Page 25 - Sonoma County Gazette - May, 2018

Sonoma County ~ A Vintage Rose ‘Terroir’ Where can you buy fragrant, vintage roses?
In the effort to curb the drugs coming from Columbia, the Bush administration passed new trade laws to aid Columbia in starting up its own rose production. These roses, the ones you buy in grocery stores, are being shipped by the millions to sate the American appetite for
By Jane Rogan Dwight
The rose is arguably the most poetic of flowers. It is the
hallmark of Spring, bursting on the scene in April and May, boasting singular beauty and metaphorical richness in every phase, from youthful bud to mature bloom. Thorns protect it, fragrance and color attract insects who live in symbiotic relationship.
low-priced bouquets. Roses from Columbia are not fragrant.
Of course, not all roses are created equal.
If it’s fragrance you’re missing, specialty roses
from Garden Valley Ranch and Russian River Rose Company are two places to buy in Sonoma County.
In Sonoma County, we are known for our passionate horticulturists. Our most famous horticulturist, Luther Burbank, cultivated “Joseph’s Coat” and the “Burbank” rose – among many other plant varieties. Burbank called Sonoma County “the chosen spot of all this earth.”
Those who know their roses are familiar with Rayford Reddell’s legendary work at Petaluma’s Garden Valley Ranch. At the height of his career, Reddell’s most fragrant roses attracted such celebrities as Princess Diana, Caroline Kennedy and Martha Stewart. Garden Valley Ranch is now owned and operated by Jessica and Justin Yau, a brother and sister team who acquired it a year ago from Mark Grim. The Garden Valley Ranch property has a long and interesting history dating back to the 1850s.
As Sonoma County rose farmers, both the Yaus and the Tomalsoff’s are deeply committed to natural, sustainable and pollinator- friendly practices. The results are beautiful, fragrant flowers.
Further north, nestled in the well-traveled Russian River wine appellation just off Westside Road, Jan and Michael Tolmasoff have been growing some of the most fragrant roses in the world on some of the richest soil in California since 1976. The birth and growth of their garden business, Russian River Rose Company, is another captivating Sonoma County story.
Russian River Rose Company
Garden Valley Ranch
Refined culinary rose water, rose oils for perfume and the roses themselves are some of the fragrant products of Russian River Rose Company. Owner, collector
and cultivator, Jan Tolmasoff, has an open, welcoming personality. As a nursery worker is arranging pots of
Jessica answered the bell at her petit garden gate in tall muddy boots and a big floppy hat. She was watering; a job that takes hours on her five-acre ranch. White doves fly out of the bell tower and demand I look up to notice the mid-19th century
roses and preparing beds for new layers
of manure, Jan sees a bright blue, swallow- tailed butterfly hovering over her ‘bees and butterflies’ garden. She is ecstatic.
farm buildings, small and large, in the center of what feels like an old Victorian town, complete with train depot. We walk past rows of 5-gallon bare root roses on our way to the potting room where Jessica tells
Jan and her husband, Michael, purchased the Healdsburg property in 1976, planted in grapes, pears and prunes. Jan decided
to plant roses to beautify the vineyard. She poured a catalog of “Roses of Yesterday and Today,” and found herself attracted
me about the antique building elements in the room. Drawings and water colors depicting the 1850s train depot are framed and hung. Natural light adds to an atmosphere where I could spend hours potting plants.
to the vintage varieties not only for their beauty and fragrance, but for their stories. “Every rose came with a testimonial.” She purchased 15 roses and never looked back.
Where have all the roses gone?
oil for sale in their online store and at the garden. If you’re interested, buy soon. It sells out very quickly.
Jessica tells me about the declining fate of the American rose industry. She refers to a Washington Post story. (Damien Paletta, “In Rose beds, Money Blooms,” Washington Post; February 10, 2018.) It is subtitled, “How the rose trade lifted Columbia and nearly erased an American industry.”
Garden Valley Ranch - 498 Pepper Rd, Petaluma • (707) 795-0919 • gardenvalley.com. Private tours and nursery pick-ups by appointment. First Friday tours are $10 per person. The Ranch offers classes, family events and an inspiring wedding venue. They also sell cut rose stems and bouquets.
Russian River Rose Company - 1685 Magnolia Dr., Healdsburg • (707) 433-7455 • russian- river-rose.com. Throughout the year Jan features a different workshop. May is a time to experience the beauty of the garden – especially Mother’s Day & Memorial weekend. In October the Tolmasoff’s host Bulgarian singers and offer their new batch of fragrance, agedfor 5 months.
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Once a thriving business in the U.S., rose cultivation moved to Bogota, Columbia in the 1980s. Infamous for the growth of violent drug cartels who shipped cocaine by the ton to the United States, the Columbia drug culture provided jobs, supported villages and infected North America with its products.
Russian River Rose Company now carries 650 varieties of roses and 150 varieties of Irises. Jan chooses the varieties for their beauty, fragrance, versatile growing patterns, and for how well they flourish in our climate.
Michael Tolmasoff, a chemical engineer, produces perfumes in small batches of rose