ROSE RAMBLER …
LAST ONE FOR 2015!
So we’ll leave you with some delightful testimonials along with beautiful rose pictures to relax and inspire you during this Festive Season; there’s also some great information about beetles/bugs and how to ensure your rose garden is well maintained this summer!
ROSESALESONLINE IS AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS – If only we could employ our very own personal ‘carrier pigeon’ to deliver your parcels – there have been some unfortunate glitches with AustPost more recently but we press on, knowing you’re reassured by our 100% guarantee and the quality of our roses!
Because we are now EXPRESS POSTING ALL PARCELS through December/January
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY you can order to guarantee
CHRISTMAS DELIVERY *
*MELBOURNE METRO LAST DAY FOR ORDERS IS MONDAY, 21ST DECEMBER
Most roses arrive like this:
And we graciously acknowledge delivery of our beautiful roses with emails similar to this one from Jennifer in Port Macquarie …
“Hi Di – Thank you for your lovely email and all the information, much appreciated. I was reminiscing today whilst dead-heading … my first order with you was Dec 31st 2014 at about 5pm and I remember you saying I was the last order for the year and what a lovely selection I was ordering. My how time has flown!!!!!!!!
I truly hope you and yours have a wonderful time over the coming weeks and I’d sincerely like to “THANK YOU” for all the beautiful roses I have accumulated over the past year, along with your never-ending dedication, sense of humour, expertise and of course your always efficient friendly, prompt service.
It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know Rosesalesonline and I look forward to many more spectacular roses in the future… (if I can only find somewhere to put them hahahahahaha). Cheers, Jen”
Our spectacular
GIFT ROSE arrives like this and
will grace the Christmas dining table for sure
FORGET ME NOT
GRA’S GARBLE …
We’ve received ‘HELP PLEASE’ emails from customers who are dealing with a variety of ‘pests’ on the roses so we asked Steve from Organic Crop Protectants (who produce our organic rose management products) to shed some light on the situation – this is great reading, worth printing and keeping in your garden folder for future reference!
Before we get serious, here’s a joke:
Q. Did you hear about the little pig with a rash? A. He needed OINKMENT!
Please note: During this dialogue, I have put some of my own comments in brackets.
“There are so many weird and wonderful beetles out there we’d really need an entomologist to identify them. By definition beetles are chewing insects (bugs conversely are sap suckers) and so you can possibly blame some holes in rose flowers on beetles.”
(Gra: we found earwigs had chewed holes in rose buds this week! Maybe earwigs are classed as a beetle too?)
“However there is a group of beetles loosely called pollen beetles and they mostly feed on pollen and do little or no damage to rose petals or leaves. I think the small black beetles you have are pollen beetles for sure. The other ones I can’t say for certain.”
(Gra: Here in Victoria we have ‘soldier beetles’ which are totally harmless to roses but can arrive in massive infestations which cause rose gardeners to panic!)
“My plan of attack would be to spray with eco-neem. While the label in Australia shows 9 insects (including caterpillars) the overseas label lists more than 200 pests (including various beetles). A rate of 3ml per litre of water would be the way to go and to spray weekly until the problem resolves itself. If you have a very bad outbreak then you could spray every 5 days. I’d also add some eco-oil (at 2ml per litre) in with the solution. This will help the spray stick better on the roses and improve the results.
Eco-neem works in several different ways including suppressing appetite, preventing insect growth and repelling insects in general. Different insects are more vulnerable to different modes of action at different stages in their lifecycle. Sounds a bit complicated I know but ultimately it means caterpillars die in a couple of days but harder body insects can sometimes take longer before the impact on their overall population shows (hence doing repeat sprays).”
The great thing about eco-neem is there is no known cases of pest insect resistance, it’s safe for good insects (like bees and ladybeetles) plus it’s independently Certified Organic.
WATERING YOUR GARDEN THIS SUMMER …
To conserve water, the first and most important product in your garden is MULCH-MULCH-MULCH!!! We use and highly recommend PEA STRAW as it provides insulation to the soil yet allows water, air and fertilizer to penetrate as it slowly decomposes to create humus which has wonderful water-retaining capacity. You can use lots of other mediums: redgum/eucy mulch, pebbles/stones or any other straw without seeds!
What water you apply to the garden MUST REACH THE ROOTS of the roses – deep soaking with no less than 20 litres per plant, delivered in the same application once a week will force root growth downwards, deep into clay sub-soil.
Remember this: IF YOU CANNOT WATER YOUR ROSES, DO NOT FERTILIZE THEM!
And this: Organic fertilizer is ONLY taken up by the rose WHEN IT NEEDS IT. Chemical fertilizer is water soluble so is taken up whether a rose needs it or not!
Q. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? A. It’s Christmas, Eve
Please know that sharing our knowledge and love of roses every week through this Rose Rambler is enormously pleasurable – the statistics tell us that you enjoy reading our ramblings; Gra’s Garble and jokes make it extra special I know!!!
Enjoy all the moments of Christmas with your family and friends
– the Rose Farm will re-open on Friday, 8th January, 2016 …
MERRY CHRISTMAS from CLONBINANE!
