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See how to prune a rose in three minutes or less

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 10, 2019

Master rosarian Baldo Villegas leads a free rose
care workshop including his speed pruning method.
(Photo: Courtesy Sierra Foothills Rose Society)

Baldo Villegas leads winter rose care workshop indoors

Don’t have time to prune? It only takes a few minutes to finish a rose bush.

Baldo Villegas will show you how. This master rosarian can prune a full-size bush in three minutes – or less.

Villegas leads a free winter rose care workshop Saturday, Jan. 12, at Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville. Presented by the Sierra Foothills Rose Society, the indoor workshop starts at 8:30 a.m. and wraps up at 1:30 p.m. following a chili cookoff. The public is welcome.

Villegas perfected his speed-pruning method out of necessity. He maintains more than 3,000 rose bushes at his Orangevale home.

Sacramento’s beloved Bug Man, Villegas is a retired state entomologist and knows every rose pest and problem seen in California. He’ll share his advice on how to grow healthier, happier roses.

In addition, longtime rosarians will offer their pruning expertise. There will be plenty of hands-on opportunities for newcomers, too. Bring gloves, bypass pruners and loppers. Free sharpening will be available. (Donations welcome.)

The day’s schedule covers a broad range. Following morning refreshments, the program gets underway with a 9 a.m. discussion of pruning tools and care. At 9:15, Villegas and others share their pruning tips by type of rose; not all bushes are pruned alike. That’s also when he’ll demonstrate his three-minute method.

At 10 a.m., the workshop will break down into smaller groups to tackle potted roses, ranging from miniatures and hybrid teas to floribundas and polyanthas. At this rose workshop, all the pruning is done indoors, usually on tables; there’s no stooping in cold, wet rose beds. After pruning, most of those roses will be awarded to attendees in a raffle.

At 10:45, “Roses in the Landscape” shows the many ways roses can be incorporated into Sacramento area gardens. Then, Villegas will lead a question and answer session on controlling disease and pests in the garden. Chili is served at 12:30 p.m.

For more details: www.sactorose.org or owendyk@gmail.com .

- Debbie Arrington

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Keywords:

gardening Sacramento roses Roseville Orangevale Baldo Villegas Maidu Community Center Sierra Foothills Rose Society rose care

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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