Native plants and the California Nursery Company

From a scrapbook, 1918, a picture of Carpenteria californica.
At the time the nursery was under the management of W.V. Eberly,
after John Rock died in 1904.
W.V. Eberly was manager during the PPIE.
W.V. Eberly was the first president of
the California Association of Nurserymen in 1911.

We visited Scott and Jenny Fleming's native plant garden in Berkeley on a garden tour many years back.

It was a wonderful garden with a rocky slope behind and a flat area for a meadow and a swimming pool that fit in to its surroundings. Their front drive was planted with plants from shady canyons. They had a sunny meadow. They had a hillside of plants suited for the slope.

The Flemings were on the founding committee of the California Native Plant Society in 1965 and so this was almost like visiting a sacred site!

I think that I ran into the HALS report on their garden on a search for George Roeding. 

Now why would the Roeding family be in this report, I wondered.

Where was Fancher Creek Nursery and the Roeding place?

David Rumsey Township 13 South, Range 21 East. 

(Compiled, drawn and published ... by Thos. H. Thompson, Tulare, California, 1891)

Note: F.T. Eisen was the neighbor to F. Roeding

Searching for the Gold...en State Rose

From 1939 catalog?
This highly colorized photo does not look
like the rose that we have. Not surprising! 

As the 80th anniversary of the Golden Gate International Exposition approached, I attempted to find the 'Golden State' rose, the official rose of the GGIE.

How do you find a rose that was first sold 80 years ago?Chances are pretty good that the rose is no longer in the trade. As new roses come in, people forget the old roses.

When searching for an old or vintage rose, the helpmefind website is very useful. You can find out who sells it and which gardens have it in their collections. Each lead led to a dead end, one after the other. Many rose experts and fans helped by tracking down their sources. Very often the rose had just died. Finally Thea read about my search on the Houzz forum? and she connected me with Becky who connected me with John Bagnasco, in San Diego. 

John: "I've had a difficult time trying to verify this rose. The one that I have was identified by Gregg Lowery to be Golden State. It's a beautiful rose, but to me it looks like it might have a few more petals than the Golden State pics I see on HMF. The color is definitely right. I'll send a pic when the next bloom opens. I am bringing a truckload of roses to the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden in Feb. The Golden State is in a 5G can and I can bring with me when I come up. Would that work for you?"

Then in February 2020, I learned that David Giroux (San Jose Heritage Rose Garden) had the rose delivery from John and it included the 'Golden State.' David drove it up to Fremont.

The Lost Fruit Books

Col. Wilder pear, p. 145

A certain nurseryman has told me often about some lost books about fruits with color illustrations of fruits. They were owned by his grandfather who died shortly before he was born. I finally looked them up to see if I could show him the books online. Here they are:

• The pears of New York By U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, E. H. Francis, H. B. Tukey.
• The plums of New York by U.P. Hedrick ; assisted by R. Wellington ... [et al.].
• The peaches of New York by U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, C. B. Turbergen.
•  The cherries of New York by U. P. Hedrick, assisted by G. H. Howe, O. M. Taylor, C. B. Tubergen, R. Wellington.
•  The grapes of New York by U.P. Hedrick, assisted by N.O. Booth ... [and others]
• The small fruits of New York (not online?)
• The Apples  of New York volume 1 and volume 2

The "Belts and Suspenders" strategy of my least favorite weed

At the California Nursery Historical Park, our rose beds are awash with the "Devil Bulb". This crafty weed confounds us at every corner. Nothing seems to stop it. I call its strategy "Belts and Suspenders", because it profusely propagates by bulb and by seed. And it seems to grow year-round and to flower year-round and to make bulblets year-round.

This "Devil Bulb" has been in our garden for a very long time as you can see from the 1997 Mercury News article below. I asked 93+ year-old nurseryman, Bruce, if it was in the garden in his time and the answer was yes.

Is there any hope?

Visiting Nurseries in the San Francisco Bay area in 1948

Entertaining at the California Nursery Company
1948

“Ornamental Horticulture field trip, San Francisco Bay Area, 1948"

At 5:13 they are at the Japanese Garden, followed by the Conservatory of Flowers.
At 14:46 Japanese grower. Possibly the Domoto Nursery in Oakland? Hayward?
An interesting shot of a guy on a 12 foot ladder taking a picture of the camellia display.
At 15:54 the California Nursery during the bulb shows, complete with Dutch girls.

A Visit to California by Eastern Horticulturalists - 1870

"Brief Notes"? Are there long notes?

The summer after the Transcontinental Railroad reached the San Francisco Bay, these esteemed horticulturalists (and ladies) visited California: Marshal P. Wilder, Charles Downing, George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry.

The May 6, 1869 ceremony in Promontory, Utah celebrated the joining of East to West, ending in Sacramento. But travelers had to travel the rest of the way to San Francisco by boat from Sacramento.

Less celebrated was the first through train on the Western Pacific Road to the San Francisco Bay on September 6, 1869. The first train arrive in Alameda on that day and then two months later to Oakland. Niles station was not even a year old yet in June 1870.

