Hello all GRS members and friends:
I am sure you all will agree that Fall of the year here in the Gainesville area is the most enjoyable. That is realized after coming out of so hot and humid spring and summer. I personally suffered far more this year than any other year I can remember. Perhaps it is getting older that makes the difference. Even our roses showed far more heat stress than in years past. Our plants looked tolerable when we cut them back a few weeks ago. Lots of dead canes, distorted leaves. A lot of this came from three outbreaks of chili thrip and spider mite damage. These effects come from very hot and dry weather, and we had way too much of both.
Now is the time to be cutting back the rose stems to at least pencil size, doing this in the next few weeks will give you the season’s best blooms. This will be just in time to have some for holiday decorating. Too late for any of the fall shows though; they needed to be cut back by mid-September in time for local and district shows.
I will continue to feed our roses with a soluble fertilizer until mid-October. By then rapid growth will have slowed way down due to shorter daylight hours.
Your annual membership dues are now due to remain on our membership list. I hope you will keep up your membership and stay active in learning how to care for your plants. Feel free to invite your neighbors to join us in becoming a member. We are attempting new avenues for monthly programs and hope you will enjoy them. This month we will be watching a PowerPoint program which was created a couple years ago by Dr. Ed Bez from High Springs. Dr. Bez is a history buff and did a nice job with this presentation. Jean Giesel will be presenting this for us. Please bring your “Bee” comments and tales to share. I am sure each of us has some sort of “bee” memories.
In closing, I want to remind you that there is till time to register for the 2025 Deep South District Fall Convention and Rose show. There is always something new to learn at these yearly events. Plus, seeing all the newest roses on display at the show is exciting. The ARS Vice Present Elect will be there as the keynote speaker for the Saturday evening banquet. Carrie Berg and her husband, Joe, live in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI. They are coming a long way, so let’s attend and show them our southern support.
I hope to see you all on the 12th.
