Now available on our website, we have our 2009 publication, "GROWING ROSES IN A NEW ERA" - this helpful booklet will provide you with tips to enjoy growing roses in your garden without a lot of work.
Right-click here to download and save the PDF today!

Winter 2010 Newsletter

Society News & Notices

Rosebush Sales @ Farmer's Markets: We will be selling roses on Saturdays in May. We need volunteers for May 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Barrie Farmers Market, Collier and Mulcaster Streets. Please speak to a Board member at one of the upcoming meetings to let them know if you are available to help out. Many thanks to Dale and Ligita who will be selling roses at the Orillia Farmers Market (dates for OrilliaTBD). Rosebushes will make a great Mothers' Day gift, and will cost $17 each, or 3 bushes for $48. Members can save money! Show your membership card at the market and pay only $15 for your rosebushes. Details about the types of roses you can buy from the Farmer's Markets this summer are in the next section.

INVITATION: From Société des Roses du Québec Rose Society: Come celebrate our 20 years! Join in the special events: Conference - National Rose Show - Garden Visits & Brunch. June 18 to 20, 2010, Montreal Botanical Garden, 4101 Sherbrooke Street East.

eNEWSLETTER: As you probably know, the cost of stamps has gone up yet again. In the interest of saving money and keeping HRS membership fees as low as we can, we are asking anybody with an email address to let us know so that we can email your newsletter instead of mailing it. If you are on dial-up and would rather get a paper copy, we understand and will be happy to continue sending it to you in that format.

Dormant Oil & Lime Sulphur Kit : In the pesticide-free gardening times we live in, this is a good control for insect and disease to be used early in the spring. During the growing season, the lime-sulphur is a good black spot spray in a more dilute form. In the next month or so you should be checking your garden centres for these kits, or even places like Home Hardware; then just follow the directions on the package and enjoy the results.

Society News: On Friday March 19, a number of our executive members will be representing HRS at the Canadian Rose Society booth at the Successful Gardening Show, part of the Home and Garden Show at the International Centre. Many thanks to these volunteers who are working to promote our activities here in Huronia.

Privacy: Members' names, addresses, & phone numbers are given to members of the executive chairing committee so that they can contact volunteers to assist with society events. If you do not want your name to be given to the executive, please contact Linda Peacock at 705-424-2179 or by email at peacockfamily@ymail.com.

Meeting Ideas: We want to be sure that all of our meetings have value for our membership. If you have an idea for a topic that you want to learn more about, please contact Linda Peacock to let her know. She can be reached by phone at 424-2179 or by email at peacockfamily@ymail.com

Member Notices/Cheer: If you know of somebody in the society who is ill or needs some cheer, please contact Ina Mechlinski at (705) 361-3058 or by email at imechlinski@rogers.com. We care about our members and want to know how you are doing.

Farmer's Market Rosebushes

HYBRID TEAS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
Chicago Peace	Pink Blend	Large Bloom
Oklahoma	Dark Red	Fragrant, Disease Resistant
Tropicana	Orange Red	Fragrant
John F. Kennedy	White	Ideal for Cutting
Miss All-American Beauty	Deep Pink	Fragrant
Sunbright	Med Yellow

AUSTINS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
Golden Celebration	Deep Yellow	Fragrant
L.D. Braithwaite	Dark Red	Fragrant
Heritage	Light Pink	Fragrant, Almost Thornless

GRANDIFLORAS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
Gold Medal	Med Yellow	Disease Resistant
Queen Elizabeth	Med Pink	Fragrant

FLORIBUNDAS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
Light of Day	Light Yellow	Hardy
Europeana	Dark Red

CLIMBERS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
America	Orange Pink	Disease Resistant
Blaze	Med Red	Disease Resistant
New Dawn	Light Pink

EXPLORERS
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
John Davis	Med Pink	Hardy
Alexander Mackenzie	Red Blend	Hardy

ARTIST SERIES
NAME	COLOUR	COMMENTS
Emily Carr	Med Red	Hardy

Gardening Questions?

