Everything's Coming Up Roses

UC Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) staff distributed ladybugs (actually lady beetles, but when you say "lady beetles," someone is sure to ask "Aren't those LADYBUGS?") at Briggs Hall during the recent UC Davis Picnic Day.

A welcome gift, indeed. 

We placed our two little beneficial buddies on a yellow rose rose bush,  "Sparkle and Shine," purchased last year during the Rose Weekend sponsored by the UC Davis-based  California Center for Urban Horticulture (CCUH), part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

"Eat," we said. "Eat aphids."

Ladybugs don't always do what they're told. Sometimes they fly away.

However, the yellow roses are gorgeous. They remind me of "The Yellow Rose of Texas," a song--and flower--so loved by my Texas-born mother. "So pretty," she'd say.

Which bring us to this: CCHU's 2014 Rose Weekend is set Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4 at the Foundation Plant Services, 455 Hopkins Road, UC Davis. CCHU kindly hosts this fundraiser just before Mother's Day to make gift-giving easier. The two-day event includes rose sales, bus tours of the Foundation Plant Services' eight acres of roses, and informational sessions on roses--everything you've always wanted to know about roses but didn't know who to ask.

Admission is free. Also free: a rose for each guest while supplies last. In addition, CCHU will offer for sale copies of the popular UC IPM book, "Healthy Roses." The bus tours of the eight-acre rose field will take place every 30 minutes, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., both Saturday and Sunday.

The schedule:

Saturday, May 3:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Rose sale
12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Rose field tours
Speakers:
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Peter Boyd, noted Rosarian
11 a.m. to noon: Christian Bedard, rose breeder
--UC Master Gardeners' booth for questions and answers
--Rose Tissue Culture Information Booth

Sunday, May 4:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,: Rose sale
12:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Rose field tours
UC Master Gardeners' booth for questions and answers

What roses will be offered for sale? Well, the Secret's Out. Yes, that's one of the roses. The others carry equally enticing names: Cherry Parfait, Cinnamon Dolce, Eternal Flame, Dark Knight, Love's Paradise, Paradise Found (I didn't know it was lost), Passionate Kisses, and Sunshine Daydream.

The colors? Among them: Luscious reds, brilliant golds, and pure-as-the-driven-snow whites. You can download an online catalog to help you with your selections. Some roses are All-American Rose Selections (AARS). To be selected, a rose is evaluated for two years under no-spray conditions, and must meet strict criteria for superior disease resistance, fragrance and flower color, according to CCHU director Dave Fujino and program manager Anne Schellman.

They're also provided a handy rose dictionary on their website for those unfamiliar with roses:

English-style roses: Roses with dense petals that possess a strong fragrance. David Austin roses are English roses.

Floribunda: Medium-sized flowers in a “spray” of blossoms. Compact plants that are smaller and “bushier” than hybrid teas.

Grandiflora: Largest rose plant, has hybrid tea-style roses in small clusters of 3-5. Stems can be used for cutting.

Hybrid tea: One large flower per stem. Plant is medium to tall. Stems can be used for cutting.

Polyantha: A bushy plant with vibrant flowers 

Whether they're English-style, floribundas, grandifloras, hybrid teas, or polyanthas, everything will be coming up roses on May 3 and 4.

Contact information:
Anne Schellman
aschellman@ucdavis.edu
530-752-6642