In the Fall issue of the Newsletter–which you got only in early December–I announced this topic for the Winter issue: “Crosses I’m Going to Make this Year, and Why.” I suggested a due date of December 31 so that I could get the articles in and get the Newsletter done before my business (I teach, and the spring semester has just begun) got really heavy. To this date, I’ve received only 2 articles.
Ideally, the Winter issue would have gone into the mail about a month ago. I would like to get the mailing dates back closer to where they should be, not 3 months late, which the Fall issue was.
If everyone pitches in and gets an article to me in the next 10 days, I’ll have the issue out before the end of the month, and perhaps in the mail by February 1. But it really depends on you.
A bit of interpretation:
“Crosses I’m going to make” does not have to mean crosses that you absolutely will make.
I intend it to mean
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crosses that you will make, or
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crosses that you would like to make if you can get the mother plant or pollen in time, or
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dream crosses, or
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a whole class of crosses that you think are essential or would be useful to make.
The valuable part of the article is in the thinking behind the choices–your reasons for making or wanting to make the crosses, and the longterm objectives for the crosses and any other crosses you might see as desirable follow-ups in the development of better blooming, hardier, more disease-resistant roses.
If you’ve not yet begun to think about what crosses to make this coming season, this is a really good time to do it, so please begin thinking (and writing) right away so that you and others can benefit from sharing these ideas before the pollination season begins.
In the Fall Newsletter I also asked for “Who we are” sketches (brief member bios), and if you haven’t sent in one of those (and a lot of our members have not), this also would be a good time to send in some bios. We have a good number of new members who have been all too shy about introducing themselves, so it would be good if they (and the shy older members) would send in a bit of info about themselves and what their rose (and rose hybridizing) interests are.
Remember that I’m also ready at any time for articles on other subjects. Maybe you can tell how you handle pollen, or how you got really good seed germination this past season, or how you keep records of crosses. Or maybe you know a way that works really well to mark crosses, or to avoid losing hips from early- late-season drops, or to keep varmints (squirrels, deer, etc) from snacking on your crosses. Any sorts of practical hints are welcome, as are questions about where to get particular varieties or essential supplies.
Please get those articles written and get them in to me soon, preferably by this weekend, so you can have your Winter Newsletter soon.
Please don’t wait for someone else to do it.
Peter