Happy October Folks,
Well, here we are with less than a week before our Fall Convention that a few of us have been working on all year. It is now up to the rest of you GRS member to come and support our effort and make this a successful event. It is never too late to come and pay registration cost on site. Even to attend the banquet, we probably can get the hotel to add a couple extra plates if you decide to pay for a meal. We would love for you to enjoy this special time together.
With so little participation in the GRS Rose Show, a few of us are thinking it is now time to dispense with our yearly rose shows. There is no fun for one or two people winning all the awards. We will have some discussion on this at our next board meeting, the perhaps a society vote. The storage for show supplies has become too expensive to keep as well, especially with our limited GRS funds.
Now that the weather has begun to cool down some, our roses will be showing their happiness by providing better blooms for us to appreciate. But, they still are in need of care, watering is number 1, then a last fall feeding before November 1st. I usually apply a soluble fertilizer of Peters 20-20-20 at the rate of 1 TB per gallon, one to two gallons per plant, according to the plant size. Also with cool damp nights comes fungal diseases, so one or two applications of fungicide is recommended. Do not feed plants after November 1st. This may cause the plant to start new growth too late before any freezing temperature arrives. You don’t want new stems dying off; this only weakens the plant and causes stress that will weaken them too.
Please keep up with the GRS newsletter for upcoming programs and events.
I hope to see a lot of you at the convention, remember it replaces our October meeting.
Happiness is a smiling rose!
Ralph Stream, Master Rosarian, President