Everything is coming up 鈥榬oses鈥� for the Comox Valley Horticultural Society as it gets ready to present its next speaker, Paul Bulk (a rose expert), on Monday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
As the Matshona Dhliwayo saying goes, 鈥淏e like a rose; no matter how many thorns you encounter in life, bloom.鈥�
For Paul Bulk, growing roses is in his DNA. His grandfather grew roses his whole life in the Netherlands and when his own parents emigrated to Canada in 1979, they started their own rose farm in Brentwood Bay, called Eurosa Gardens.
Bulk started working at the farm from the age of 14 as a truck washer and evolved into other roles as the years went by.
He attended Kwantlen College as well as Olds University in the horticulture program. Since 2003 he has worked full-time at Eurosa Gardens, and is now the head grower and co-owner. He explains that over his time, in this lovely place, he has grown many different crops, including roses, alstroemeria, lisianthus, snapdragons, gerberas matthiola, sweet peppers, tomatoes and cucumber. However, his main focus is managing the 100,000 rose plants in the 4.5-acre facility.
You can expect to hear all about rose growing from a commercial perspective and learn some significant insight. How and why they do certain things, parallels to growing outdoors and their approach to pest management.
Wishing to attend? Advance registration is required for members and non-members. Members will receive a separate Zoom invitation. Registration for non-members ($5.50) is simple 鈥� by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, as it requires two days to process.
