THORNY BUSH. Affiliated with the American Rose Society

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1 THORNY BUSH Newsletter of the Huntington Rose Society; Huntington, WV Affiliated with the American Rose Society Volume 35, Issue 10 November 2016 Dates to Remember November 8, 2016 The annual Huntington Rose Society banquet takes place at the Central Christian Church, 1202 Fifth Avenue, starting at 6:30 pm. This will be the last meeting for Details can be found in this issue. IN THIS ISSUE President s Message..1 Slate of Officers for Annual Banquet Fragrance in Roses Hear Comes Winter Annual Food Drive.6 Membership renewal.6 President s Message Monica A. Valentovic Last month, we had a fantastic program by Beverly Delidow on Cooking with Roses. We had 14 people in attendance and everyone had a great experience of drinking rose hip and rose petal tea and rose flavored ice cream! Thank you Beverly!! We also want to thank Cheryl and Mike Johnson for providing hospitality and pizza. This year the banquet will be on November 8th at the Central Christian Church starting at 6:30 pm. More details are in the newsletter. In addition to our banquet, we will also be installing the new officers for We will have lots of door prizes, so make sure you come and bring a friend or two. Lastly, I want to thank everyone who served as an officer, gave a program, provided hospitality or hosted an event at their home. I am appreciative for all you have done. I hope that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a joyful holiday season! 2017 SLATE of HRS OFFICERS During our September gathering, we discussed the officers for next year. The slate of officers is listed below and everyone agreed to be a candidate for these offices. We will elect and install the officers at our November Banquet. President Monica Valentovic Vice President Linda Snedegar Secretary Archie Snedegar Treasurer Gary Rankin Assist. Treasurer Beverly Delidow

2 DISCLAIMER: The Editors believe the information contained in this newsletter is accurate and up to date. However, the Editors do not guarantee the accuracy of any article nor do we provide any endorsement or warranty. The Society and the Editor's do not accept any legal responsibilities for omissions or errors that have been made in this newsletter. of the door prizes will be the centerpiece donated by Spurlock Flowers. Hope you can make it! Annual Banquet The annual Huntington Rose Society banquet will begin at 6:30 PM, November 8, 2016 in the Fellowship Hall, Central Christian Church, 1202 Fifth Ave, Huntington, WV. The banquet will be potluck. The Society will provide turkey, cups, plates, silverware, soft drinks and coffee. This is a great time to bring your favorite recipe to share with your fellow rose growers. Following the dinner, President Monica Valentovic will open the floor for additional nominations for officers, followed by the election of officers for We hope you can plan to attend the banquet. It is the last time we meet as a group in We can guarantee lots of good food, some excellent door prizes and the fellowship of great people that are interested in having a good time. One Fragrance in Roses Lois Ann Helgeson Scent is an incredible potential tool in the repertory of the gardener. Fragrance can tease, evoke memories and emotions, or set a mood. However, most of the time, we fail to make use of scent in even the most elemental way when planning a garden. There are some good reasons for this common neglect of one of our senses. Scent is something that enhances our lives, at this point in our evolution. It is not a human survival tool. Although our noses are considered to be 10,000 times more sensitive than our sense of taste, we humans have rarely tried to learn to identify what we smell, or to develop vocabulary to put our impressions into words. The vocabulary we have is very primitive, and is often based upon terms used in 2

