Tucked away toward the back of the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, between the horse arenas and livestock barns, is a small rose garden that often goes unnoticed by many attending the annual fair.
Run by the Monterey Bay Rose Society (MBRS) since 2009, the garden offers guests a quiet reprieve from the bustling excitement of the event.
“A lot of people don’t know that the rose garden is here,” said Judy Sauve, chairperson of the garden and treasurer for MBRS. “They’ll come this direction, but just go through the barns and head back. But we do get a lot of the same people coming back to the garden every year… It’s quiet, people can sit down and relax, enjoy the sights and smells.”
Volunteers have been busy getting the garden ready for the fair, which will return Sept. 15-19 after the pandemic caused last year’s event to be canceled. Sauve said that MBRS takes care of the demonstration garden year-round, even when there isn’t a fair, but recently she has seen more and more activity at the grounds as the event draws near.
“We’ve seen horses arriving, barns being cleared out,” she said. “The folks at the Clover Deli have been getting their building ready, too. There are so many things going on—it’s exciting.”
The rose garden, Sauve said, is home to about 130 rose plants, from regular bushes and miniatures to “climbers,” which grow up the side of the trestle arches positioned at both entrances. Some plants have been growing there for years—others were just recently planted. The garden is a prime spot for small creatures such as bees, dragonflies and ladybugs as well as amphibians such as lizards and small frogs.
The main purpose of having the garden open and thriving during the fair, Sauve said, is education.
“We’re always here to answer any questions,” she said. “We want to help people in any way we can with growing their own roses.”
Plenty of work goes into rose care, Sauve said. This includes “deadheading,” or removing faded flowers from the tops of plants, which diverts its energy from making rose hips to making actual new flowers.
They also must keep weeds at bay, and water as needed. The garden uses a drip irrigation system, a water-saving technique which allows water to seep slowly into the roots of plants.
MBRS hosted a number of winter rose pruning clinics in January, where people came to learn more about rose growing and care, and help plant. As fair time approaches, they are looking for more volunteers to help prepare.
A public work day is planned for Sept. 4 at 10am. The community is invited to bring their own clippers and gloves to help out. There will also be a potluck for the volunteers.
When the fair opens on Sept. 15, MBRS members will be on hand at the garden, which includes a number of benches throughout and an ideal vantage point to watch the horses. Suave recommended that fairgoers stop by after they’ve taken tours of the animal pens.
“You should go through the barns first, then come back this way, through the roses to clear out your nose with the nicer smells,” she laughed.
Sauve added that she is “very excited” that the fair will be back.
“I’m just really looking forward to the fair,” she said. “I really missed it last year.”
