EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSES : WOMAN CULTIVATES VISION PRIZE BLOOMS FLOURISH WHERE NO PLANTS GREW.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer When Kathy DeRoo moved into her Saugus home nine years ago there wasn't a rose in sight. Now she grows 250 rose bushes ranging from hybrid teas hybrid tea n. Any of a class of cultivated hybrid roses originally developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, noted especially for their long-stemmed flowers in a wide range of strong colors and for their extended blooming season. to David Austin For the cartoonist, see David Austin (cartoonist). David C.H. Austin OBE (born 1926) is a rose breeder and writer who lives in Shropshire, England. His emphasis is on breeding roses with the character and fragrance of Old Garden Roses (Gallicas, Damasks, Alba roses, etc. English and miniatures in white, pink, red and purple tiger. ``There were a few straggly strag·gly adj. strag·gli·er, strag·gli·est Growing or spread out in a disorderly or aimless way: straggly ivy. Adj. 1. bushes. They all were dead,'' DeRoo said of her yard in 1987. ``We took them out and once we got out there working the soil, everywhere I looked I started visualizing roses and I went a little nuts.'' DeRoo has been cultivating roses for 21 years, earning trophies at rose shows and making miniature hybrids along the way. Four years ago, she helped found the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. Rose Society, which is holding its third annual rose show Saturday at the Valencia Town Center mall Town Center Mall may refer to:
DeRoo plans to enter her best roses but is struggling with 100-degree temperatures that threaten to wilt petals and kill the hardiest of blooms. To stave off stave n. 1. A narrow strip of wood forming part of the sides of a barrel, tub, or similar structure. 2. A rung of a ladder or chair. 3. A staff or cudgel. 4. Music See staff1. the heat, she waters her plants in the morning and late afternoon. ``Morning is the best time to soak the ground,'' she said. ``The roses need that shot of water in the morning to face the afternoon.'' She also uses fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphorus phosphorus (fŏs`fərəs) [Gr.,=light-bearing], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol P; at. no. 15; at. wt. 30.97376; m.p. 44.1°C;; b.p. about 280°C;; sp. gr. 1.82 at 20°C;; valence −3, +3, or +5. and potassium to improve the plants' growth, color and roots. Roses have always been special for DeRoo whose birth month features the flower. ``I always had a little connection,'' she said. She became interested in the blooms after buying a house in 1975 in Granada Hills that featured an ailing rose bush. ``It was struggling to survive,'' she said. ``I bought some more and planted them in a different area and they grew much better.'' DeRoo grows a variety of roses but likes miniatures the best. ``I just love the pixie look of them,'' she said of the flowers that grow to 3 or 4 feet tall and feature blooms an 1-1/2 inches in diameter. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--color) Kathy DeRoo, vice president of the San ta Clarita Valley Rose Society, tends to some of the 250 rose bushes in her Saugus garden. (2--color) DeRoo grooms a Columbus rose. Her garden features miniatures in white, pink red and purple tiger. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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