Favorite roses - Northern California Style

Sunset, March, 2004

Dozens of new roses are introduced every year, and we try growing some of these varieties in Sunset's test garden. Here are three of our favorite performers from the last few years; look for them at your local nursery, or order from Regan Nursery (www.regannursery.com or 510/797-3222).

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'Mandarin Sunblaze' (bright orange miniature; 2003). This petite rose, a vigorous, 1 1/2- to 2-foot-tall plant, covers itself with 1 1/2-inch-wide blooms from spring through fall. It grows well in containers.

'Pretty Lady' (creamy white floribunda; 1997). This beautiful bloomer grows 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall, resists black spot, and produces flowers throughout the growing season.

'Rabble Rouser' (bright yellow shrublet; 2004). It's difficult to find disease-free yellow roses, but 'Rabble Rouser' is known for its resistance to black spot, and the foliage on the one in our garden was totally clean. The 2- to 3-foot-tall plant pumps out hundreds of inch-wide double flowers all season.--L.B.S.

RELATED ARTICLE: Events

AROMAS, MAR 12-13.

Open house at McLellan Botanicals Nursery. Tour greenhouses, attend orchid-care classes, and purchase exotic plants on the 300-acre grounds of this normally wholesale-only orchid grower. Noon-4 Fri, 9-3 Sat; free. 2352 San Juan Rd., 13 miles south of Gilroy; www.orchidexperts.com or (831) 726-1797.

SAN FRANCISCO, MAR 16-19.

Bouquets to Art celebrates its 20th anniversary at the Legion of Honor with about 100 Bay Area designers who create floral arrangements to complement works of art in the museum. Floral design demonstrations ($25), lunch and fashion show ($50), and tea ($25), all by reservation, are available Tuesday through Thursday. 9:30-5 Tue-Fri; $8 (free to museum members; free to all on Mar 19). In Lincoln Park on 34th Ave. at Clement St.; www.bouquetstoart.org or (415) 750-3504.

RELATED ARTICLE: Clipping

The gardens of Alcatraz.

Want to help the Garden Conservancy and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy restore the gardens of Alcatraz? Deborah Lindsay, the new horticulturist on the project, is looking for volunteers. For details, visit the National Park Service volunteer website (www.nps.gov/goga/vip/vip-ads/index.htm).

RELATED ARTICLE: Showtime in San Francisco

If you want to relandscape--or just tuck a treasure or two into your garden--visit the 19th annual San Francisco Flower & Garden Show at the Cow Palace this month. Among its 22 display gardens, designed by top landscape professionals, you'll find plenty of inspiration for your own garden. The display pictured at left, for instance--"Garden Retreat," the 2003 gold-medal winner, designed by Kent Gordon England of Campbell--showcases a conservatory overlooking a blooming magnolia. A water feature and plantings chosen for foliage and flower color enhance the design. Details to watch for this year include living walls and sparkling paths of tumbled aggregate. Don't miss the free seminars or garden marketplace. Mar 17-21; 9-8 Wed-Sat, 9-6:30 Sun; $17 through Mar 13, $20 at the door ($13 after 3 p.m.). Geneva Ave. at Santos St.; www.gardenshow.com or (800) 829-9751.

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