Our monthly meeting in February will occur on the fourth Monday of the month which is February 26th. Traditionally we have had the monthly meetings for January and February on the fourth Monday to accommodate the holidays. The evening will begin with the Silent Rose Auction and Consulting Rosarian’s Corner at 6:30 p.m. The formal program with our speaker will begin at 7:00 p.m. We are very honored, once again, to have a premier hybridizer, Ping Lim, serve as our speaker at this month’s meeting. He will be preparing an original presentation for our society, “Rosa Exploration: When East Meets West” and including information about his own hybridizing efforts. Ping is the Director of Ornamental Plant Research for Altman Plants in San Diego, CA. After receiving a degree in horticulture from National Taiwan University, Ping began his rose breeding career at DeVor Nurseries, and later joined Bailey Nurseries to direct rose breeding research where he developed the line of Easy Elegance roses. Ping has served on international rose review committees (AARS & AGRS) for decades and has explored the globe to learn and share his love of roses! Roses By Ping was established in 2009 at McMinnville Oregon. In 2012 Ping was hired by Altman Plants to direct their ornamental plant research. This has enabled him to amplify his mission in roses and other ornamental plants, including hibiscus and agapanthus. All of these innovations have earned him many prestigious awards as follows: 3 AARS (All-America Rose Selection) winners. 13 ARTS (American Rose Trial for Sustainability) awards, 11 awards at Portland BEST: 3 Biltmore International Trials, 3 ARC (American Rose Center) awards, 1 award from the Rose Hills International Rose Trials, 1 AGRS (American Garden Rose Selection) award, 1 Belfast Gold Medal, 6 Japan Best Flower Awards and 1 Lyon Best Rose. 85 varieties have been commercialized, including 77 roses, 7 hibiscus, and 1 agapanthus. Total of 43 patents were granted from USA, Europe, China, Japan, and Taiwan. Ping contributes articles on roses in Chinese and English to journals and magazines, and has been a speaker for horticultural associations and rose societies worldwide. Ping loves photography and has received two awards from ASHS (American Society for Horticultural Science). Ping has been knighted by the Portland Royal Rosarians and received an Outstanding Alumni Award from the National Taiwan University. May 16, 2022, Ping was honored by the American Rose Society as one of the first 21st century inductees to its Rose Breeders Hall of Fame. Ping has been involved in breeding the following collections. Easy Elegance Roses, True Bloom Roses Sunscape Hibiscus, and Atomic Bloom Agapanthus.
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Good News! Our Raffle ticket sales have been restored! In addition to receiving free tickets for attending, bringing snacks, roses to show and raffle prizes, you may once again purchase tickets at $1 per ticket or 7 tickets for $5. Please bring items for the raffle table if you can. They should be rose-related. Rose plants are accepted.
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Prior to this month’s meeting, there will be another silent auction with five roses. They are in 1- to 5- gallon containers. Come early before the meeting starts and place your bids for these wonderful roses. There will be a sheet of paper in front of each rose with details of the rose along with a photo of the bloom. If you want to bid on a rose, just write your name and your bid amount on the sheet of paper. Each bid must increase by at least one dollar from the last bid. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you can give your name and your highest bid to a fellow member who would be attending and that person can bid for you. This is a fun and competitive event! Come and join in and take home a special rose!
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Meeting location: Casa del Prado’s room 101, in Balboa Park. There will be NO Little Rose Show this month. The shows will resume in April, 2024 Directions to Casa del Prado, Room 101: The Casa del Prado building is immediately west of the Natural History Museum. Entrances to the Casa del Prado lead to an inner court. The rooms are accessible from the court. Room 101 is downstairs on the east end of the court.
