05/26/15
the dr huey tour

Dr Huey Tour

The Second Annual Corrales Rose Society Dr Huey Tour, May 25, 2015

The Second Annual Corrales Rose Society Dr Huey Tour was, once again, a memorable event. The abundance of the rose, the Hybrid wichurana, Dr. Huey, used as rootstock for many grafted roses here in Desert Southwest, is a cautionary tale about microclimates, winter protection, and maybe just letting grow what survives well in a given spot.

Tim Price has explained this in detail with his photos of Dr. Huey from this year’s tour. Please visit Tim’s blog to read in depth about this year’s tour and see his images of Dr. Huey. (My discussion and images from the 2014 tour are here.) Tim has done such a thorough job of showing and explaining the significance of the abundance of Dr. Huey bushes in Corrales, in this post I am going to show a few highlights from the tour itself.

The rose highlight of the 2014 Dr. Huey Tour for me was seeing a Dr. Huey specimen 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The rose highlight of the 2015 tour for me was seeing this specimen of Rosa multiflora, a species rose. I had never seen one before, and had never really thought about seeing one. In fact, I was so taken aback that I did not have the presence of mind to ask if I could take a cutting. I’ll ask the next time I visit. Isn’t it a beautiful rose, even though a bit past its prime in this image (as it was in all the images from yesterday):

dr huey tour

Rosa multiflora, a species rose

This is a close-up of a Dr. Huey bloom from the tour:

dr huey tour

Dr. Huey, a Hybrid wichurana

Tim and Laurie have a large, beautiful bush of Dr. Huey on their land:

dr huey tour

Laurie with Dr. Huey

Seeing all the Dr. Huey examples in the Village of Corrales is the goal of the Dr. Huey Tour. But there is so much fun in the process of doing that, I’m already looking forward to the Third Annual Corrales Rose Society Dr. Huey Tour a year from now!

Tim, the photographer, and Laurie, the artist, stopped along Corrales Road, the main street of Corrales. documenting a Dr. Huey or two.

dr huey tour

Tim and Laurie documenting Dr. Huey

04/10/15
Dr Huey

Dr Huey and Microenvironments

Dr Huey and Microenvironments

Dr Huey, a hybrid wichurana, is a rose known in some form to most rose growers. A very few people grow it as the rose itself, but that is the exception rather than the rule. It is a mildew magnet, at least in my yard, and a once bloomer. During the spring bloom, however, it can be spectacular.

For many years Dr Huey has been used a root-stock onto which to graft roses known for their blooms. It has been very useful for that purpose.

Many of us encounter Dr Huey when we have “shovel pruned” a rose and not completely gotten out the roots of this root-stock. We may also encounter it after various adverse conditions – drought, cold, and so forth – have stressed the grafted rose, and only the strong root-stock remains. That is one way of saying I have it in my yard every now and then. If it appears in the spring, I usually leave it until after the local rose show in case I want to use the foliage as line material in arrangements. Then, I will work to remove it so the planned rose in that spot can grow without competition from the strong root-stock.

Here in the high desert in the Rio Grande Valley, we have a variety of growing conditions that challenge the most dedicated gardeners. Once the soil has been amended, roses do pretty well where I live in Albuquerque if they get adequate water. In February 2011 we had an extreme cold snap from which I did lose some roses, but that is rare. We do not winterize our roses here, because it generally is not necessary. I live up toward the mountains and away from the river.

I have good friends who live right along the Rio Grande. We all learned in school that “warm air rises and cold air sinks.” When I go to visit them, even on the hottest summer days, I always take a jacket along if I am going to be there after sunset. It gets cold. In the winter, although the daytime temperatures may be similar to mine, the night temperatures can be up to 20°F colder. Their last average frost-free date can be a month later than mine. “We’re hard on roses here.”

My friends are not the only ones who are “hard on roses” in the Rio Grande Valley. The entire community in which they live is “hard on roses,” if, that is, they are grafted roses. For a week or two in the spring, Dr Huey can be seen in bloom everywhere, and it is quite beautiful. This rose can get huge, and covered with blooms can be very spectacular.

These images of Dr Huey are from the First Annual Dr Huey Rose Tour of the Corrales Rose Society, last year (2014).

Dr Huey

Dr Huey at entrance to vineyard in the Rio Grande Valley. It was a stormy day.

Dr Huey

Laurie with Dr Huey at her home

Dr Huey

Dr Huey at Tim and Laurie’s home

Dr Huey

Dr Huey

Dr Huey

Dr Huey

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Dr Huey on the road

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Close up of very large Dr Huey

Dr Huey

HUGE Dr Huey. Follow it out to the sides of the image!

08/26/09

The Twenty-First Annual Fine Arts Show, Corrales, NM

The Corrales Historical Society and Visual Arts Council hosts each year during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta a Fine Arts Show, with proceeds going toward maintenance of the Old San Ysidro Church, in which the show is held.

In 2009, the Opening Reception will be held on Friday, October 2, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The show will be open Saturday, October 3 through Saturday, October 10 from 11 am to 5 pm. On Sunday, October 11, the show will be open from 11 am to 4 pm.

This is a juried fine arts show.

I am happy to announce that one of my photographs, “Sky Light – Turmoil” – was selected to be in this year’s show.
– Susan Brandt Graham
Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you are in Albuquerque during Balloon Fiesta, plan to visit the Corrales Fine Arts Show at the Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales.

Sky Light - Turmoil

08/26/09

The Twenty-First Annual Fine Arts Show, Corrales, NM

The Corrales Historical Society and Visual Arts Council hosts each year during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta a Fine Arts Show, with proceeds going toward maintenance of the Old San Ysidro Church, in which the show is held.

In 2009, the Opening Reception will be held on Friday, October 2, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The show will be open Saturday, October 3 through Saturday, October 10 from 11 am to 5 pm. On Sunday, October 11, the show will be open from 11 am to 4 pm.

This is a juried fine arts show.

I am happy to announce that one of my sky photographs, “Sky Light – Turmoil” – was selected to be in this year’s show.
– Susan Brandt Graham
Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you are in Albuquerque during Balloon Fiesta, plan to visit the Corrales Fine Arts Show at the Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales.

Sky Light - Turmoil

Sky Light - Turmoil