Although very rare here in AZ, last spring for the first show in April we did have a Friday downpour before the Saturday show. PetRose suggested 'wind milling' as a way to get the water out of the bloom. Carefully hold the stem at the end and then 'gently' swing the cane around in a circle, which will 'ring' out the bloom. After you get most of the water out by swinging, you can q-tip out the remaining moisture. It does work, just be careful of any hanging objects like ceiling fans or lights. You can then hang them upside down to finish drying.

At least they will be well hydrated!!

BTW Â you can send all the rain you want over this way to AZ! :o)

I guess putting them away wet was a bad thing? Perhaps I can go back in with q-tips and see if I can dry them off without bruising them.

This rain just couldn't have come two weeks ago when most of my blooms were still little more than buds, but no it had to wait until my garden is almost in full bloom. All of these blooms just going to waste. I wasn't going to the Orange County show anyway(prior family thing going on), I just hope there is something left for Palm Desert.

Hi Suzanne,
Unfortunatly, those of us in Florida have a lot of experience cutting roses during rain. Putting the roses up with the bloom wet is not good at all. If you are getting hard rain you may want to cut the blooms a little sooner than you would ordinarly to minimise bruising of the petals. After cutting the specimen I turn it upside down and, holding it by the stem, I tap the base of the bloom against my other hand to knock most of the water out. Don't hit the upper part of the bloom or it will bruise the petals. Don't hit the peduncle (neck) of the bloom or you may snap the head off. It is easy to hit the base of the bloom, just pay attention to what you are doing. Use paper towels twisted to a point to soak up the moisture. You not only want to remove the water from the surface of the petal but you want to insert the twisted paper towel down between the base of the petals to soak up the water there. Then let the blooms air dry while you are conditioning them. If you cut them tighter than normal you would probably want to let them set out some more anyway. I read of your winnings regularly. That is great. Keep up the good work.
Bake

Not much to do when the rain is as hard as it has been here in SCA; We definitly need this rain,,Just wish it had delayed by a few weeks. This alas is one of the challenges/frustrations of the hobby..We are controlled & dominated by weather.

As an OCRS member I feel pain for our wonderful rose society & the people who have worked so hard to put on the show..

positive note...this rain is definitly going to help during fire season.

Another positive!!saving $$$ on my water bill this month!!

If the hard rain was not bad enough, my neighbor neglected to nail down some corrugated fiberglass roofing on his patio cover. The strong winds took several 8' to 10' pieces off and launched them into our garden decapitating many of our prize bushes.

Soggy, headless bushes thanks to Mother Nature and a careless neighbor.

Having Fun in So Cal....;~)

Joe and Bren

THis rain is continuing thru thursday..already real soggy in the garden..Gonna be an interesting show this weekend at Rogers Gardens..

At least we can go to breakfast and talk about "what could have been"..

Note to Brenda & Joe regarding recent decapitations:

I am reminded of the terrible blight of sunburn that about 1/3 of my garden suffered in September, taking them out of the running for the rest of the season if not a year or more.

Bob Martin was kind enough to remind me of the amazing recuperative power of rose plants. I know it is not much consolation right now, but it will help to remind yourself of this as you watch your damaged plants regenerate to their former glory in the near future.

Suzanne

Just to add a little more tears to the conversation -- the rose garden in Carlsbad is under 2 feet of mud in places.

I have been cutting yesterday and today. I have several in my back bathroon drying. (The only place the cats can't get to). I hope there is no rain on Saturday.

Evelyn

Well, I checked on the wet roses in the refrigerator tonight. Three had to be chucked out as they appear to be frozen.

Some of the rest look okay, though. It will be an interesting experiment. There's something to be learned in every calamity, I suppose.

My friend Chris is correct...2' of mud/water in some areas here in Vista is accurate. My beautiful Fairhopes have transparent petals!...Could the Orange County RS add a class for the "Most Transparent" rose award - QUICK!

Don't get me wrong -
I love the rain...better early than never.

Joe and Bren

Last year it was the ashes from all of the fires around that was settling on our roses as we were trying to groom them for the OC show.

