Roses Galore-ious
Any other time, a rose may be just a rose, but this year we are seeing a rose riot.
Those El Nino-driven rains have produced mega-size roses in spectacular numbers.
“The abundance of bloom is overwhelming,” gushed Connie Estes, president of the Ventura County Rose Society. Her Santa Paula yard is bright with 75 rosebushes. “I go into the garden and there are so many roses, I can’t decide what to clip.”
Whether you just like to gaze at these beauties or you want to get down in the dirt and grow them yourself, there are a number of rose-laden spots to explore in and around Ventura County.
At the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, the Rose Society maintains a Heritage Rose Garden unlike any around. Planted four years ago, it features about 30 rose plantings--all of them “historically correct” for the original inn, built in 1876.
Perhaps the oldest variety is Old Blush, which came to Europe from China in 1752 and inspired the poem, “ ‘Tis the Last Rose of Summer.” The garden sports the favorite of Teddy Roosevelt, the pale pink Duchesse de Brabant, which dates to 1857.
But the most interesting rose is undated and lacks a scientific name. Called simply the Maria Wood rose, this pink bloomer was donated by Janet Sandell of Oxnard and honors her great-grandmother, Maria Wood Herren.
The rose has been in Sandell’s family since 1888 or earlier. It may have come West with Mrs. Herren when she left her Kansas homestead that year for California. Through four generations, it has been a tradition for family newlyweds to receive a plant grown from cuttings off the rosebush.
The garden is a pleasant spot just to sit and take in the pastel shades of these venerable plants, called old garden roses. A creamy white rose climbs over an arbor. In one corner a sundial is whimsically placed in a patch of thyme. Paths lead through the garden, and each plant is identified. The scents blend into a heavy aroma you can’t help but suck in.
These hearty old garden roses are enjoying a burst of popularity these days, according to Estes, who grows them exclusively.
“The old ones smelled better,” she said. “People want roses today that are fragrant. They remember their grandmother’s rose perfume.”
The local Rose Society, whose members number about 150, maintains another rose garden--a more contemporary version--in Camarillo’s Constitution Park. This one is dominated by a new white pergola with massive columns for those climbing roses. With about 160 plantings, the garden is a mass of vivid colors--reds, yellows, pinks, gold, lavender, white and combos like red tipped with pink, yellow or white.
There are some stupendous private rose gardens tucked into neighborhoods throughout the county. Some members of the Rose Society have 300 rose plants, or even 500, in their yards. You can’t go traipsing through these private gardens, but there are other spots where you can enjoy wonderful roses.
The Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura has an abundance of roses maintained by a group of volunteers. Santa Paula Memorial Hospital also has a volunteer-maintained rose garden with a sweeping view of the Santa Clara Valley from its hilltop location.
But for roses with a view, head for Santa Barbara. The A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden, with its 1,500 roses, is across the street from the mission.
“It’s one of the most spectacular spots in the world,” said Dan Bifano, coordinator of the garden, which is maintained by 50 volunteers. At the entrance is an old fountain the group plans to revamp. Designed in 1959, the garden holds a wide variety of roses, including 200 miniatures.
If just looking at these gems gives you the urge to delve into the heady world of roses, the pros suggest joining the Rose Society. The variety of roses is mind-boggling, including many types--hybrid teas, floribunda, miniatures, English, climbing, old garden.
Just to give you an idea of the possibilities, stop by Otto & Sons Nursery in Fillmore, which specializes in roses. Tucked four miles up scenic Guiberson Road, this 12-acre nursery has vast spreads of rose plants--about 400 varieties. The family-run nursery grew more than 50,000 plants this year, and there are still 30,000 on the grounds.
It’s literally a blinding sea of color.
“People come and bring their cameras and wander around,” said Scott Klittich, Otto Klittich’s son.
This is a wholesale operation, but on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, it’s open for retail business. When you go in, pick up a map of the 37-acre property (they also grow Valencia oranges), which shows the locations of all the various roses. They also have tips on planting, pruning and generally caring for roses. Another handout identifies each rose by color, year of introduction, fragrance, size, and resistance to disease and heat, and it also lists those with high ratings from the American Rose Society.
But if you can catch the younger Klittich, you’ll glean even more. He pooh-poohs the idea that roses are tricky to grow.
“Roses are very forgiving--they’ll take a lot of abuse,” he said. “People want a perfect plant. They’re scared of it. Just whack it back and the chances are it will grow. It does like to be fed.”
So just what do people like in a rose? First, they go for color, according to Klittich, then fragrance. Some specialize, planting all celebrity-named flowers, like the Henry Fonda rose, Lucille Ball, Lady Diana, Judy Garland, George Burns.
“It doesn’t have to be a formal rose garden,” he said. “I like to see roses put in landscaping.” In fact, he recommends shrub roses for those of us with rudimentary gardening skills.
With little prodding, he’ll offer other recommendations. For the most fragrance, he likes the apricot-colored hybrid tea Abbaya de Cluny, along with the pink English rose called Katherine Morley, or the hybrid tea New Zealand, with its white-pink blend. As for color, Mr. Lincoln is a rich red with a nice scent.
“Olympiad is a better red, but there’s no fragrance, so you have a trade-off,” he said.
His other color picks included the bright pink Signature, the white Honor and the yellow Henry Fonda.
Although color and fragrance are key sellers, disease resistance has become a big factor in the last few years.
“It’s the big push now; no one wants to spray,” he said.
For disease resistance, he recommended the orange Living Easy, the coral Spice Twice, the purple Love Potion and the red-white Scentimental.
His top seller is the white Iceberg.
“It flowers a lot,” he said. “It’s not much care and has little mildew.”
His second-best seller is the Double Delight, a creamy blushing red.
Klittich’s favorite? A vivid yellow-red blend called Perfect Moment. As he explained, “It’s a man’s rose.”
BE THERE
Where to Find Roses:
Stagecoach Inn Museum, 51 S. Ventu Park Road, Newbury Park; Constitution Park, Carmen Drive and Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo; A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden, across from Mission Santa Barbara, 2201 Laguna St.; Otto & Sons Nursery, 1835 E. Guiberson Road, Fillmore, (800) 675-6886.
For information on the Ventura County Rose Society, call (805) 525-3834.
Other rose gardens in the Los Angeles area: Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, (818) 952-4400; Huntington Gardens, San Marino, (626) 405-2141; Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, (626) 821-3222.
