Pruning at 33RPM!!! Over 4,000 roses.

9 years ago

Today we had over 450 volunteers prune over 4,000 roses in less than 2 hours. That's 33 RPM - Roses per Minute! It was quite the sight to see. This is our 8th Annual Pruning Extravaganza. As you may see from the photo, we put stakes in the bed, with a paint market showing the approx. location it should be pruned down to. A 10 minute demo and they are off! The folks that come to prune have ownership over the beds - they come back in April and see the results of their pruning. In addition, we planted over 300 new roses (of the nearly 1,000 we will plant this year) Check out the photos and video on our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheSanJoseRoseGarden If you are ever in San Jose, I'd be happy to give you a personal tour of the garden and the volunteer operation.

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Comments (10)

iris_gal
9 years ago
What an excellent community service opportunity. I enjoyed the spring display this year on a special 'rose trip'. Are the names of the newly planted roses listed online? Did I miss them at the Facebook link? Thank you.
seil zone 6b MI
9 years ago
That's wonderful! Looks like everyone did a great job and had a good time too!
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jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
9 years ago
Very nice. All these volunteers should be proud of themselves. Wish I had a garden like that near my house.
catsrose
9 years ago
What a wonderful turnout. I wish I could have been there.
Marlorena
9 years ago
...I wish I could visit... a great job going on there...
friendssjrosegarden
Original Author
9 years ago
Iris Gal, We will soon be posting a list on our web site, but maybe I can list some here:

Smoking Hot
Icecap
Gold Struck
Apricots and Creme
Rainbow Home Run
Ketchup and Mustard
Miss Congeniality
Rainbow Happy Trails
Be my Baby
Best Kept Secret
Kaleidoscope
The 2016 "Downton Abby Rose"
A 2017 intro (great lavender color, prolific grower, disease free - a bed of 75 plants)

And approximately 40 new "test varieties" to be grown 2 years and evaluated for introduction.

Yep, quite a busy time at "America's Best Rose Garden".
iris_gal
9 years ago
Thank you. I'll keep checking the site. Are the roses leaving also posted?
Kippy
9 years ago
We did not match your speed! I think three of us worked on a bed of Julia Child's for about 3 hours. I have to think the steady drizzle kept some people home too since a rain date was listed and it was drizzling by the time I left home for the public garden here.

But it was fun and educational for those who have never helped I would encourage you to volunteer in your area
caflowerluver
9 years ago
I always go to that rose garden for Mother's Day or around that time. It is so incredible when they are all in bloom. How does someone volunteer to help prune? I am in Aptos by the coast but could drive over to San Jose. What happens to all those cuttings?
Clare
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
9 years ago
Congratulations, and that's an intriguing way of coaching new volunteers not to prune the roses too low. The wooden stakes are probably reusable year after year, and they help avoid people's poor estimates of about "three feet" or whatever the pruning target might be.

I suppose there's unlikely to be anything blooming by the end of January is there, even in San Jose? I'll be there for work at the end of January/first of February and I'd love to see the gardens, but I fear they'd still be in down times. Well done regardless on a truly daunting task.

Cynthia