Davis gardener has a flair for roses

WEST POINT — It's easy to spot the Jerry Yoneda home in this Davis County town: It's the one with all the roses growing in the yard.

Yoneda, a rose-grower extraordinaire, has 720 roses of different sizes, shapes, colors and types. He admits the roses took over his berry patch a few years ago and are quickly diminishing the size of his vegetable garden.

Yoneda began gardening early in his life with his parents in Denver. Originally, he wanted to become a horticulturist but found that he liked chemistry better. After receiving a doctorate in chemistry, he moved to Utah in 1986 to work for the federal government.

After buying his home, he decided to plant a few roses — 75 plants. Each season he has added more and more.

"I like shrub roses," said Yoneda. "They have a nice garden impact and range in size from small plants to those covering a 6-by-6 foot area. They are nice ground covers, and some grow much larger. They are also much more winter hardy than the hybrid tea roses."

When I asked for some of his favorites, he offered three: Sally Holmes, a beautiful large white single flower; Golden Celebration, a large double yellow flower on a tall plant; and Ballerina, a polyantha rose with small pink flowers with white centers.

Another beautiful rose in his collection is a stunning climbing miniature called Jeanne Lajoie. This has a literal tower of small, pink blossoms that cascade over the entire plant. Yoneda likes it because it is well-adapted to our area.

"It is hard to find climbers that are hardy but not overwhelming. Most climbing roses have serious winterkill problems here, and many get too large."

He then pointed out a couple of other favorites in his collection. Veterans Honor is a superb, large, dark red hybrid tea rose. Fourth of July is a new climbing rose with red and white flowers on a robust plant.

So how does Yoneda care for all of his plants?

"Start by feeding and watering the roses regularly," he said. "To get them to bloom, make certain you deadhead them."

Deadheading a rose means removing the spent blossom and it can be a tedious job — especially in a yard with 720 plants.

"It is a lot of work to keep up with the deadheading," Yoneda admitted. "I start first at one side of the garden, and each shrub rose might take one-half hour to deadhead. But it is worth it because they keep on blooming."