Roses at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma WA — a photo essay and slide show video

Dear Readers, 

        Please enjoy these images of roses from the rose gardens at Point Defiance Park, in Tacoma, Washington. Here in the Northwest, we seem to be entering a hot, dry summer, and the roses will suffer. I've preserved them here as a refreshing little gift for you. You can view them as a slide show (below) or individually. The top image is my new favorite rose, "Agatha Louise." 

As always, thank you for reading Good Life Northwest.

Candace

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The Seven Essentials For Growing Healthy Roses — Tips From Raft Island Roses Owner Frank Gatto

At the Proctor Farmers Market in Tacoma last Saturday, I found Frank Gatto in his usual situation—surrounded by roses. The massive display of healthy, blooming potted plants from his Gig Harbor nursery, Raft Island Roses, draws its own crowd in a marketplace full of many competing sensory delights. He surrounds himself with roses at home too, with about 300 in his own yard.

"That's not much," he told me in an interview, "after 950 at our other house."

"Fourth of July"

While many of us find our garden roses in a slump in mid-summer, one look at the plants from Raft Island Roses proves this man knows how to keep his favorite flowers happy. Gatto is well-known and highly respected among rosarians all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond, often called to be a guest speaker or consultant. At the nursery, he and his son Michael have created 250 crosses from the many varieties they sell.

The popular "Julia Child" rose.

For my own sake, and that of readers of Good Life Northwest, I asked Gatto for some pointers. He shared the seven essentials for growing healthy roses. In spite of constant threats from insects and disease, if you follow these tips carefully, you too can enjoy success with roses. And it is possible to do so without chemical sprays that are hard on humans and the environment.

1.) SELECTION — "It all starts with selection," Gatto says. "Pick disease-resistant varieties, and get some expert advice. Don’t choose from photos in catalogs, and avoid packaged roses. The roots are cut short, crammed in, and often broken.”

"Day Breaker"

2.) WATER — "Five gallons per week per rose" is Gatto's advice. "Water deeply," he stresses. "When you pour on five gallons and it soaks down deep, your roses grow roots to reach that water, and they can survive even if you're gone a few days and can't water them." 

"Red Intuition" is a very long stemmed florist rose adapted to the home garden.

Many people think that the decline in blooming during the heat of the summer is

just a natural circumstance with roses, but that is not true. With proper watering they can stay lovely and productive throughout the season, as proven by those he offers for sale. "If you water only near the surface," Gatto says, "they develop shallow roots and can dry out quickly and then they go dormant."

Deep watering starts with planting. I listened to him giving advice to some buyers at the market. "First water the rose in the pot. Then dig the hole and water the hole. Plant the rose and water again," he told them.

Note: Be sure your roses have excellent drainage! "Roses love water," Gatto says, "but they hate wet feet."

"Sally Holmes"is a musk rose that can produce as many as 75 huge blooms per cane. This is Gatto's favorite.

3.) SUN — "Roses need at least five hours of sun daily when actively growing. Six or seven is better, and preferably morning sun, because it dries off the dew," he says. "It takes about eight hours for blackspot spores—in contact with stagnant water—to cause disease, so keep the leaves as dry as possible, and clean up dead leaves on the ground.” 

"Shock Wave"

4.) SPACING — Gatto considers spacing a “critical choice” for healthy roses. He says a distance of five feet is the minimum. Planting bushes six or seven feet apart is optimal. “Don’t put in a deep rose garden. A single row, where you can walk around them, is by far the easiest to water and maintain and gives the best air circulation, making it harder for diseases to spread. It isn’t uncommon to see roses planted 18 inches apart, and that guarantees disease.”

5.) SOIL — For planting, Gatto mixes 50 percent native soil and 50 percent organic compost or good potting soil and adds a cup each of bone meal and soil sweetener per bush. He also gives established plants a cup of lime in March, for optimal soil pH, which allows plants to make better use of food.

Every week you will see a different selection at the market.

6.) PROPER FEEDING — Gatto advises giving roses small but frequent meals, as opposed to large amounts of fertilizer less often. He uses a balanced granular fertilizer with an N-P-K number no higher than 20 (such as 15-15-15), along with a blend of organic meals including alfalfa, cotton seed, fish, blood and kelp. "I give each one a handful (about a half a cup) every three weeks." Water thoroughly after feeding.

A "Day Breaker" bloom poses for a portrait.

7.) PRUNING — “How you prune, it isn’t critical,” Gatto says, “but do prune. And if a rose looks sickly, move it and see how it does.”

Gattos gives expert advice to customers at the Proctor Farmers Market

Frank and Michael Gatto both offer customers plenty of personal attention and are happy to answer any questions. One or the other can be found at several Puget Sound area farmers' markets:

Proctor Farmers Market
Puyallup Farmers Market
Burien Farmers Market
Lake Forest Park Farmers Market
Kirkland Farmers Market

Whether you shop at the market or nursery, prepare to succumb to temptation when you find yourself, like Frank Gatto, surrounded by roses. You would be smart to listen to all his advice, but only you will know when you meet the rose with which you'll fall in love. Gatto smiled and shook his head as he told me that no matter how many questions he answers or suggestions he makes, it comes down to this: "The heart rules."  

