ROSE RAMBLER 10.08.2017 …

Hello, dear rose friends as the weather warms which might postpone more frosts and ensure us that our winter pruning is now SAFE …??? It’s a risk whichever way you go when you live in a very frosty/cold climate such as we do here at Clonbinane –were not on our own as lots of our customers who live way out western NSW, southern highlands Victoria and even parts of Queensland experience these extremely cold conditions.

Whatever the weather, we’ve got a bit of time now to be pruning so that’s what we’ve been doing this past week … of course, we are definitely still posting roses even though they’re now beautifully potted in supreme quality coir fibre potting medium – their roots will flourish in this ‘humid-crib’ environment.
Every care will be taken when they’re removed for posting … the roots will be carefully bound in damp newspaper and sealed in plastic which means they’ll actually continue growing whilst in transit!  At your end, be sure to get these beautiful roses into your garden as soon as possible and soak them with an eco-seaweed solution at planting then weekly for at least 8 weeks after planting!

Do you know you can apply eco-seaweed solution lightly over all the plants in your garden at least weekly to maintain good root development, healthy foliage and general good soil nutrition … ask your kids to do it for you … they’ll really enjoy having a special role in garden management – it’s easy for them to do, they cannot make mistakes by either over-doing or under-doing measuring the powder into a watering can.  Let them take responsibility and they’ll enjoy seeing rewards of healthy, robust plants in THEIR / YOUR garden!

PRUNING ROSES … This is how well Rosie has pruned just one of her MR. LINCOLN roses –

            

She’s got 199 to go; then there’s a three-sided wall garden of at least 30 plants of THE WEDDING ROSE which is just as robust.  It doesn’t end there so I urge you to visit GARNER’S WINERY just off the Hume Freeway at Longwood East during flowering season – any other time to sample their magnificent Award-winning wines of course!

If you’re thinking of a real tree-change, contact Rosie Garner as she is now reluctantly selling the winery – here are a few pics of this glorious property …

“GIFT ROSE” IS WINNING HEARTS … sending a beautifully gift wrapped GIFT ROSE of your choice with a personal message inscribed on a rose card is so appreciated!  We are receiving accolades from customers all around the world who trust us to post a beautiful rose to their friends and family; we can post to all States except Tasmania and Western Australia.
Whatever the occasion, let us organise posting a magnificent rose as we did for Barbara’s family recently …

“Hi I just wanted to thank you for the celebration rose bush which my Australian relatives received today and are extremely delighted with; that in part was due to the beautiful attention to detail in the gift packaging.  Thank you once again for making my gift so special”… Mrs Barbara C

Another happy customer …“Hi Diana … Just wanted to say a big thank you!!!!  My parents received their Slim Dusty rose gift yesterday and were very happy.  Thank you for putting together a great gift option and an easy and efficient process with FANTASTIC customer services.  Greatly appreciated and may you and your business be abundantly blessed.”  Kind Regards – Tereza

Don’t forget to put your reviews of our business on WOMO – Word Of Mouth Online as it can be very helpful to new customers and people who are not sure about online ordering.  I think it’s an easy process and we appreciate you taking time to acknowledge our business!

GRA’S GARBLE … “Healthy soils have at least 5% organic matter – most Australian soils have less than 3% organic matter so your household waste can be recycled and used in your own suburban backyard by creating simple layered compost heaps using lawn clippings, all types of baled straw/lucerne, leaves, bagged animal manure and tree litter after you’ve put it through a mulcher.

In order to add household waste to such a layered compost heap, buy a BOKASHI BUCKET – or make your own (BOKASHI powder which is a compost activator is available at large nursery outlets). The BOKASHI preparation is unattractive to vermin; most birds or animals won’t eat it.

You don’t need to turn this layered compost heap but you MUST KEEP IT MOIST to ensure rapid and effective processing of the heap to humus which can then be applied around all the plants in your garden.”

Q.  How do athletes stay cool during a game?  A. They sit near the fans!

Since we’re still posting roses, here are a few of my favourite climbing roses …

BLOSSOM TIME flowers are mid-pink with darker outer petals of absolutely perfect form and suitable for use over arches, on fences or in a pillar frame like these which we sell at the nursery – pick up only!

  

MADAM ALFRED CARRIERE is always first to flower and will still have flowering buds after the most severe winter frosts – with a fragrance to absolutely die for, this near-thornless rose is a beauty to fill a corner of the garden – let her spill gracefully over fences, through trees – plant this beauty and forget all about management!  Glorious creamy-white flowers with a blush tint during cold weather …

DUBLIN BAY is really my most favourite red climbing rose because it’s just ALWAYS FLOWERING and doesn’t require any special pruning or management … at some times of the day, I detect an absolute fragrance, other times not a hint – always lovely to pop into a vase though!  I love it!

