First Rose Show of the Season

Yesterday was the first rose show of the season put on by the San Fernando Valley Rose Society.  They did a wonderful job and I am happy I could attend.   I belong to 2 rose societies and help with the work at some shows. I have been in these clubs for 23 years.  Here is a link to my home club the Los Angeles rose society    LARS    But it is nice to just attend a show and be a participant sometimes.   I have been exhibiting roses at shows on and off for about 18 years.  But I am a terrible sprayer(one who sprays insecticides/fungicides on their plants) and I hate the fiddly grooming of the blooms the morning of the show.  So I am considered an "occasional" exhibitor meaning that I don't go to ALL the shows and enter a million roses and win 20 trophies per show.  That is fine and I have many "die-hard" exhibitor friends who do very well.  I think my interests are too diversified; roses, geraniums, landscaping, Disneyland, music, crafts, etc.  

We had crazy weather in SoCal this winter and spring; hot January, then cold in Feb, then hot again, then 2 separate days of down pouring rain and wind this week.  That made for short stems and see-through and torn up petals on the roses!  Despite that local exhibitors brought in wonderful blooms for this show.  My garden is just starting to bloom since I was pruning everybody else's roses(2600 something) this winter and didn't get to prune my own until February!  

I was able to enter 6 specimens; 3 arrangements and 3 stems in horticulture.  I am ecstatic to have won 2 trophies!  The first was Most Fragrant with a David Austin rose called Ambridge Rose.  It has that myrrh scent that smells so sweet like candy.  Many Austin roses have that yummy scent. 

The other was for Best Rose In A Bowl with Marilyn Monroe.   I rarely enter hybrid teas because I can't grow them as well as the die-hard exhibitors(huge blooms with perfect foliage and long stems).  But this one had that wonderful pinpoint center that is good exhibition form.  It had a short stem which was perfect for a rose bowl.  Yay!  

Some roses at the show. 

Yolande d'Aragon

Monseiur Tillier

Gemini.  

The next rose show is the Pacific Rose Society show at the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia, CA on April 28 & 29.     PRS Rose show    Visit it if you can.  Or come and enter your own roses.  Novice classes are usually light on entries.  Entries from 6:00AM to 10:00AM.  Shows usually open at about 1:00PM after judging is finished.