Brian Correiar/Garden Rose Council

The Pope John Paul II, among the offerings at the Rose Day sale.

The economy is looking rosier for people interested in attending the formal Rose Day program on May 1. Why? Because the university’s Center for Urban Horticulture has decided to drop the $75 registration fee.

This year’s Rose Day is actually two days long:

May 1 — Formal program with speakers, tours and rose sale.

May 2 — Tours and rose sale.

As previously planned, admission on May 2 is free, with no registration required.

Now, the first day is free, too, so long as you register in advance. Attendance is limited to the first 175 people to sign up at ccuh.ucdavis.edu/events. There will be no breakfast or free parking, but each registered participant will receive a free bag lunch and a free miniature rose plant.

The May 1 program starts at 8 a.m. at the Activities and Recreation Center, with presentations on rose production, hybridization and breeding, marketing, and pest and disease issues. The program moves to the university’s Foundation Plant Services (eight acres of roses) in mid-afternoon for tours and sale.

The sale and tours continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 2 at Foundation Plant Services, 455 Hopkins Road, at the southwest corner of Hopkins and Straloch roads, south of Hutchison Drive on the west side of Highway 113. (Map: fpms.ucdavis.edu/map.html.)

Up fort sale: All-American Rose Selection winners and rose varieties to be released in 2010, plus classic rose varieties. The roses are being made available through donations from Jackson & Perkins, Star Roses and Weeks Roses. The plants have been growing under the care of Foundation Plant Services, which provides clean, disease-free stock to growers.

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

Arboretum All-Stars go retail.

Calendar of arboretum events.