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News from America
A Postcard from America
We landed in San Francisco on 1st November for the next eight days we were virtually
non-stop. A three day stop-over in San Francisco took us to Alcatraz,
the big trees in Muir Woods and all the joys of Fisherman's Wharf including the wonderful Sea Lions. We then moved onto
Yosemite National Park where we were greeted by huge mountains, tree lined valleys and even bigger trees than in Muir Woods.
We'd taken a suitcase full of cold weather clothes (when I say we........) and the weather was wonderful. High seventies
and bright sunshine all the way. It had snowed in October so that all the snow melt had ensured that the waterfalls were all
at their best. Next stop was Wasco and the Weeks rosefields.
If acres and acres of never-ending roses is up your stret then you should visit Wasco. Around 5 million bushes in total.
Bush roses, miniature roses, climbing roses standard roses; you name it; it's there. We were lucky enough to arrive just
as they were starting to prepare and lift them for dispatch to all parts of the USA and beyond. All the roses are pruned by
machine, but the standards are then trimmed by hand to exactly the right size to fit into their individual boxes. A massive,
time consuming job. From Wasco and Bakerfield, we moved down to LA
to show Mike and Lowri (our travelling companions) the 'wonder' that is Hollywood. The sign and the Chinese Theatre
on Hollywood Boulevard were obvious visits and a troll around Beverly Hills looking for 'stars' was compulsary but
fruitless. On then to Vegas, not to gamble but to soak up the gaudy
atmosphere and see the Bellagio Fountains again. The Sirens of Treasure Island, the Volcano at The Mirage and the Ventian's
canals and gondolas are also 'must sees'. Time now to set off
through the Mohave desert and head for Palm Springs and the real reason for us to be here, The ARS Fall Convention.
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| Pauline checks out the local flora and fauna |
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| Pauline, Suzanne Horn and m'good self |
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| Suzanne's 12 Butter Cream |
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| Suzanne's Queen of Show - Cajun Moon |
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| Miniature King of Show Jim Sproul, Bakersfield, CA Variety - 'The Lighthouse' |
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| LF Climber, H. Wich or H.Gigantea Spray Bill & Candy Sheperd, Peoria, AZ Variety - Night Owl |
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| Miniflora Queen of Show Linda Clark, La Mesa, CA Variety - 'Kismet' |
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| Deer in Yosemite National Park |
The ARS Fall Convention and Rose Show was held in the Doral Desert Princess
in Cathedral City and what a show it was! The exhibitors complained that due to the season there were very few floribunda
exhibits but the rest of the show more than made up the deficit.
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| Floribunda in a bowl by Darryl Pearson. Long Beach, CA Variety - 'Frankie' |
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| Shrub Large-flowered Climber or OGR in a bowl by Ruth Tiffany, San Diego. CA Variety 'Golden Wings' |
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| Miniflora King of Show Dick & Sue Streeper, El Cajon, CA Variety - 'Flawless' |
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| Miniflora Court Bob & Kitty Belendez, Santa Clarita, CA Variety - 'Dr John Dickman' |
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| Miniflora Court of Honor Bob & Dona Martin, Escondido, CA Variety - 'Butter Cream' |
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| Pauline, banged up in the Kelso jail - refers to a speeding violation in 2006 . |
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| English Box - Hybrid Tea or Grandiflora Suzanne Horn, Glendale, CA Variety - 'Veteran's Honor' |
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| Suzanne Horn and her winning HT Cajun Moon |
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| HT Tommy Cairns & Luis Desamero, Studio City, CA Variety - 'Artic Circle' |
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| 1 of 3 H T or Grandiflora Blooms Bob & Kitty Belendez, Santa Clarita, CA Variety - 'Affirm' |
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We had been asked to assist with the judging
at the ARS Fall Show and what a pleasure and and experience it was! The way in which the show is judged is quite different
from the way that we judge in the UK. Many ideas were picked up during the show that may well work for us at our shows in
the future. Many of the the
roses on show were typical 'desert' roses, almost perfect and without blemish due to the ideal conditions in which
they are grown. Size of bloom can be a problem for the desert based exhibitors as the temperatures were only just getting
down to the eighties after a summer of 100 ++ degrees! However these are great rose growers and the winners were all very
worthy of their trophies. A
full list of all the trophy winners can be found on Bob Martin's website; Roseshow.com Some
excellent photographs of the show can be seen at; Baldo's Photo Albums
 We were very pleased to be able to actually
take part in the Conference by presenting a demonstration about how we grow and prepare baskets and bowls of roses for UK
rose shows. Pauline prepared a basket with left-over blooms from the roseshow (thanks in particular to Tommy and Luis, Manson
and Tim and Di and Walt Kilmer for their wonderful roses).
Whilst Pauline beavered away with
the roses, I showed a few slides of our roses back home and some of our bowls and baskets from UK shows. Special thanks also to our friend Mike Thompson
who also put together a bowl of 18 hybrid teas. Everyone at the demonstration seemed to enjoy it but not, I suspect, as much as we did!
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