Ron, you are right on wrt last yr with the ashes on the roses..SOmething always happens during the OCRS show..if its not, ashes due to fires, its rain in the prep area, rain,rain,rain, & santa ana winds..

Cannot fight with Mother nature

I don't want to beat this subject to death, but I thought I would pass along my observations about wet roses as the week progresses.

First of all, although putting them in the refrigerator wet wasn't such a slick move, I found that it is also a mistake to leave them on the bush wet. Roses I was waiting for that are now just starting to open are covered with water spots and botritis. Some of them are rotting away right there on the bush. It's downright unsettling to look at.

Some of them that looked good at first glance (I'm talking particularly hybrid teas here) had the darndest spots on them. Veterans' Honor has white spots, which mars them terribly and makes them unshowable. Cajun Moon has red spots with substance that looks akin to wet toilet paper. And then there are some that look like textbook botritis and must be pruned out of the garden quickly and cleanly.

Sorry if I am painting an unappetizing picture here, but I spent more time today just cutting the decay out of my garden than cutting anything for the show. The general health of the garden is paramount.

I have a few cups of decent looking minis (I actually laughed out loud today when I looked at what is in the refrigerator), but tomorrow is another day and the sun is supposed to be shining. One never knows what the garden will offer up.

In any case, I'll be showing up at the Orange County show with whatever I can scrape together. At least, as Ron Gregory points out, there will not be ash falling from the sky like snow, which was what we had to deal with at last year's show. And as my good friend Lynn Snetsinger always says, we can show up for the doughnuts.

The adventure continues.

Suzanne

Suzanne,

We must have been kindred spirits today - walked the same path...I did the exact same thing you did today after arriving home from class...cutting out all of the decay...I almost took a photo of a promising Moonstone (last week) that looked like something from another planet having left it on the bush.

Mounds of once potential show stuff is heaped up for the green waste driver to rid the garden of the "guck".

Save me a big chocolate donut or two. :~)

IF we go, we have MAYBE a handful of minis. THAT's it. Seriously.

I lament the same issues you all have. Spent alot of time yesterday filling 4 trash cans of hopelessly water-logged blooms with more to prune today. There were many stems that were decapitated. The stems were there but the blooms were unceremoniously dismembered and lying on the ground. THAT was a first for me folks, and I've been growing roses for 33 yrs and here I naively thought So. Cal. weather was benign???!! Foliage is shredded.

Before the last onslaught of rain but after the first one, I managed to cut 4 blooms with alot of moisture in the petals. I turned each stem upside down and gently shook out what moisture I could. I then conditioned the stems and then put them in carrying tubes and proceeded to Q-tip as much moisture as I could out of the blooms. Since the blooms were still quite tight, I figured I'd just let them sit at room temp. in the rose house to finish drying off on their own.

We then went shopping and when we returned (this was Monday late afternoon), it was pouring buckets an I wasn't about to walk up to the rose house so I figured the roses could just sit there until the following morning. Well, the following morning (Wed) it was still pouring buckets. It wasn't until 3PM on Wed. that I could get to the rose house. Guess what I found? All four roses were loaded with botritis! In the trash they went.

I like the OC show but I'm going to have to pass on it this time. I have way too little to warrant the long trip up there, but best of luck to those of you who do go.

You have my sympathy. Unfortunatly, the conditions that you describe are pretty typical of conditions here the week preceeding most of our rose shows. It only stops raining here in the winter when there are no shows.

Hello Suzanne,

Now you see what we here in the Pac. N.W. have to put up with before every show in about 2 out of 3 years.

A week to 10 days before every show I have dozens of umbrellas and smaller individual bloom protectors put over my roses. As soon as colour shows protectors go on. So I never ever have to cut wet blooms for a show. Even if the weather forecast calls for sun, "PROTECTORS GO ON" !

My potted minis I always move against the S. side of the house 2 weeks before any show.

Better luck next year.

George Mander

George,

The "rose protectors" worked well for me too when I lived in Kentucky, but we have slightly different climatic conditions here. Our rain last week was accompanied by 50-60 mph winds. Doubt the protectors work with that scenario.