These famous horticulturalists made the trip during the next growing season. They arrived on June 20 in San Francisco. Did they take the ferry from Sacramento? Or the train to Alameda then a ferry to SF?

They travelled all over the Bay Area visiting nurseries and orchards. They visited the counties of the San Francisco Bay (San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, and Sonoma). They visited Sacramento and the Big Trees.

Albert Etter and the California Nursery Company

Albert Etter Apples introduced in 1944 catalog

In 1944, six of Albert Etter's apples were introduced to the public. The California Nursery Company catalog cover shows Jonwin, All Gold, Wickson's Crab, Pink Pearl, and Alaska. Not shown was Humboldt Crab. A seventh apple, Crimson Gold, was introduced in 1947.

All were co-patented with Albert Etter and George Roeding, Jr.

Tom Hart presented the Legacy of Albert Etter in 2019.

The 2020 CiderCon session at Filoli was about historic orchards and with a talk by Tom Hart. 

Fruit Growers' Conventions 1881-1921

The Proceedings of the Fruit Growers' Convention make for interesting reading. The conversations were captured and recorded for posterity. Jokes, anecdotes, and tones of voices can be read again many years later. It's like you were there.

• 1881 Sacramento, Dec. 6, 1881
• 1882 Nov. 1882
• 1886 6th, Sacramento, Nov. 15, 1886 
• 1889, 10th, Chico, CA, Nov 20-23: Bulletin
• 1894 18th, Sacramento, Nov. 20-23:
• 1895, 19th, Sacramento, CA, Nov. 5-8:
  note in 1895 "20th, 21st, 22d, 23d have never been published"

• 1901, 26th, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 3-6:
• 1902, 27th, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 2-5: 
• 1903 28th, Los Angeles, May 5-8
• 1904 (other, and), 29th, Fresno, CA, Dec. 8-11:
• ?1905  xx Santa Rosa, CA: Roeding (fig and Burbank anecdotes), Rixford, Maslin, Wickson, Irish, Hecke, Shields on Chinese labor, 
• 1905 31st, Santa Rosa, Dec. 5-: ("See 32nd report in Horticultural Report 1905-1906")
• 1907 (other) 33rd, Marysville, CA, Dec. 3-7:
• 1908, 34th, Riverside, CA, Apr. 28-May 1: 
• 1908 (Other), 35th, Sacramento, CA, Dec 1-4: 
• 1909  (other) 36th, Watsonville, CA, Dec 7-10: 
• 1910 (other, and), 37th, Pomona, CA, Sept 13-14:
• 1910 (other) 38th, Stockton, Dec. 6-9:
• 1911 (other) 40th, Santa Rosa, CA, Dec. 19-21: Roeding (pests, berries), Burbank (cactus, "wizard"), Chinese/Japanese/pear blight, 
• 1912 41st, Santa Barbara, June 12-14: 
• 1915 (other, and) 47th, Visalia, Nov. 18-20: 
• 1916 48th, San Bernardino in conjunction with National Orange Show, Feb. 18-19:
• 1917 50th, Sacramento, Nov. 21-23:
• 1918 51st, Riverside, May 28-29:
• 1919 52nd, Chico, CA, Nov 10-15: 
• 1920 53rd, Fresno, CA, Nov. 9-12:
• 1921 54th, Los Angeles, Oct. 24-26:

Other interesting publications

California Fruit Growers' Recipes: Culinary and Toilet, Lemons

National Convention of Fruit Growers

• 1848 New York City
• 1849 2nd, 

Daffodil ID

These pretty daffodils were growing in a local park. What are they?

'Ice Follies' is the suggestion.

A drought tolerant rose garden?

Niles Cochet,
at an abandoned gas station in San Juan Bautista,
is the green bushy plant to the left, next to window.
Found/reported by Jeri Jennings.
It was not in bloom in this photo in mid-August,
but its foliage was a nice deep green.
Check out the supporting cast of characters:
agave, yucca?

Can you have roses in a drought tolerant garden, that gets little water in the summer?

I first became aware of such an idea from the "Rose Rustlers", those intrepid seekers of old roses at abandoned homestead, roadways, cemeteries, and abandoned gas stations. Many of these roses were brought by early settlers and were as rugged as the people who brought them. The roses are often disease resistant as well as drought tolerant.

The Master Gardeners of Alameda County have three demonstration gardens: Fremont, Livermore, and Albany. Look for their recommended plant lists.

I was surprised to see roses in the Livermore demonstration garden. I was double-surprised that one of their roses was the 'Mutabilis' rose or 'Butterfly' rose, a China/Bengale hybrid, and is listed as an Earth Kind rose.

Tea roses, like the "Niles Cochet" and its "sport mother", the Maman Cochet, do not require summer water once established.

References:

• “If Dead People Can Grow Roses, Anyone Can” by Mike Shoup, the owner of the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas
• Caring for roses in the drought - UC
• Growing Roses During the Drought - Pacific Rose Society
• Drought Tolerant Roses - Tamara L.C. Johnson
• Tea Roses: Old Roses for Warm Gardens
• The Rose Rustlers, is a brand new book from Texas and has descriptions of many 'found' roses.
• Earth Kind roses has a list of roses
• Suggestions from UC Davis on training your new rose to be more drought tolerant
• What to plant with your roses? 

