Hi -

It's not too soon for you to mark your calendars to come to the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden's 20th anniversary symposium, scheduled for Oct 12-14, 2012. We are still working out details for the program, but the plan is to have a reception and spooky "Lantern Tours" in the cemetery on Friday night, speakers, lunch and dinner in the California Auto Museum all day on Saturday, and to return to the rose garden on Sunday morning for tours and a chance to visit with fellow rose lovers and to look at the roses. We'll have roses for sale, and other items. The event is being co-sponsored by the Heritage Rose Foundation, Heritage Rose Group and local chapters of the American Rose Society.

About 2/3 of our roses repeat bloom, and usually the Teas, Chinas, Noisettes, Polyanthas and Hybrid Perpetuals are putting on a mid-October show, and hips are ripening on many of our once-bloomers. Our weather is usually good, too. There are a number of destinations nearby that are worth visiting, if you have to make a trip here. Gold Rush-era cemeteries, some of which are having roses restored - Empire Mine State Park, with its old roses - Quarry Hill Botanical Garden with its Chinese species roses - Berkeley Botanical Garden - Oakland's Morcom Rose Garden - the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden and the modern roses in the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. These destinations are 1 1/2 to two hours away from Sacramento. Of course, San Francisco and Lake Tahoe are also very enticing, and two hours away!

We are also planning a very special Open Garden on April 21, a time when bloom should be at peak.

We'll have details about the symposium program, price, etc. by the end of January, or at least that is our plan. We will be working very hard next year to make this wonderful.

Anita