Everything is coming up roses when UC Davis hosts its third annual Rose Day seminar and sales, April 30 and May 1.

The seminar (with a rose sale for participants) comes first, April 30. A public sale is set for May 1. Everything takes place at Foundation Plant Services, west of the main campus. Available for sale will be All-America Rose Selection winners, rose varieties to be released in 2011 and classic rose varieties.

Organizers said the seminar will cover best management practices for establishing and caring for roses. Topics include rose propagation, pruning, budding and grafting, and pest identification and management.

“We’re excited about this popular workshop’s new hands-on format,” said Melissa Borel, program representative with the California Center for Urban Horticulture. “Whether you’re new to roses or a seasoned veteran, we’re sure you’ll gain something interesting from the workshop to apply in your own home garden.”

Rose Day is part of the center’s Your Sustain-able Back Yard series of educational events, designed to deliver knowledge to Master Gardeners, rosarians and others who can share the information with the gardening public.

The $45 registration fee includes lunch and a tour of the university’s eight-acre rose garden and the new All-America Rose Selections garden testing site, only the third one in California.

All-America Rose Selections is a nonprofit association dedicated to the introduction and promotion of exceptional roses. Thirty new rose varieties, as yet unnamed, are growing in the UC Davis test garden. These include hybrid teas, floribundas, landscape, grandifloras and climbing roses.

Rose Day is presented by the California Center for Urban Horticulture, Master Gardener program, Foundation Plant Services and the Garden Rose Council.

Registration and more information