Well, the wet roses prevailed at the Orange County Rose Society Show. It was a small show of good quality, and it was well attended by some of Southern California's finest exhibitors. Trophy winners included Cal & Barb Hayes, Gerry & Gloria Youngewirth, Bob & Kitty Belendez, Carl Mahaney, Brenda Landers & Joe Smith, Lynn Snetsinger, Cliff Orent, Evelyn Reed & Paul Jackson, Denise Pulley, and yours truly.

The weather did take a toll on a lot of the blooms, and I was shaking water out of blooms even as they were on the trophy table. It took arts & crafts and a lot of extra work to trim off red water spots on the light colored roses and white water spots on the red roses, and to make them show worthy. But in the end, some beautiful roses and collections adorned the trophy table.

Some of the royalty winners included:

HT Queen: Gerry & Gloria Youngewirth (Cajun Sunrise)
HT King: Gerry & Gloria Youngewirth (forgot the rose)
HT Princess: Bob & Kitty Belendez (Hot Princess)
HT Court: Suzanne Horn (Veterans' Honor)
Gerry & Gloria Youngewirth (Louise Estes)
Lynn Snetsinger (forgot the rose)
Mini Queen: Gerry & Gloria Youngewirth (Dancing Flame)
Mini King: Suzanne Horn (Butter Cream)
Mini Princess: Suzanne Horn (Merlot)
Mini Court: Brenda Landers & Joe Smith (Nancy Jean)
Mini Court: Suzanne Horn (Bee's Knees)
Mini Court: Suzanne Horn (Erin Alonso)

Mini in Pic. Frame: Evelyn Reed/Paul Jackson (Bee's Knees)
Cal & Barb Hayes Challenge: Cal & Barb Hayes
Mini Box: Cal & Barb Hayes (Incognito)
Vase of 6 HT's: Bob & Kitty Belendez (St. Patrick)
Mini Spray: Bob & Kitty Belendez (Green Ice)
3 Mini Sprays: Suzanne Horn (Marriotta)
Floribunda Bloom: Lynn Snetsinger (Francois Rabelais)
Cycle of Bloom: Lynn Snetsinger (Gemini)
Hi-Lo: Suzanne Horn (Big Time & Doris Morgan)
Shrub Challenge: Lynn Snetsinger (The Squire & Symphony)
Modern Shrub: Lynn Snetsinger (L.D. Braithwaite)
Seedling: Cliff Orent
Polyantha Spray: Cliff Orent (forgot the rose)
Vase of 3 Minis: Suzanne Horn (Bee's Knees)
Mini Single: Carl Mahaney (forgot the rose)
Rose in a Bowl: Lynn Snetsinger (Moonstone)
Mini Rose in a Bowl: Lynn Snetsinger (Erin Alonso)
Victorian: Cliff Orent
Dowager: Bob & Kitty Belendez (The Green Rose)

I could go on, but I'm forgetting so much. Look for the full results shortly on the Pacific Southwest District webpage.

In the interim, kudos and congratulations to the OCRS Show Committee who did an absolutely outstanding job of hosting this lovely show once again in the lovely setting of Rogers Gardens.

Suzanne Horn

We were so pleased with 2 trophies: mini court and the 3 polys ~ We had NO EXPECTATIONS after the rain and the flying fiberglass! *crosseyed*

Amazing blooms from everyone who participated. The friendship and support especially today was wonderful - it meant the world, more than you know.

Great people in this crazy world of exhibiting.

Joe and Bren

Kudos to the OCRS for putting on a great show under difficult conditions; The rose show was indeed small due to our inclement weather but the quality was there. A good time was had by all..It turned out to be a beautiful day at Rogers Gardens..An excellent venue for our show.

The HT King of show was Signature.

Congrats to all the winners!!

The weather was lovely and so were the roses that survived the rain and wind this past week. I cannot thank the exhibitors enough for having the spirit to keep the show going.

Jan Brider
OCRS Rose Show Chairman