La Rose Impériale

Last December I attended the All Arizona Rose Society Luncheon in Mesa, AZ, where Clair Martin was the guest speaker. His topics were changes at the rose gardens at Huntington, and their spring 2008 exhibit "La Rose Impériale." Needless to say, I am planning a trip to my old stomping grounds. How lovely it will be to see the Huntington Gardens and Descanso again!

From the Huntington website:

“La Rose Impériale: The Development of Modern Roses” will showcase 110 rare illustrated herbals and rose books, including a first edition of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s glorious multivolume work, Les Roses (1817-24). The exhibition is the anchor of a yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Rose Garden at The Huntington, which was established by the institution’s founders Henry and Arabella Huntington in 1908."

Pruning time!

Here in the desert it is rose-pruning time. This year I am hard pruning several of my larger roses to make it easier to re-pot them, or move them to larger pots. I don't normally do this with my teas and chinas.

I am also trying an experiment with my beloved Bourbon roses. For years I have been following the advice to prune them as you would a hybrid tea. For Mme. Isaac Pereire and Mme. Ernst Calvat this has been fine. For the other two (Louise Odier, Mme. Pierre Oger), I have ended up with older canes that are just a mess, and not very productive. It is like the wood gets too hard to send new growth out. So this year I am pruning out many of these older canes and leaving the long, younger canes that are 1-2 years old, and pegging them. I hope this creates plants that I will love even more. Thank goodness they are all in pots so I can easily make room for the pegged canes. Pictures coming!

Here are some links to good information on pruning OGRs in a warm climate:

• Gold Coast Rose Heritage Group
  
• Huntington Gardens
• Berkeley Horticultural Nursery