Class to offer tips on fall vegetable gardens

With the beginning of August comes the time to start your fall vegetable garden. Fall vegetable gardens can actually be more productive than spring gardens. Come to Room 8 in the Multi-Purpose Events Center from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 20 to learn more about your fall vegetable garden. This class is free. A few of the topics we will cover are location of your garden, soil preparation, weed control, insects, diseases, what to plant, mulching, watering and composting. If you have ever thought about starting a fall garden or already have one and are interested in learning more, this will be a great class for you. Call 716-8610 to register.

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The Charlie-Thornberry Farmers Market Association will hold Salsa Day from 9 to 11 a.m. today at the Downtown Farmers Market, Eighth and Ohio. Association members will be at the Downtown Farmers Market from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Aug. 27.

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Here is another Earth-Kind rose to consider for your landscape. Earth-Kind Roses have been through rigorous statewide testing and evaluation by a team of horticultural experts and found to possess a high level of landscape performance and outstanding disease and insect tolerance/ resistance required to for this special designation.

Earth-Kind Roses are among the most thoroughly tested and environmentally responsible plants for use in Texas landscapes.

Earth-Kind roses are certainly not immune to pest problems. However, their tolerance to pests is so great that they rarely require the use of chemical pesticides.

The 15th and final rose on the Earth-Kind rose list is Georgetown Tea.

In 1983, Dr. William C. Welch, professor and Extension specialist at Texas A&M University, discovered this rose in the yard of a day-care center in Georgetown, Texas. It was a large, healthy specimen but the owner knew nothing of its origins. Georgetown Tea is among several “found” roses that Dr. Welch is credited for re-introducing into the rose community.

The double flowers are approximately 4 inches in diameter with a dark salmon pink center that fades to lilac pink. Georgetown Tea is a repeat bloomer, from spring to first frost. Another interesting characteristic of this cultivar is that the petals become pointed at the tips, giving the open flower a star shape appearance. Like most roses in this class, the blooms have a tea-like fragrance. The upright, bushy plant reaches a height of 3 to 5 feet with medium, dark green, semi-glossy leaves.

Cultivar name: Georgetown Tea

Blossom color: Dark salmon pink

Blossom and fragrance: Double, tea-like

Blooming period: May to first frost

Mature height: 3-5 feet

Mature width: 2-4 feet

Rose category: Tea

Growth habit: Medium shrub

Landscape uses: Georgetown Tea is an excellent landscape rose requiring full sun for optimum growth and performance. Plants may be used in mass or as a specimen in the landscape. The flowers’ starry shape provide a unique appearance in the garden. These upright, bushy shrubs should be planted in a well drained soil on no less than 3- to 5-foot centers. The Earth-Kind designation also ensures that Georgetown Tea is extremely resource efficient with outstanding landscape performance characteristics.

When planting Earth-Kind roses in the landscape be sure to plant with plenty of room around it to ensure air movement. This will aid in the reduction of diseases. It is always a good idea to plan enough room when planting your Earth-Kind rose that it will have at least one foot of extra space around the rose based on the mature rose size. Earth-Kind roses also need to be planted in full sun, as this will reduce disease problems on the roses as well.