I copied this from the website: "The Roses are Blooming at Vintage Gardens! During May our private garden of roses will be open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm, as well as on Thursday, May 10th and Thursday, May 24th, from 9 am to 1 pm. Please come to visit. The garden is free, but we do ask that you make a charitable donation, which helps to support the Heritage Rose Foundation and its good works in preserving historic roses. Check our events page for more information! We close the garden on ONE Sunday, May 20th, in order to participate in the greatest assembly of old roses held under one roof; the Celebration of Old Roses, at the El Cerrito Community Center. Please join us at the Celebration as well for the worldÂs biggest aromatherapy session! GreggÂs Guided Tours of the Garden On Saturday mornings from 10:30 am until noon, Gregg will be leading tours of the rose garden, tracing the story of roses through the chronological layout of the garden. Learn about the many classes of roses, how to plant and grow them, and how to incorporate roses in garden design. Tours are limited to 20 people, and are $25 per person." Also - I haven't been there yet, but I beleive they now have a (smaller) retail location out of Garden Valley in Petaluma (LA/Carol/Paula/Pam, correct me if I'm wrong). A

Many thanks to all who came to our auction and sidewalk sale. We pretty much sold out this year. Lots of happy people went home with new and inexpensive iris!

Steve, Are you serious about Peonies liking slightly Alkaline soil? Well my clay soil mixed w/ compost should be perfect then! Shoot I wish I had read your reply before I fixed the baby Peony situation. I just opted for the least disturbant method and ran to Green Thumb to get some top soil. After talking to the "Expert" he recommend the soil for Camellia and Gardenia which is acidic! That was what I used to cover the roots of the baby peony. I knew I should have asked you guys and not some dude at a gardening center! Well... it rained last night and soil is nice and mixed in now. I guess time will tell how sturdy this baby girl is. Good thing I have not had the time to plant the two bigger plants. I think I will just stick with compost mixed in with the native soil. Can I add some pumice to help drainage or no? Last question Steve, if the Itoh's roots grow so compactly and I planted them in the ground then I don't have to pull them up and divide for a few years right? I CANNOT keep plants alive in pots to save my life! Everything I planted in the ground thrive everything in pots died. So I am very hesitant to keep anything potted. Plus that's a lot more work to me. And I need things easier. Thanks! Lynn

I have two teni's in bloom and tree peonies are opening now, Elizabeth Blair Hirsh, Fen Dai Bai, two unnamed tree seedlings. The one seedling I have been watching the bloom got nipped by something and took the top off just as the freeze hit and does not appear to be opening any further than it was. Next year I will definately wrap it with many layers of wire. The bud was the size of a supersized jawbreaker and looked like it would have been a peachy pink. Even if you are not in the area of this tour check your local gardens. Many have established Chinese or Japanese gardens and should have tree peonies. Tree peonies generally bloom earlier that the regular herbaceous.