ORios CS&ilvestres 
An address before the San Francisco Rose Society, July 14, 1946, 
By MRS. MERRILL A. NEWMAN, Present 
eae) LOS SILVESTRES is the home of Mrs. Francis E. Lester 
if ee and the Lester Rose Gardens. It is located in beautiful 
i ‘ nh i Brown Valley, some nine miles out of Watsonville, Cali- 
i@d<4| fornia. To reach these gardens, we traveled Highway 
~* 101 to the Watsonville sign, a short distance beyond the 
little town of Morgan Hill. This road led us to the foot of Hecker 
Pass and the delightful mountain road which leads past the Gardens. 
A Shell Oil Station at the intersection was our landmark, and the 
attendant assured us that we could reach our destination by travelling 
this scenic route as well as the more prosaic way through Watsonville. 

The Gardens need no post box number when the roses are in bloom 
for their fragrance and color are sufficient identification. An arch 
over the entrance gate supported the soft pink Duchesse de Brabant 
on one side and on the other the yellow Marechal Niel, a favorite since 
1864. Once inside the gate the charming informality of the front 
garden enchanted us. Here were the old roses growing as they had 
always liked to grow, mingling their beauty with that of the peren- 
nials. 
Picture, if you can, four and a half acres of roses complete with a 
singing mountain stream. Everything has been done to retain the 
beauty of the natural setting. Here the climbers are so artfully placed 
that nature, not man, seemed the trainer. Several of these climbers 
bore their blooms in graceful sprays, others in clusters, and a third 
group sported large single or double blooms. 
The culture of these old roses, Mrs. Lester tells me, is very simple 
and indeed it seemed that way. Along the hillside path to the propo- 
gating field, many varieties of these lovely old roses were vigorously 
growing and in full bloom. These plants are watered by the rains and 
obtain their nourishment from the hillside on which they are planted. 
Less sturdy varieties are placed where they can be more readily 
watered during the dry season, but few of these old ones receive any 
of the food elements so necessary to the well-being of the hybrid tea. 
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