3 connection with food. Additionally, people have quite different levels of sensitivity to fragrances, and different reactions to them, based upon their past experiences or what we call scent memories. Fragrances are exuded from glands on the lower petal surfaces (and in some cases, leaf surfaces, as with R. eglanteria) and the bristly glands of the moss roses. The amount of fragrance is determined by a number of factors, including particular rose varieties and climatic conditions. Since fragrance in flowers is associated with the attraction of pollinating insects, the genetic triggers for releasing fragrance are associated with the time of day and conditions that these normal pollinators are active. Substances detected primarily by human smell are generally soluble in oil. In contrast, substances that are detected by human taste are usually soluble in water. Sunny, warm weather releases odors found in volatile plant oils. Humidity helps to prolong the smell because it reduces the rate of evaporation. The actual fragrance of roses is produced by oil-based compounds of alcohols and sugars, produced and combined in the chloroplasts, near the surface of the petals. These ingredients are surrounded with glucose, which causes the formation of scentless glucosides. Scent becomes apparent when the glucoside is hydrolyzed by enzymes, a process that occurs, in part, when climatic conditions are right. Since some of these compounds evaporate faster than others, the fragrance of a rose can change as the bloom opens. In addition to sun, soil, and ph, adequate water is an important factor. When additional moisture is present, the scent ingredient in the chloroplasts increases, which adds more potential fragrance. People can educate their palate to fragrances by taking the time to notice differences, and by trying to identify dominant qualities of each much the same as a professional wine taster does. A number of years ago, on a trip through California wine country, I was given a copy of a wine aroma wheel. The wheel divides the known aromas of wine into three levels of identifying terms. A wine example, also present in flower fragrances, is the term fruity, which divides into the sub-categories of citrus, berry, tree-fruit, tropical-fruit, and driedfruit. Each of these is divided into a third level. Tree-fruit divides into cherry, apricot, peach, and apple. An amazing list of possible aromas has been accumulated on wines. This list covers a range from the fruity and floral (each with its sub-terms) to less-commonly-recognizable aromas, with sub-terms such as soapy, horsy, 3

4 burnt toast, and wet cardboard. We have a long way to go, in classifying rose fragrances, to reach the level of sophistication found in the wine industry. This does, however, point out some obvious possibilities in the direction that we might go. So far, over thirty compounds have been involved in rose fragrance. Many of these occur in combination. Some of the most common rose scents are apple, clover, lemon, nasturtium, orris (iris root) and violet. Others include green tea leaves, cloves, raspberry, bay, spice, musk, parsley, wine, lily of the valley, linseed oil, fern, moss, hyacinth, orange, anise, honey, marigold, banana, apricot, quince, geranium, peppers, melon, and myrrh. Additional connections have been found between rose classes and scent, and even rose colors and scents. There is a certain amount of genetic logic in these discoveries. Classes of roses, especially Old Garden Roses, are identified with particular color ranges, and also with particular fragrances. Gallica Roses come in crimsons, deep pinks, mauves, and stripes and splashes. They are most often described as having Old Rose fragrances, which can be intense and spicy. Damask Roses are white to dark pink, with unusual fragrances often associated with fruity perfumes. However, the further into complicated genetic crossings that hybridizers go, the more complex and elusive our modern rose fragrances can become. Crossing two roses, with unrelated fragrances, can produce offspring lacking in noticeable fragrance. Many people point to the classes of OGR s, and expound upon their abundance of fragrance by comparison to that of our modern roses. What they have forgotten is that the older roses we are familiar with are only a small percentage of the OGR varieties originally developed. Those that are commercially available today were chosen, and became commercially successful, at least partially because of their fragrances. Flower form was not the primary interest of hybridizers during the height of the OGR era. Many OGRs were developed which did not have good fragrance. Most of these roses have been forgotten. Fragrant Cloud 1970 Gamble Awardee Some years ago, James Gamble (whose name is associated with the ARS 4

5 Fragrance Award) ran tests on more than 3,000 Hybrid Tea Roses. He concluded that approximately 25 percent had little or no fragrance, 20 percent were intensely fragrant, and the rest were somewhere in between. It would appear that these results are well within the bell-shaped curve of natural occurrences. Increasing the odds of producing new roses with fragrance is taking a great deal of work, since the gene for fragrance is recessive. diseases. The commercial appeal would be questionable. When evaluating a new introduction today, after looking for beautiful flowers with good form, the next characteristic looked for is disease-resistance. Fragrance sometimes comes along as that special bonus. Reprinted from the American Rose Society website- Probably more important than hard work will be perseverance, and a considerable amount of luck on the part of the rose hybridizers. Sam McGredy, the renowned hybridizer from New Zealand, has said (obviously, with his usual sense of humor showing) that it is simple to Octoberfest hybridized by Sam McGreedy produce a fragrant rose. It takes about five generations of crosses and back-crosses to produce a line of fragrant roses(shown above is New Zealand). The roses will likely be pink in color, with poor form, and probably will be leafless, since the plant will be susceptible to most of our rose Here Comes Winter Don Julien When we look at the purpose of winter protection, it is not to keep the bush warm, but to moderate the rate at which the bush freezes and thaws. A winter cover that allows water to seep through and freeze causes no danger to the bush, nor does frozen soil. (Frozen soil is more a problem when ice crystals freeze out 5

