The month’s meeting is Monday, March 21, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 101 of the Casa del Prado in Balboa Park. We are privileged to have John Bagnasco as our speaker this month. He has been in the gardening industry for over 54 years, starting with a horticulture degree from Michigan State University and followed by a stint at Frank’s Nursery and Crafts in Detroit. After publishing his first book Plants for the Home Vol. I in 1976, he moved to California to become regional manager and buyer for the Nurseryland division of Sunbelt Nursery Group and Armstrong Garden Centers based in Glendora, California.
In 2000, John became as a senior editor and radio personality for California-based Garden Compass. He is currently the president of Garden America, a nationally syndicated radio show and webstore. He is also a partner in SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetable, LLC, which promotes the Mighty ‘Mato® and Mighty VeggiesTM lines of grafted vegetables and works with breeders to promote new lines of vegetables. He is responsible for bringing the new Ketchup ‘n’ Fries, a tomato-potato graft into the North American Market.
John is an amateur rose breeder and is responsible for introducing over a dozen new roses. He has also taught horticulture classes at Palomar College and San Diego State University. He is the host of the DVD, The Essential Guide to Roses, which also features Bryan Main, and Sharon and Bruce Asakawa. John has written two books on succulents: Planting Designs for Cactus and Succulents, a book that he co-authored with Sharon Asakawa and Success with Succulents, co-authored with Bob Reidmuller. He is currently working to write the first-ever book on Polyantha roses.
He is the current President of the California Coastal Rose Society (CCRS) and Chairman of the Save the Roses! Foundation. 2022 will be the twenty-second year for the Annual ‘Save the Roses!’ Auction, which has been moved to Spring and will be held in tandem with the San Diego Rose Society Show. The organization is now working with concerned rose gardens around the world to preserve the genetics of rare and unusual rose varieties in an effort to return them to home gardens.
The meeting will also include a raffle, introductions, and an update on rose society news. There will also be a Silent Auction at this month’s meeting.
Pre-meeting Rose Care Program with Q&A
From 7:00—7:30 p.m. Gary Bulman, Master Rosarian, will be presenting a short program in the Consulting Rosarian Corner about successfully growing roses. His program will be followed by a question and answer period to offer at- tendees a chance to have individual questions explored and solutions offered.
Silent Rose Auction at This Month’s Meeting!
Prior to this month’s meeting, there will be another silent auction with six roses on own root that I started in January 2021 from cuttings, or that we rescued from Bob Martin’s rose garden after his passing last year. They are in one-gallon containers. All of the roses offered this month have been hybridized by our friend and phenomenal hybridizer, Dave Bang. Minimum starting bid will be $10 for these roses.
Come early before the meeting starts and place your bid 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 the last four digits of your phone number (to preserve the secrecy of this silent auction!) and your bid amount on the sheet of paper. Each bid must increase by one dollar from the last bid. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you can give your name, the last four digits of your phone number and your highest bid to a fellow member who would be attending and that person can bid for you.
This should prove to be a fun and competitive event! Come and join in and take home a special rose!