CEMETERY R OSE Old City Cemetery Historic Rose Garden Preserving California’s Heritage Roses Americorps In The Rose Garden by Barbara Oliva Volume 7, Issue 2 We were fortunate to have a December 2007 crew of Americorps youth working in the Garden on November 17. They spent all In this issue: day pruning, digging suckers, clearing overgrown vegetation Americorps 1 and irrigation lines. Impermanent 1 This is not the first time the Gardens Americorps program sent Editorial 2 workers to the Cemetery, and each time those kids get an Training & Prun- 2 amazing amount of work ing Climbers done. They also seem to en- joy their work! We are grate- Garden Visitors 3 ful to them all. Many thanks to all the happy Americorps crews Rose Garden 4 Maintenance he Pruning Clinics led by Barbara Oliva will be held in the ave t S ! Historic Rose Garden at 10 a.m. HRF Conference 6 Date Saturday December 1 and Saturday December 15 See page 7 for details Pruning Clinics 7 World List of 7 On The Impermanence of Gardens by Judy Eitzen Rose Gardens Pruning Invita- 7 Historically, gardens have been linked to apart to be enjoyed. In the Far East, gardens have been designed to facilitate religious ex- tional art and aesthetics, medicine and religion. Some see gardens as a work of art – a perience. perfect view or picture – likened to a In all cases, we have come to realize that gar- Cemetery Rose painting. Christopher Lloyd (actor and Garden dens are not permanent compositions and Activities and Dates gardener) said once, “The garden is the are subject to physical change. Flowers grow most impermanent art…changing all the and die, trees shed their leaves, and even Pruning Clinics December 1 time.” within a single day, rain or the hot Sacra- December 15 mento sun can bring about significant 10 a.m. People have cultivated a wide variety of changes. plants for nourishment and their curative Pruning Invitational January 19 functions. In medieval times, gardens were Gardeners make changes too, changing a separated by function; vegetables in the layout or introducing new plants. Even our Open Garden kitchen garden, medicinal plants in the herb (Continued on page 3) April 12 garden and trees, lawns and shrubbery set Page 2 Cemetery Rose Expanded Issue—change of delivery editorial There was so much to tell you all that this issue runs Spending money on copying and postage means two extra pages. Actually, it probably could have that less money is available for the garden itself; been crammed into the usual six, but it’s more than structures, plants, irrigation, etc. Black and white time that everyone get to see some of what’s going copies aren’t very pretty. on at the garden as well as read about it. No matter For those receiving by U.S. Mail, send me your how poetical we wax about Rose email and I’ll send you each issue Garden goings-on, pictures are when it’s published. We also use worth at least 1,000 words, etc. etc. the email list to notify interested Further, one can see our accom- folks about special garden events plishments in color if one receives and visitors, etc. the issue via email. Photos can It’s delightful to have so much go- even be enlarged online to show ing on in the garden and that so details and convey even more. many volunteers are working hard Finally, you received this issue via to make the garden one of the best. email if (a) you submitted a request It’s gratifying that all our hard work to do so or (b) I know your email makes our garden worthy of being address. If you need a hardcopy, listed as one of the world’s most one can easily be printed, or you important gardens of old roses. In can email me and I’ll send one to fact, that’s amazing! you. The issue is also (like others) available on our Contributions, complaints, greetings: website (www.cemeteryrose.org). [email protected] or call me at 685-6634 Training & Pruning Climbing Roses by Anita Clevenger One of the more intimidating tasks that or up over a fence. Other roses, often called you can encounter in the rose garden is “Large Flowered Climbers,” have stiffer canes, A good resource for training and pruning climbing roses. and usually bloom repeatedly on new wood. selection and care of It's really not so hard, once you get a These roses bloom at the top of their canes, so you need to fan them out or train them hori- climbing roses is Stephen few concepts down. zontally to encourage lateral buds to break and Scanniello's Climbing flower. These roses grow well trained against a First of all, roses don't tend to hold them- Roses , written in fence or wall. It may be possible to wrap them selves up. They need to be supported to collaboration with Tania around a pillar, but the canes may be too stiff. “climb.” If trained into a tree, they may Bayard.(NY, Prentice-Hall, If trained over an arch, most flowers will be at readily clamber up over branches, but in the top. 1994) This book is general they need to be tied to their sup- available in the library, or port. I strongly recommend tying canes on No matter which type of climber, it is best to let one side of a support, and not weaving used copies can be the plant grow for the first few years to establish them through, to make it easier to remove purchased on-line. basal canes, cutting out only dead canes until old or unwanted canes. the plant is mature. Want to learn more? Join Not all “climbing” roses are the same. Any pruning job starts with evaluating how the in with Rose Garden Some roses, often called “ramblers,” have plant is growing, and the shape and effect that flexible canes. These roses usually bloom volunteers on Wednesday you'd like to achieve. You need to decide just once, on wood that grew last season. or Saturday mornings, and which old canes should be removed, and which They will send out flowering laterals all up strong new canes are “keepers.” Once you've learn by working with us. the length of their canes. These are the sort cut out the old canes, it's much easier to visual- of roses that you can readily train up an ize the rest of the pruning job. arch, coax into a tree, wrap around a pillar, (Continued on page 5) Volume 7, Issue 2 Page 3 Garden Visitors by Anita Clevenger One of the greatest joys of volunteering Best of all is when we meet up with knowl- in the Historic Rose Garden is sharing edgeable rosarians, some of whom have it with others which is one reason Bar- traveled a long way just to see the garden. bara and I try to greet people we see Barbara recently encountered our friends walking through the garden. Pamela and Michael Temple, who had come down from Mendocino County for a Sometimes, visitors are not familiar with short get-away from their own wonderful the roses. We answer questions and enjoy garden. Barbara also met some people their discovery that a rose is not just a rose from Germany, who were visiting a friend is a rose. We meet painters and photogra- in Elk Grove and asked to come visit the phers who find inspiration at every angle. cemetery while they were in California. Some visitors are focused on history, seek- I've run into people whom I only know ing family members or enjoying how the (Continued on page 4) cemetery evokes another time and place. Impermanent Gardens, cont. (Continued from page 1) perception of the garden alters as we change – we grow more vigorously than when they spent more time in the older, more experienced, more knowledgeable and suddenly shade. see things differently. The mutability of the garden is one of its attractions. Plants, even roses, can become diseased or damaged as cir- cumstances in the garden change. A new burial, headstone The Historic Rose Garden is no exception as change is con- or plot wall repair may mean that a rose must be moved or tinual. Think about the Rose Garden a few years ago and even removed to accommodate the change. Recently, vol- compare it in your mind to now and you will note signifi- unteers have expanded the use of other plants (iris, poppies cant differences. Most obvious is the removal of several and other perennials) to increase plant diversity in the gar- heritage elm trees from the Cemetery that has changed grow- den. This can have the effect of reducing the incidence of ing conditions for many roses. As more light is now avail- diseases and pests that proliferate in a monoculture. able to these roses (particularly in the southwest area of the Broadway Bed) they require more water and are growing Changes are happening nearly every day; come and see what’s new. Buff Beauty in the Broadway bed photographed mid-spring in 2006 and 2007, showing the difference more sunlight has made to the overall beauty and vigor of the plant. It is larger, has more blooms and leaves are fuller and more numerous. Other plants in the area show similar improvement. Page 4 Cemetery Rose Rose Garden Maintenance Report by Anita Clevenger Autumn lived up to its promise with a edges of the paths in many parts of the spectacular, prolonged display.