 I have been told that roses should be pruned as late as possible, just as buds begin to swell during late winter. Because pruning roses and fruit trees is one of my favorite horticultural procedures, I almost always perform it prematurely, just after defoliation. I have never noticed any adverse effects, and I still do not know if there is any advantage to pruning later than sooner. Roses must not be too discriminating, because the rose pruning and care lessons conducted by the Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens have already begun and continue until Feb. 15.
Lessons are from 9 a.m. to noon every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, located on W. Taylor Street at Spring Street within Guadalupe Gardens in San Jose. Classes will initially meet at the center of the garden. Participants should bring bypass shears if available and any other preferred paraphernalia, such as gloves. More information can be obtained by calling the Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens at 408.298.7657 or by emailing Lucy Perez, the volunteer coordinator, at lperez@grpg.org. The organization's website is located at www.grpg.org.
Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens will also be hosting two volunteer coffees, called "Volunteer with a Capital 'V' " on Jan. 23. The first will be at 11 a.m. and the second at 7 p.m. Both will be at the Garden Center, located at 715 Spring St. between Taylor and Hedding in San Jose. Reservations can be arranged, or more information can be obtained, by contacting Perez.
Volunteer coffees are opportunities for prospective volunteers to learn about the history, design and development of the park, as well as find out about volunteer opportunities. Participants will determine how to best apply their specific interests, skills and availability. Some may prefer regularly scheduled garden work and others might prefer to volunteer occasionally or for special events. Any necessary support and training will be arranged. Special docent education classes will be offered for volunteers who would enjoy presenting interpretive tours of the gardens to the public.
Tickets are now available for Florapolitan, the 2003 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, which takes place March 19 through 23. Tickets are $17 in advance or $16 in groups of 20 or more ($20 at the door) and $7 for children between 4 and 11. An all-show pass for all five days is available for $65. Tickets may be purchased at various nurseries or online at www.gardenshow.com.
Tree of the Week: Black acacia
Black acacia, Acacia melanoxylon, has never been one of my favorites. I think that it naturalizes even more profusely than Bailey acacia, forming thickets if ignored. Black acacia grows rapidly with voracious roots when it's young and can overtake desirable species. It is very resilient and can easily replace unwanted specimens that have been removed with rapidly growing suckers or seedlings that may not have been obvious when the primary acacia specimen was removed. This may be a problem in refined gardens but is what makes the species useful in areas that are either not landscaped or where the environment is too inhospitable for other species.
I worked with arborist Paul Swagerty while pruning several healthy black acacias in an area of Redwood City that was formerly salt marsh. Most other species of trees in the area typically succumb to wind, salt encroachment or saturation of the dense fill soil. However, the black acacias were remarkably healthy and structurally stable. They can also easily tolerate drought.
Mature trees may be as tall as 40 feet and as broad as 20 feet but are usually smaller. The typical life span of black acacia is unfortunately limited to about 25 years. Pale white flowers appear in March but are not remarkable. Bipinnately compound leaves are only apparent among juvenile foliage of young trees. The 3-inch-long "leaves" that foliate the adult growth are actually phyllodes, which are distended petioles (leaf stalks) of vestigial leaves.
Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be
contacted at 408-358-2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.
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Photograph by Tony Tomeo