Teasing out the Peace Rose History and Weaving in the California Nursery Company

The Roeding family history says that the California Nursery Company was the official West Coast propagator of the Peace rose. Or were they one of several? What about Armstrong?

It is also said that George Roeding, Jr. arranged to have Peace roses delivered to some number of delegates for the United Nations meeting in San Francisco.

Yet there is never any mention of this in the official Peace rose history. Why?

What happened to our Peace Rose?

From the 1948 California Nursery Catalog

These colors? Did the Peace Rose ever have these colors? Was this a colorized photo by someone who didn't know the true colors?

The California Nursery Company was one of the propagators of the Peace Rose on the West Coast in the mid 1940's. This was the color shown in their catalog. But the Roedings remember a different color than the color sold today.

Rose Garden Before Time

The "Lost Rose Garden"

Our local historic nursery park has a hidden neglected rose garden with about twenty rose bushes.

We recently found out that this garden was an old AARS rose test garden, suspended in time from the 1970's when the nursery went out of business.

The neighbor, Bill, who lived behind the garden watered the roses for 48 years. He moved in 2017 and could no longer take care of it. We scrambled and with the help of volunteers and neighbors, the garden was watered that summer. Then we decided that no one would be able to continue this, so in 2017-2018 we moved the roses up to the front of the park in a temporary location, our "Rose Hospital".

What roses are in this garden? There are no labels. What was the AARS rose selection program? Do we have roses that are now lost to the nursery trade? How do we find out?

Some of the roses are quite pretty and have a wonderful fragrance.

The Prœparturiens Burn

PRP, February, 25, 1882

The Prœparturiens Burn

John Rock, with 30 years of the American experience under his belt, was very capable of publicly throwing shade on his fellow nurserymen, as expertly as any twitterati today. 

The Man who put the "Blast" in Blastophaga

That would be George C. Roeding!
...who is also the man who put wasp eggs
in your fig newton!

This is a story of persistance, confidence, and finally being able to tell your critics that they are all wrong after 20 years of ridicule. All of this to make California the center of fig culture.

Figs trees are pretty common in the bay area. But the kind that we generally grow are not Calimynra figs (or Symrna figs). These are the beefier figs usually used for drying. You will probably have to go to the Central Valley to find them. Look for the trees with the brown paper bags hanging on them in June.

Back in 1800's, no one knew how the Smyrna fig was pollinated. When the fig was brought to America, it was brought without its pollinator.  For years, the fruit fell off the tree without ripening. It took many years of study and travel and finally understanding the science behind the process.

It took a group of persistent people, George Roeding being one of the main movers. There does seem to be a bit of elbowing and competition in getting the claim for solving this mystery.

Fig Mysteries

Painting by Mrs. Henry W. Kruckeberg (Jennie?) 1902?
from The Smyra Fig at Home and Abroad
Henry Kruckeberg published stuff like
the Proceedings of the California Association of Nurserymen.
Here he is next to George C. Roeding in 1911.
Perhaps Mrs. Kruckeberg turns up
in some of these CAN photos as well.
Original painting is in the Roeding Archives.
Letter in the archives at library with letter from April 7, 1903.

John Rock, George Roeding, Gustav Eisen, James Shinn: These are names that are part of our local fig stories.

Quotes are intriguing: "Rock (according to Eisen) was the “owner of the largest assortment of fig varieties collected in one place."

Where did those figs go?

Other local mysteries are "Who was first to solve the mystery of caprification of the Smyrna fig?" Apparently there is a hand-written unpublished 75-page document written by George Roeding that will answer this question (BR).

When Gustav Eisen mentions the people who he has worked with, why does he leave out George C. Roeding? We know they worked together closely on the mystery of caprification. And he's mentioned many times in his book, This Fig. But no thanks? What's the scoop on that? The Roeding family says that Eisen was the first orchard manager for Fancher Creek. They were next door neighbors in Fresno. (BR)

At one time, John Rock had 18 different varieties of the Caprifig, the largest number collected in one place in 1901. (p. 122, in the Proceedings of the 26th Fruit Growers Convention in SF., December 1901).

Even dead trees can have a life

Our beloved park snag with its bear face

Trees in our local park have been dying over the last droughty years.

An alternative to cutting them down is to feature them as snags for wildlife.

The Smithsonian talks about creating a snag from one of their dying trees.

One of our beloved snags has the face of a bear. When I first volunteered at the park, I was told that our dead tree had a bear face. I didn't believe it until I saw that indeed it had a bear face.

Plants of the Canary Islands

Roses and palms have a nice relationship.
Would you like something that occurs
in the Canary Islands?

Looking for some plants to continue your theme of the Canary Islands?

Early California Horticulture Publications

California Horticulture

Just ran into this really lovely illustration on the cover of California Horticulture by George C. Roeding.

Starting a page to collect all of these early horticultural books and booklets.