For the perfect summer day trip, plan a visit to the Raft Island Roses nursery, 7201 Rosedale St. N.W., Gig Harbor, WA 98335. The phone number is (253) 853-7900.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2009/04/18/713154/grow-gorgeous-roses-spray-free.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2009/04/18/713154/grow-gorgeous-roses-spray-free.html#storyli

Copyright 2012 Candace J. Brown

Rose Garden at Point Defiance Park (video tour)

To celebrate the beginning of summer, I wandered through the rose garden at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma yesterday, with my camera in hand. Please enjoy this video tour I prepared for you. And remember to appreciate your life, the people you love, and all the beauty that surrounds you.

If only I could have included the scent of roses...

Another Dispatch From the Garden -- More Fall Photos

The title of an old song from 1934, "What a Difference a Day Made," says it all when it comes to my Tacoma garden this time of year. Remember the photo of those gorgeous red leaves shown at the top of my previous blog post? Well here they are today. By the way, the common name of this plant is "Star Magnolia," covered with shaggy white blooms in the spring and red leaves in the fall. The dramatic difference between these photos reminds us that we should enjoy all our autumn leaves while we can. They will soon be on the ground.

The good news from the garden is that the possible early frost or hard rain I feared would destroy my blooms never arrived, which means I have more photos to share. I had forgotten to show you those dainty darlings, the hardy cyclamens, now floating like tiny lavender ballerinas above their variegated leaves. Here is some information about them from Ed Hume, the Northwest's most beloved garden expert.

The roses continue to open, as do the mums. It isn't over yet. In fact, even as I write this I see the sky clearing off and the autumn sun brightening every color in my landscape. Who knows what the next few days will bring? Not even the weather forecasts can be sure. But you can be sure of one thing; this day is a day in your life. Are you living it to the fullest and noticing the beauty of your surroundings? I hope so.

When Growing Roses is a Matter of Life or Death

Being a writer makes life a lot more interesting. The week after my feature story on growing roses appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune it became the catalyst for a couple of conversations that still make me smile every time I think of them.

The first one occurred in a shop in Tacoma. As the cashier rang up my purchases we starting talking about my article. Soon two more women who'd overheard joined in and there we were, four of us, in the middle of one of those spontaneous and sometimes personal discussions women who might be total strangers have no qualms about. (It's yet another female trait men just don't "get" at all.) Of course the topic was how best to grow roses.

"One of my friends says she puts coffee grounds around the bushes," said one lady.

We responded with a collective "Hmmmmm.... interesting."

"Well that makes sense," said another, "because I hear they really love organic stuff."

ORGANIC...

As soon as she spoke that word a charming older lady began to smile. She smiled like someone with a secret too good to keep to herself. And it was.

"Well girls," she said, lowering her voice even though no one else was around, "just between us, that's where Fred ended up." Pause. She winked and nodded. "In the rose bed." All of our eyebrows lifted and I felt my own cheeks compulsively contract into a stupid grin.

"Really?" I said. I'm usually the first one to open my mouth.

"Oh yes. You know, he just loved being out among his roses and fussed over them so much. One day he came in from the yard and said 'Honey, someday when I die I want you to scatter my ashes in the rose bed.' We were married for almost sixty years and when his time came I just did what he wanted. Then I sold the house and moved away. But the new owners don't know a thing about it." She giggled and went on. " And girls, the next summer my old neighbor called me up and said, 'Dorothy, you're never going to believe this. You should see your roses. They've just gone crazy this year, more beautiful than ever. And you remember that Tropicana you guys always had so much trouble with? Well it's gorgeous now! It MUST be because of Fred.'"

"How wonderful!" I blurted out, my imagination in high gear. "Just think of it . . . the rose bushes he loved are taking up the organic matter that was . . . Fred, and (this just chokes me up) he's becoming a real part of them. It's like Fred is actually living on, right in the roses, right in the blooms. That is so SWEET!"

My impassioned little speech kind of hung in the air self-consciously until drifting away, like the rest of us. But I think Dorothy liked it, and I left with a smile and a story idea.

Then there's my friend, "M" . . .

Just a day or two later I saw her at the gym and she said "Hey, Candace. You know, I was thinking about you last weekend when I was pruning the h_ _ _ out of my roses."

"Oh?" I gulped. It was the darned article again. I knew she meant the part that said it's not as important HOW you prune your roses as it is that you do prune them.

"Yeah. As I took the chainsaw to them, (and here she gestured like a madwoman with a McCulloch) I said, 'There! Take that! Candace says you'll be FINE!!!!!!!'"

Then I shivered, imagining her maniacal laughter echoing through the neighborhood above the whine of the saw.

Now I just hope "M" and her husband weren't the ones who bought Fred's old house.






P.S. I didn't make up the part about "Fred" but I did change the names.
Rose photo is courtesy of Weeks Roses. The name is "Strike it Rich".