6 of surface soil, causing frost heaves, snapping roots; since this occurs only where there is room for the ice to expand (i.e., the surface), mulch or winter cover would move this heave zone to the surface of the mulch or mound, well out of reach of the roots.) Should the water in the winter cover freeze, it would do so slowly, and as warm temperature or sun returns, it would thaw slowly, giving the bush time to adjust. Water in soil (and on cane surfaces) will freeze at 32 to 23ºF (depending on what is dissolved in the water). Water between the cells (called intercellular water) freezes at 23 to 14ºF. The concentrated solute within the cells freezes at -4 to -40ºF. If a plant has time to prepare, it can withstand quite cold temperatures. What about roses in containers? Roots are generally not subjected to the harsh temperature changes that the above-ground bush needs to withstand. Although roots do cold harden somewhat, they do not do so as dramatically as the rest of the bush. I found no hard figures for roses, but other species of woody plants suffer root kill at temperatures as wide as 23 to -9ºF. From my own experience, I have had little loss of miniature roses in unprotected containers (one- and three-gallon pots) in a cold house with temperatures down to 20ºF, but more significant loss of 1-gallon plants when night temperatures dipped to 15º F for an extended period. All this discussion about moving gracefully into winter assumes your bushes have been healthy and vigorous all summer. If your plants have been under stress lack of water during August and September, or leaf drop from blackspot or spider mites the plants have not been producing normal amounts of carbohydrates. As winter approaches, the bushes will not mysteriously manufacture more. The concentrations of sugars in the canes will be lower than normal, and the potential for freeze damage higher. If such is the case for your bushes, get your winter protection onto your rose beds soon after the first couple of heavy frosts and pray. Reprinted in part from the American Rose Society website- Welcome our New Members Jiang Liu & Fang Bai 6266 Division Rd Huntington, WV baif@marshall.edu & liuj@marshall.edu 6

7 Thank you to our 2016 Patrons Queen Gary Rankin/Monica Valentovic Gil and Betsy Ratcliff Huntington Rose Society Food Drive This year we will have our sixth annual food drive as a community project. Food banks in our area need our help. We ask everyone who is able to bring 4 or more canned food items, pasta, cereal or other non-perishable items to the BANQUET. For each 4 items you will receive an extra door prize ticket. If you wish to donate cash to purchase food items or wish to provide a check payable to the Huntington Rose Society, then we will give you a ticket for every $4 donated. The society will then donate these items to the Huntington City Mission and Central Christian Church for their Thanksgiving baskets. Princess Phyllis McFadden Cheryl and Mike Johnson John David Powell Sandy White Prince Earl Massie Kathryn Moore Thank you to our 2017 Patrons Queen Beverly Delidow Gary Rankin/Monica Valentovic Princess Fang Bai and Jiang Liu Prince Kathryn Moore Sandy White 7

8 2017 MEMBERSHIP IN THE HUNTINGTON ROSE SOCIETY NAME(S) ADRESS CITY PHONE NUMBER STATE ZIPCODE Make checks payable to Huntington Rose Society and mail to: CHECK ONE SINGLE $8 FAMILY $12 Gary Rankin, Treasurer 109 Cedar Court, Lavalette, WV Additional Contribution: $ Levels - Prince ($10-25); Princess ($26-50); King ($51-99); Queen ($100 or more) The Huntington Rose Society is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and any donations are tax deductible. The Thorny Bush Gary Rankin and Monica Valentovic, Editors 109 Cedar Court Lavalette, WV