your roses!”
Make that “thousands” of roses; Baldo grows more than 3,000 bushes at his Orangevale home.
Proper pruning produces more and bigger flowers. It also helps reinvigorate rose bushes and makes for a healthier garden with less if any pesticides.
The morning-long session wraps up with a chili cookoff at 12:30 p.m. Participants vote for the best chili while also having an opportunity to get advice from the society’s rose experts one on one.
Highlight of this workshop is always Baldo’s demonstration of his “Three-Minute Pruning Method.” He’ll show how to prune a full-size hybrid tea in three minutes – and often less – by looking at the plant from the base up. By identifying the canes to keep first, the job becomes much simpler.
Instructors also will share advice on pruning tools as well as how to control pests and diseases in the garden (an important part of why we prune roses every year).
No advance registration is needed and the public is welcome. Bring gloves and bypass pruners.
Orangevale Grange is located at 5807 Walnut Ave., Orangevale.
For more on Sierra Foothills Rose Society: www.sierrafoothillsrosesociety.org.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* 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, pumpkins, 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.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
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