Now you can get your questions answered while you are driving, working or even at breakfast or lunch. There are a couple of great phone-in radio shows that give some environmentally friendly advice. On Mondays (except holidays), tune in to CBC radio 95.1FM or 99.1 FM from 12:32pm to 1:00pm with Ed Lawrence. On Saturdays, you can hear Charlie Dobbin on 740 AM between 9:00am and10:00am.

Companion Plant for 2010

We have chosen the Companion Plant for 2010 to grow with your roses. It is the annual plant -"Sweet Alyssum". This is a departure from the previous years. We had suggested our members grow Hybrid Lilies, then Delphiniums, and then Clematis. Sweet Alyssum is a ground-hugging plant that likes the same growing conditions as roses. It has many attributes:

Attracts parasitic insects that attack caterpillar or worms that may bother your roses. An excellent organic insect control.
Blooms all season.
Very fragrant.
Forms a perfect round mound to use as a border around your rose garden, making an attractive edging.
Some varieties are trailing and can be grown in hanging baskets or mixed containers.
Comes in white (Snow Crystals are a recommended variety), rose, lavender, purples, and blues.

Note: some experience has shown that the plants don't like to be disturbed when they are in bloom, i.e. hoeing too closely, or lifting up the ground- hugging stems to mulch under them. Do it before planting in the spring.

Your local garden centre will have plants available this spring. Alyssum self-seeds readily, so watch for little clumps of narrow leaves the next spring in the area where the alyssum plants grew the previous year .

(This is a regular feature in the Huronia Rose Society newsletter. We hope that it will help all of you in some way. If you have a question you would like Rosie to answer, please bring it with you to a general meeting, or send it to HuroniaRoseSociety@hotmail.com. Rosie will be happy to answer any question she can!)

Dear Rosie:

Other than the traditional daffodils, tulips, or crocuses, what plant provides instant colour and complements roses?

Thanks, Curious about Colour

Dear Curious:

The pansy: it blooms during freezing temperatures and has a variety of colours. Planting small black pansies as a border to yellow daffodils is stunning.

Enjoy your experimentation!

Rosie

Membership Renewal

If you have not yet paid your 2009 membership for the Huronia Rose Society, please visit the Membership page of the site and submit your form with your payment to Virginia Foster. For those of you who have already renewed your membership, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support, and to encourage you to pass the membership form along to somebody else who may benefit from joining.

Rose Show Winners 2009
(click on the photos to enlarge them)

QUEEN OF THE SHOW (Edna Caldwell Plaque) ROBERT HORLINGS - GOLDEN CELEBRATION
BEST HYBRID TEA (Certificate) ROBERT HORLINGS - NICOLE
BEST SHRUB ROSE (Victor Loeb Memorial Trophy) DALE LOVERING - AUTUMN DELIGHT
BEST CLIMBING ROSE (Certificate) ROBERT HORLINGS - ROSARIUM UETERSEN
BEST FLORIBUNDA (Certificate) ROBERT HORLINGS - SEXY REXY
BEST MINI ROSE SPRAY (Sylvia Ward Memorial Plaque) WILLY VANDERPOST- RISE & SHINE
MINI QUEEN OF THE SHOW (R & S Capon Trophy) AUDREY MILLER - YELLOW KORDANA
BEST DESIGN SECTION IV (Reta Caldwell Plaque) AUDREY MILLER - SHOOTING STARS
BEST DESIGN SECTION V (Betty Nielsen Trophy) ELLEN SPENCER - EVOLUTION (EMPIRE)
JUDGES CHOICE (Certificate) RETA CALDWELL - EVOLUTION (ROCCOCO)
BEST ENGLISH ROSE (Certificate) ROBERT HORLINGS- GOLDEN CELEBRATION
BEST YOUTH EXHIBIT (Certificate) A MACKENZIE GRAUNGAARD -WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR (DESIGN)