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This is an example of our monthly newsletter. If you would like to receive this newsletter and all of the useful information it contains, just contact our membership chairperson and join our club today! The Rosy Forecast Newsletter of the Greater Harrisburg Rose Society Ron Chronister November 2007 Memory is the power to gather roses in winter. Unknown President’s message…. What a Fall we have had!!!! We have enjoyed moderate temperatures with lots of sunshine and beautiful blue skies. As a result, I have a few rose bushes that are still producing blooms. I walked outside yesterday and cut roses to bring into the house. I now have a vase in the kitchen sporting a few blooms of Margaret Merrill (white and extremely fragrant), a Swarthmore, a cluster of Poulsen’s Pearl and a single bloom from Matilda (aka Charles Aznavour). I don’t know about you but I try to extend the season as long as possible with cut blooms indoors. Just walking by the vase and smelling the wonderful fragrance is a mood booster. With the time change and early darkness, gardening for those of us who are not yet retired is reduced to a weekend adventure. As an avid Penn State football fan I must admit that my gardens have been sorely neglected over the past month or so. I have not sprayed for several weeks but most of my bushes are still covered with healthy green foliage. I have also neglected to supplement our miniscule rainfall with ample watering in September and October. So, my fingers are crossed that the bushes are healthy enough to sustain whatever foul weather conditions they will face during the upcoming winter. As we head towards the end of the gardening season, it is time to take stock of the things that produced positive results in the garden and those that were not successful. For me, this year was only moderately successful. I must be more diligent in both spraying and fertilizing next year. To help me improve the effectiveness of fertilizers next year, I finally bought a soil tester from Rosemania to check the ph level in my gardens. (I know, I know. All serious gardeners have their soil tested regularly to adjust fertilizer usage to garden conditions.) Thanksgiving is just a few weeks off. That means it is time to winterize our gardens. I will be surrounding my gardens with fencing to protect the bushes from nibbling bunnies over winter. In addition, I protect the most tender varieties in my gardens with Styrofoam cones. Otherwise, I prune the longest canes back to about 3-4 feet and, if necessary, bind them together to minimize the wobbling back and forth in heavy winds. I do not use soil or other materials over the bud unions of my budded bushes since most are planted with the bud union a few inches below the ground surface. I hope all of you agree that 2007 has been a very successful year for our society. With a lot of tireless effort and incredible generosity, we planned for and presented a wonderful district convention and rose show in September. While that is surely the highlight of our year, we have also had informative meetings and have shared our ideas about rose gardening and rose varieties with one another. This month we will have our annual social meeting complete with lots of food to munch on and an entertaining video from the AARS. Please remember to bring a Christmas ornament to the meeting. In closing, I want to extend my sincerest thanks to all of you for your commitment to our society this year. Wishing you the happiest of Holidays and a relaxing winter. Ron |
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