Hello Fellow GRS members and friends.
We sure have been having some real nice weather this past month. I hope you had a chance or had time to get your roses ready for spring blooms. Pruning, sterilizing after pruning, feeding and spraying for flower thrips. We have got all the above done and the garden is real pretty with all the new red and green growth. We even have new bloom buds on the varieties that grow fast. The challenge now is keeping them healthy. The lack of rain this month is our biggest concern. Rose blooms just look a lot prettier when there has been adequate rain fall. All the hand watering you could possibly provide does not come close to what nature’s rain does.
In case you were not aware, GRS will not be having its regular meeting date and time this month at the Tower Road Library. We will be having our Second Rose Festival on Saturday, April 12th instead. All members are asked to participate. Hopefully we are all clear on our individual responsibilities. If you were not assigned a specific job, we still need your help to make this a memorable event for the participants. Jean Giesel is our coordinator, please contact her with your questions.
My article this month is on Feeding Your Roses. To get the most out of your roses, we need to keep them well and happy. Attached are three sheets of suggestions on how Jean and I feed our roses. The first is our Spring Regiment and contains our own Ralph’s Organic Mix. Follow this as suggested on page #1. Second is our Formula on how often to feed each element. The third sheet gives more suggestions for new roses, how to feed them and when to feed them. Plus, planting any rose any time of the year. These will be three separate sheets for you to print and keep for future use.
As mentioned at our last meeting, please be thinking about a place to have our GRS Summer picnic, either having a potluck or eat at a restaurant. My vote is for a potluck where we will not feel rushed. Please let Mary Menoski know your preference.
I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, April 12th 10:00am – 3:30pm, at the Tower Road Public Library.
