ROSE RAMBLER 17.11.2016 …

Hello dear rose friends as we gear up to show-off our beautifully healthy, flowering potted roses at the FREE Wyndham City Event – STATE ROSE AND GARDEN SHOW this Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th from 10am – 4pm … BE THERE!

Diana will be speaking at 3.00pm SATURDAY, 19TH … see you there!

We finally had to have lovely sunny days and I’m so pleased that this weekend promises to be beautiful weather for our outdoor event.

Q.  How do you stop a giant from smelling?  A. Cut off his nose!

We’ve had a really busy week so we won’t be giving you a lot of info in this Rose Rambler but I want to show you our ‘new’ compost heap.  I had to create this to ‘house’ the wheat straw weeds we had pulled from all the garden beds over past weeks – it would have been such a waste to put them on a bonfire.

This compost heap is approximately 3 metres around, created using 18 straw bales and with adequate watering, Graham says we’ll be able to remove well-rotted compost in about 8 weeks … nice!  I really like the look of this – very organised and tidy on our roundabout driveway.

Here is an updated photo of how the pea straw continued to grow – Tova used a brush-cutter to trim some of it but it just keeps growing – I guess one day soon I’ll be down on hands and knees pulling it up!

On the other hand, here’s neat and tidy mulch application – lucerne biscuits along the border of the garden with newspaper underneath (to slow down creeping weeds) and pulled apart and fluffed-up lucerne in the garden around the roses … ideal mulching!

Here are some random pics of roses which are flowering in pots around the nursery … come and see them at Werribee this weekend or call in for a visit at Clonbinane where Graham and Tova will be – the gardens are delightful here now!

CHILD’S LOVE It has frilly/scalloped petals and a gorgeous salmon-pink colour to match. Add to that, a delightful strong fragrance and this rose is sure to attract attention!	TUSCAN SUN Deep warm apricot high-centred buds which open to fully reveal the eye-catching bronze which finishes a coppery pink, generous clusters and lovely spicy scent.
HONEY PERFUME Honey Perfume does have a lovely honey and spice fragrance which is a bonus when you pick a truss for the vase – lovely near-thornless stems too!	MOTHER’S LOVE Mother’s Love has beautifully long pointed buds of the palest pink with slightly deeper pink centres which may fade in the very hot sun.
PIERRE DE RONSARD One of the most popular climbing roses which produces masses of creamy-white to pale pink blooms deepening to carmine at the edges in cooler weather.	DUBLIN BAY A worthy climbing rose to plant because it is such a spectacular performer with flowers from the earliest Spring until well into the Winter.

Enjoy the last two weeks of spring 2016 and if you need advice about any issues with your roses, please email me:  info@rosesalesonline.com.au which is sometimes better than trying to get us on very busy phone lines … truly sorry for the frustration but I can only answer one phone at a time!

FALLING IN LOVE and THE CHILDREN’S ROSE and they’re growing wonderfully in the garden. It’s surprising how much they’ve grown in such a short time and we’ve even had a couple of roses.

I wanted speak to you about the other roses your two have come to live with. They belonged to my grandfather and I transplanted them about 3 years ago from his garden to mine before we had to sell the family home. I know that goes against the gardening rules as the nurseries all told me in Sydney that roses can’t be moved but I moved these successfully. I only lost one rose following the move with 7 of them now living in my garden and doing very well about 3 years on. These roses are quite old and one my mother tells me is over 100 years old and it has now lived in 3 gardens, as my grandfather moved it in the 1970’s from my great grandmother’s place to his.

My question is how do I grow more of these original roses? I’ve tried cutting, growing from seeds, I’ve watched lots of videos online and tried a range of different cutting liquids recommended by the nurseries. Can you please give me any suggestions on how to grow more so as other members of the family can have a little part of history growing at their place. Many thanks for any suggestions …Susan

My response:  Hello Susan … it always staggers me that nursery personnel suggest it is impossible to shift / re-locate old roses!  Of course, there can and might be fatalities but one should always TRY no matter what the weather or season!  As long as the gardener puts their head and heart into the task, it will generally be successful!

Seems you have been successful in the relocation – AWESOME!  Now you wish to propagate and share plants of those precious old roses so you need to send me some canes that we can have ‘contract budded’ this budding season from Nov-Jan … please don’t wait but send wood sooner rather than later!!!

Here’s a pic of what you need to send me …

This wood is around pencil-thick and there was a flower or bunch of flowers at the end of the cane which are now finished.

This part you’re going to send me is really the length of cane which you would normally cut back and throw away!

Here is a pic of what the bud eyes look like when they’re cut from the cane and ready to be budded …

Most important that you send the freshest canes wrapped in damp (not sopping wet!!!) newspaper, sealed in plastic and placed in a post pack via EXPRESS POST to

SILKIES ROSE FARM,
C/- WANDONG POST OFFICE,
WANDONG, VIC. 3758

We, in turn, can check the wood prior to forwarding for budding … best wishes … DIANA

MY HERO
One of the first to flower with exquisite fragrance … stunning blooms with a mass of petals on a supremely healthy shrub …

HOMMAGE A BARBARA
Darkest black red, most gorgeous waved petal form, longest-lasting flower on the bush … what more could one ask for?  Fragrance perhaps?  It missed out there but ticks every other box for a ‘must-have’ rose!

ROSE RAMBLER 03.11.2016 …

Hello dear rose friends … so, did you back the Melbourne Cup winner?  Weren’t the roses spectacular despite the abysmally cold, wet, wintery weather that Terry Freeman and his team had to contend with to get them so beautiful … ah, Melbourne, no wonder it wins as the ‘most liveable city’!

GRA’S GARBLE …

Congratulations to the rose breeders of the world who have been rewarded after two years of assessment at the Australian Rose Trial Grounds in Adelaide … this year, DARK DESIRE won MOST HIGHLY FRAGRANT ROSE – such a magnificent rose which you would love in your garden … Pop it on your ‘wish-list’ for 2017.

The rose which Diana has entered in the Rose Trials looked stunning and is performing very well as it enters its second year of assessment … should we name it JUST LOVELY?

and the rose which Diana loved most – this rose might be released 2017 ???

What do you think?

Please, if you have an opportunity when visiting Adelaide, pop into the Botanical Gardens where the Australian Rose Trial Grounds are situated and you’ll be delighted by the roses in the gardens there.

Q.  What dog keeps the best time?  A. A watch dog – of course!  Easy one.

It is so important during this amazingly strange weather to be diligent, observe what weather patterns permit application of the organic rose management program to ensure your roses retain healthy foliage which in turn will promote lots of beautiful blooms throughout the coming flowering season!

Fertilize NOW – then again in six weeks because heavy rain will have leached nutrients from the soil.

ARE YOUR ROSES SUCKERING?

There is a huge difference between a WATER SHOOT and UNDERSTOCK … easy to see in this pic of a suckering standard rose.

Here’s what you should do to remove understock suckers … extracted from Diana’s book, ALL ABOUT ROSES …

NEVER, EVER cut suckers at ground level – as we all know, roses love to be pruned so cutting suckers encourages them to grow even more – they must be removed!

Q. Where do baby monsters go when their parents are at work?  A. The day scare centre!

LOVELY TESTIMONIAL …

Hiya Diana, My roses arrived on Friday, in the ground Saturday and looking a million dollars today, Tuesday! Very hard to grow roses in a sub-tropical area but I have been for 30 years and with persistence I have success!  Thank you for your great service, take care!

Warm regards, Chris