 

Q.  How do rabbits travel?  A.  By hare-plane … a bit of a sick joke to finish another fabulous week in the nursery

I’ve planted some winter veggies, my early daffodils are flowering; the rest are well-foliaged and we’ll see a spectacular display throughout September and October … ah, life’s grand in the garden!

ROSE RAMBLER 17.08.2017 …

Hello dear rose friends,

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?”  John Steinbeck

Indeed the cold of winter is almost over.  While you’re out pruning the roses, have a bale of straw close by and lay biscuits of straw/hay around for you to walk on.  If you stomp all over the soil, it is possible to cause compaction and a biscuit of straw/hay will alleviate that problem and give you somewhere moderately dry to kneel down on while you’re pruning the lower branches of bush roses.

GRA’S GARBLE 

… When you use quality products to maintain your roses, the rewards are immense.  Regular applications of the organic spray maintenance program will definitely delay problems like severe insect attack or outbreaks of fungal disease like black spot and powdery mildew – start the program as soon as you’ve finished pruning .   The eco-friendly products we use and recommend are very economical when used on a monthly basis whereas, if you wait for problems to arise, you’ll have to spray every 3-5 days for around four applications just to get on top of a problem.  Makes sense therefore, to start monthly applications as soon as the roses are pruned …  NOW!!! 

Q.  What do you call a deer with no eyes?  A.  No eye deer.
Say it quick enough and it sounds like ‘no idea’.So, Q.  What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?  A.  Still, no idea.

Diana tells me that our products are ALL available for purchase in the online store:  GO SHOPPING for roses along with products which can be posted directly to your door.

FINAL BARE-ROOTED ROSES AVAILABLE NOW
ALL PRICES WILL BE INCREASED AT 12.00 MIDDAY ON 24TH AUGUST, 2017
ORDER NOW AT WWW.ROSESALESONLINE.COM.AU
BEAT THIS PRICE INCREASE – BUY BARE-ROOTED ROSES NOW

add ALL OCP products to your online order and pay NO EXTRA POSTAGE COST until NEXT THURSDAY, 24TH AUGUST, 2017

Meantime, if you prefer to shop in the traditional way, pop into your local garden centre and if you cannot find the Organic Crop Protectants (OCP) eco-friendly range of products:  eco-oil, eco-rose, eco-seaweed, eco-aminogro and eco-neem, ask them to contact OCP and organise stocking these great Australian products.  Then you and like-minded gardeners in your area can confidently manage pest and disease issues using these environmentally friendly products and work with Mother Nature in your garden … Gra

SHARING WITH A NOVICE ROSE GARDENER

… Carrie ordered roses and during the ordering process she told me she was really ‘new’ at the whole adventure of growing roses – especially scary since she lives in far north Queensland.  I sent her beautiful specimens (along with a really lovely FREEBIE) – I always post the best quality plants because I understand your dilemma at not being able to select for yourself!
Carrie sent this email which is totally awesome and makes doing what we do so very, very special:
 “Hi Diana .. I just wanted to say thank you for my order of roses. I’m new to rose growing so before I found your website I purchased roses from another nursery. Whilst they were very healthy looking, your roses were positively “jumping out of their skin” healthy. My first response on opening the box was ‘wow’. Also, the extra Cote d’Ázure was a lovely surprise and a beautiful rose, thank you.”
“My plan is to grow roses in Babinda, Far North Queensland. Everyone tells me I’m mad because it’s too wet and humid but I’m going to give it my best shot. Once your book is back in publication I’ll be purchasing a copy. I’ll need all the help I can get ☺  In the meantime I’m following your organic rose management instructions in the Australian Rosarian.  Once again, thank you.”  Regards  … Carrie
And more good stuff …
“Greetings Diana, Thank you so much – I am looking forward to getting them – I have had NAHEMA before but sadly after about 10 years it decided to curl its toes up and kark it so I cannot live without it. Have decided to replace it with my recent Birthday monies – thank you so much for stocking it. It is an amazing Rose” – Cheers Ingrid    Hello again Ingrid … how interesting to read this about NAHEMA … do you know why it ‘karked it’ ???  Was there an animal peeing in that location, was it particularly wet or dry???  Most unusual for a rose to just die after such an established time in a garden so if you can enlighten me as to what you think might have gone wrong, please let me know ???  Talk soon I hope …

