Learn how to prune roses
If you want strong, healthy rose plants with big, beautiful blooms this spring, winter is the best time to prune them.
Don Chapman, a member of the Marin Rose Society and UC Marin Master Gardeners, has recently produced a video, “How to Prune Roses in Winter,” that demonstrates his pruning techniques for various types of roses — hybrid teas, old floribundas and climbing.
He also shares tips for the best tools you'll need for the best results.
Here are a few things to know:
• Know your rose. When and how to prune depends on what type of rose you're working with. Repeat bloomers, those that have several flushes of flowers spring to fall, are the roses to prune now. Species roses and many old garden varieties that bloom once a year should not be pruned now, or you'll lose all the spring flowers.
• Start with the end in mind. After pruning your plant, you'll want three to seven well-spaced sturdy, healthy canes about 18 inches tall, in a vase-shaped configuration with an open interior. Keep this in mind as you begin your work.
• Be bold. Winter pruning involves removing ¹/3 to ½ of the rose, so look at ways to reduce large portions at a time, rather than a series of cuts. Work from the ground up instead of nibbling away from the top down. If an old cane is no longer producing much new growth or flowers, consider removing it at its origin using loppers or a pruning saw.
• Do it in stages. Take on the 80/20 approach; get the first
80% of the rose done, then a week or two later, make your final cuts. This method allows you to remove a lot of bulk in and around the rose and gives you a clearer picture of the rose for the final pruning.
Share your extras?
Have extra seedlings, plants, decorative pots or soil you can share with a Marin nonprofit?
Amy Valens, the plant sale coordinator for InSpirit — an organization that helps Marin
quadriplegics stay in their homes — is planning its next plant sale fundraiser and could use plant donations.
The plant sale will be on May 13 and donations can be submitted until April 12.
Her volunteer team of home growers has been busy planting seeds, but Valens is seeking additional plants, and, for anyone interested, more home growers.
“We'd love to get seedlings of every kind of vegetables and flowering plants, and if you're dividing or digging up plants, we'll take just about any kind of perennial,” she says.
And just about any summer blooming plants — daylilies, dahlias and peonies — are great, as well as water-efficient succulents, ground covers, and pollinator and native plants. Iris, tulip and daffodil bulbs, however, are less desirable only because they're a little more difficult to sell.
Berry plants and bushes, and fruit trees are also welcome. “Last year, we sold an apricot tree for $100,” she says.
The group could also use seed packets no older than three years old, soil amendments and soil.
Plants can be dropped off at 55 Arroyo Road in Lagunitas. If you have questions, email Valens at amylvalens@comcast.net.
New plants
The Novato Garden Club welcomes garden expert Suzanne Cooper from SummerWinds Nursery in Novato, who will discuss “New Plants for 2023.” The lecture will also include a discussion on garden design.
The talk will at 11 a.m. March 8 in the Margaret Todd Senior Center's Hill Community Center Room at 1560 Hill Road in Novato.
The Novato Garden Club meetings are on the second Wednesdays of each month from September to May. Guests are always welcome and homemade cookies will be served. If you have questions, email GardenClubNovato@gmail.com.
Know your shrooms
If you've ever wondered about that pretty mushroom that's sprouted in your backyard or along your favorite trail, the National Audubon Society has you covered. It's releasing a comprehensive new paperback book, “The Complete Guide to Mushrooms of North America” (Fieldstone Publishing, $39.95) next month.
Relying on leading scientists, scholars and mushroom experts, the book reflects the interests of mushroom foragers, outdoor enthusiasts and budding mycologists.
Each of the 688 species is identified in the book, along with photographs and a thorough presentation of the mushroom's growth habitat and season, the spore print appearance, lookalike species, conservation information and geographic range.
Meadows mania
Meadows can be the new lawn, and if you want to create this a low-maintenance, no-mow, watersaving, wildlife-supporting space, two new books may help you.
• “Lawns Into Meadows” (Stone Pier Press, $24.95)
In this second edition of “Lawns Into Meadows,” author Owen Wormser helps gardeners create bountiful meadows that full of life and color. With the addition of 28 photographs of meadows in progress, readers will visually appreciate vibrant meadows through all stages of growth.
• “Tiny + Wild: Build a Small-Scale Meadow Anywhere” (Quarto and Cool Springs Press, bit.ly/TinyWild, $24.99)
Author Graham Laird Gardner argues that meadows don't have to be lawn-sized but can be any small landscape space, such as a small corner of the yard, near a front walk
or porch, and around a mailbox. He shares tips on site, design, plants and how to care for them.
Show off
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I'd love to know about it.
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it, and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
Don't-miss event
• Learn about the complicated story of family, art and abolition at “If These Walls Could Talk: Art and Abolition on the Walls of a Lowcountry Home,” a talk about a cycle of 1920s scenic wallpaper that was moved from Georgia to North Carolina in the 1970s. It be presented at 1 p.m. in the Dominican University's Creekside Room at 50 Acacia Ave. in San Rafael. RSVP at griffinwallpaper@icloud.com.