It is always great to start off a new growing season with a horticultural clean slate. There are no bugs, and black spot and mildew are no where to be found. At this time of the year, our vision of a beautiful and bountiful garden of roses is perfect. We see huge perfectly formed hybrid tea blooms, we see magnificent displays of climbing roses cascading over a wall, we see that the foliage is deep green and just oozing with energy making potential, and the heavenly fragrance of the old garden roses wafts through out our gardens and into our homes. Like I said, our visions of the garden are perfect at the beginning of the season, but we all know what eventually happens. Mother Nature has many tricks up her sleeve and before the summer is over we all begin to make little compromises and eventually we usually submit to her will.

Reality sets in and our gardens rarely live up to our expectations. Does this mean that we should give up our dreams and visions? Should we stop trying to grow the perfect rose? The answer to those questions is easy for most rose growers – never. Because the visions and dreams we have had sets the standards or goals for our achievements in growing roses. Set the standard high and you will do great things in your garden.

With the foregoing in mind, we can all make a promise to ourselves to do something special with our roses this year. Keeping in mind that we must still continue to practice all of the basics in caring for our roses, focus on one aspect of growing roses and do it well this year. It may be just one simple thing, like keeping the rose beds weed free or making sure that your roses have the proper amount of water all summer long. I am going to think GREEN this year. That means that I am going to focus on keeping the foliage on my roses a nice dark green all summer. If I can accomplish that feat, I believe that I will have all of the beautiful roses that I want this summer. So join me this year; make a promise to your self, and make those spring time visions come true in your garden.

The rose growing season is now well under way. All of your spring pruning should be done by now, and if you have purchased bare root roses, they should be in the ground or pots. Our next meeting will be on May 10th at the Holliday Park Nature Center. We have been able to arrange for better exterior night time lighting at the facility, so rest assured that you can safely attend the meeting. Bill Carlson, one of our best consulting rosarians, will do another one of our back to basics programs “Rose Diseases”. All of the new members should plan to attend to learn about black spot, powdery mildew, and other rose diseases. I am sure that Bill will have all of the answers to your rose disease questions.

If you have ordered mini roses or Great Lakes roses you can pick them up at the meeting. All mini roses and Great Lakes rose not sold at Orchard in Bloom will also be available at the meeting. So come to the meeting, buy a few roses, and support the financial success of our society this year. Just to let you know, the 2006 membership booklet has been mailed out to our membership. If you did not receive your booklet, you can also pick one up a the meeting.

I hope all of you have got off to a good start in your garden this spring and I will see you at the meeting on May 10th. Don’t forget to come a little early for refreshments and to socialize with other members who love to grow roses.

Mark Nolen, President.