“Hi again, Not really sure could have been my son’s Red Heeler but he usually relieves himself on my tyres first!!!!! We did have a terribly hot summer up here in SE Qld so that might have been the last straw for it…. I have been using a product called Black Marvel lately and all my roses are looking much healthier… So looking forward to having a new NAHEMA in my garden as it is definitely my favourite rose ever… Thanks again for your emails …” Cheers Ingrid    Oh, actually, I have received lots of information since our last visit to QLD … your roses don’t last anywhere near as long as ours down here … yours have such an incredibly LOOOOOONG flowering season and I think they wear out!  We have a good winter rest of at least three months in most cold zones and the roses enjoy that!  You know, when it boils down to it, you couldn’t have dinner and a nice wine for what this new rose has cost you … you’ll get another 10 years of glory whereas the dinner and wine are down the loo within 24 hours … gotta giggle!  Cheers .. Diana
Here’s a pic of our awesomely friendly guard dog who lets us know you’ve arrived at Silkies Rose Farm, CLONBINANE within 500 metres of the HUME FREEWAY at the CLONBINANE INTERCHANGE and open every FRI SAT SUN MON

Enjoy all the moments in your garden this week… cheers from us here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane
– Cheers, Diana, Graham & Mooi

ROSE RAMBLER 04.08.2017 …

Hello dear rose friends on this Thursday in the first week of the last days of winter …
As I turned the calendar, this is what gloriousness presented itself –

I think the rose might be WEDDING DAY but it might be one of the other species roses which display a most spectacular single flowering just once every year … however, for something seriously beautiful which flowers continually through the whole season, one of our most favourite roses is SALLY HOLMES which has a breathtaking display of up to 50 blooms on a branch and makes a most wonderful display in large vases!  Happiness is having SALLY HOLMES flowering in your garden …

Time is going so fast and it’s very interesting to share some emails from customers who haven’t got a clue when to prune … neither do we …???

I had coffee with friends this morning at the Rose Café in Kilmore and Marilyn told me her roses are still flowering in Craigieburn so when should she prune???  I suggested we all take Graham’s advice and do it when time permits and you’re in the right mood for pruning!  Be sure and glove up because this is another email we received this past week …

GRA’S GARBLE …

Gardens need many different plant species to remain healthy – microbes in the vicinity of plant roots increase the availability of minerals and trace elements required to maintain healthy vitality of all plants!

All living things – above and below the ground benefit when the plant:microbe bridge is working effectively.

Q.  What has four wheels and flies?  A.  A garbage truck!

Feeding your soil with organic fertilizer and applying layers of mulch such as pea-straw and/ or lucerne increase microbial activity, stimulates worm cultivation and thus improves soil vitality which ensures all the plants in your garden thrive.  Any mulch is better than bare soil; no mulch … definitely not recommended!

Incorporating a diverse range of plant species to your garden assists with managing plant health – amongst your roses I encourage you to grow garlic, alyssum, calendula, lots of bulbs and perennials – vegetables like silver-beet and kale – soon, you can plant tomatoes and other summer veggies – be creative and adventurous!

Q.  What’s the worst vegetable to serve on a boat?  A.  Leeks

Get your kids involved in planting veggies which they will be inspired to harvest, cook and eat – great family time together and way better and more constructive than watching TV.

Research has shown that using chemicals in your garden will inhibit biological soil activity so I urge you to consider which products you purchase when next visiting your garden supplier – yes, there is ‘quick, easy fix’ for most issues which occur within our gardens at times during every season … please take a look at the Sustainable Gardening Australia website and be sure you make INFORMED DECISIONS when it comes to which products you use in managing your garden!

WEEPING ROSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE …
PICK UP ONLY …

We have a lovely selection of these magnificent roses – there is no more spectacular sight than a weeping rose which flowers prolifically from October through to May/June.

Provide a well-drained, open sunny location at least 2.5 x 2.5 metres around and you will enjoy years of glorious display – all these roses should be well supported with a very sturdy ring and pole kit available here at Silkies Rose Farm.

MY FAVOURITE WEEPING ROSES …

Crepuscule
Freely produces the most amazing flushes of clusters of apricot blooms which fade to cream and literally smother the bush with flowers throughout the season on relatively thornless canes.  This highly versatile rose can be used to cover arches, adorn fences of variable height and is so easy to maintain because of the beautiful flexible canes.Pinkie
Cluster of mid-pink flowers all season. Lush healthy foliage on thornless wood. Dense foliage cover.

Seafoam
It produces small pretty white flowers throughout a very long flowering season. It is thorny but don’t let this deter you. Highly recommended for a healthy, pretty feature weeping rose in your garden.

Summer’s evening

All our weeping rose varieties are my favourites because they’re all really spectacular – you MUST come to the Rose Farm to collect one and get the support kit too!

Remember to use seaweed solution, fish emulsion and other organic liquids like worm-wee, compost tea and other brews to increase ‘soil-life’ which is guaranteed to ensure you produce the most healthy roses, plants and veggies to guarantee YOUR HEALTH!