Month: August 2018

Hello dear rose friends and thank you so much for your supportive emails regarding what we all might do to assist our gardening friends in this drought-stricken country!

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BARE-ROOTED ROSES ARE STILL AVAILABLE …

Yes, it’s warming up around the country but we are confident of posting bare-rooted roses – as long as when you receive them, you soak them from anything for an hour to more than 24 hours in ECO SEAWEED – a sachet is provided in every parcel of roses!

Once planted and deep-soaked, don’t over-water the roses! Weather conditions vary so it’s very difficult for us to tell you how frequently to water your rose garden … please, please be WATER-WISE and mindful of responsible water use in your garden!

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GRA’S GARBLE…

… start this story with a smile: Q: How did the witch know it was exactly 12 o’clock midday? A: She used her witch watch. (wrist watch perhaps? Editor)

I guess most of you have pruned you roses by this time – we’ve still got some garden areas to prune – as soon as all the roses are pruned I will fertilize the entire garden with our COMPLETE ORGANIC FERTILIZER – COF – and I recommend you source a really high-quality organic fertilizer which is available in your area.

Why organic fertilizer?

1. Plants take in organic fertilizer when they need it
2. Earth worms will break down the fertilizer helping to balance the soil eco system

You should never place fertilizer in the planting hole when planting a new rose – always fertilize established plants – around six weeks after planting.

Fertilizing roses is essential because they are so productive with their growth and flowering over such an extended period – once established, fertilize the soil around your roses with a quality ORGANIC FERTILIZER every 8 – 12 weeks – in between times, liberally apply seaweed solution over the plants at least monthly – more frequently if you have time!

Q: What do you call a cheerful flea? A: A Hop-timist.

Here are a few of my very best recommendations for climbing roses to use to screen an ugly fence which will also inhibit intruders into your property due to their aggressive thorns!

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ALBERTINE
One of the loveliest rambling roses you could ever plant …

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SEAFOAM
This rose is so adaptable – would suit scrambling over the ground as a large ground-covering clump, glorious as a weeping rose and definitely would inhibit anything coming through or over a fence at your place …

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BANTRY BAY
For an amazingly glorious display throughout the season, this prickly rose will afford immense security when scrambling over your front fence!

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VISUAL SOIL ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP

Both Ben and I will be attending this workshop on 1st September – If you’re at all interested in knowing more about the soil in your garden, do book for this seminar – we’ll see you there.

There’s a build-up of excitement with spring in the air … do put this important event in your diary – a visit to the Yea Garden Expo will afford you a great day out in the country.

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Enjoy the last days of winter and don’t be hassled if you haven’t pruned yet … we’re still busy pruning here …

 

 

Hello dear rose friends, as the rain tumbles down on us here at Clonbinane and our gardens are sopping wet which makes us want to share even more diligently with our northern neighbours who are bone dry and in a most dreadful drought. We urge you to kindly contribute whatever you can …

This plea came from my Rotary Club today:

“In Australia, farmers are the lifeblood of our country and they are in crisis. Record breaking heat and lack of rain means farmers are struggling to feed sheep and cattle, and keep crops alive. Families on the land are suffering and they need our help. Channel 9 and Rotary Australia have partnered with the National Farmers’ Federation, launching an appeal to big business and everyday Australians, so we can provide some emergency relief. 100% of donations goes to the farmers and is tax deductible via Rotary and RAWCS. Every dollar counts.”

The link for the donation page for the project is:

ROTARY AUSTRALIA WORLD COMMUNITY SERVICE
https://donations.rawcs.com.au/17-2018-19
The RAWCS website home page has the link also: http://rawcs.org.au/

 

If that doesn’t work, please don’t give up but direct your donation to this destination: donations@donations.rawcs.com.au and know that every single dollar you contribute to a Rotary project will go DIRECTLY where you want your donation to go!

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Please let me indulge by sharing this email exchange just this week:

Hello Val … thank you for your order. What a lovely selection of roses I’ll be posting to you tomorrow! Enjoy these beauties in your garden … best wishes.

Thanks Diana- I can’t wait for them to flower- I just pray for some rain… We live on a farm with no food and handfeeding 300 alpacas. Might have to use our house water to keep the roses alive. Val

This is the story of our gutsy Aussie farmers – our mates who are the backbone of our magnificent country – get behind them NOW in their deep time of need and open your purse so they might receive a free load of feed or a tanker of water for their animals.

How delightful that Val purchased rose plants for her garden during this time of amazing hardship – when I first ventured into horticulture in early ‘80’s one of my mentors (who is a rose cut-flower grower) told me that during the Depression, cut flower sales sky-rocketed because people wanted something beautiful in their homes – flowers gave them joy and a sense of hope for a brighter future!

Let’s hope our donations and roses bring joy and a sense of hope to our gardening friends who are also farmers during this dreadful drought!

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GRA’S GARBLE…

Here’s a thought: What’s the use of consulting a doctor about a cold when he gives you a heart attack with the bill?

Stay healthy in these remaining days of winter by rugging-up and getting down and dirty in your garden by pulling weeds – they’re small weeds now but will turn into BIG WEEDS as the sun shines warmly.

Turn all those little weeds into compost or weed-tea by placing them in a receptacle (perhaps a 44 gall drum or an old garbage bin – whatever you can find really), pour water over them to the brim of the container and pop a lid on … DON’T PLACE THIS CLOSE TO THE HOUSE as it will, despite having a lid, emit the most amazing stench!

Stir the brew once a week if you’re brave; add a bit of eco-seaweed powder too. After about 8 weeks of fermentation dilute one part to ten and pour over the entire garden as a totally organic fertilizer / tonic for your garden. Start the brew again!

Q: What sort of lollies do koalas eat? A: Chewing gum.

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WATERING YOUR GARDEN WITH SULLAGE WATER …

Precious water from your bath, basin, shower, washing machine and kitchen sink can be invaluable to water your garden.

The best results will be obtained where sullage waste water is derived from house fixtures where all soaps and detergents are plant or herbal based – we use and highly recommend products – all Australian-made!

Flexible pipe can be connected to waste pipes and shifted around garden beds, placed in locations to water valuable trees and with minor management of shifting every couple of days, especially on washing day when there will be potentially more waste run-off.

Here’s our run-off pipe – sometimes extended with more flexible pipe …

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION …

“Hi, I am wondering if you are able to assist me. Would you have roses in the name of: Carol, Tony / Anthony, I know you didn’t have Marianne – but anything close maybe even Anne? Many Thanks – Karen”

Our usual response: Not able to assist in ANY way with that lot of names … SORRY! Perhaps if you’re able to give us a clue as to why you need roses in those names we might be able to offer some lovely alternatives ???

There are such beauties like:

FORGET ME NOT

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LINKED HEARTS

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REMEMBER ME

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Or there’s: HEAVEN SCENT, BEST FRIEND, SOUL MATE/SISTER, MOTHER’S LOVE, FATHER’S LOVE, GRANDMA’S ROSE … these are all quality roses which are sure to please the recipient for many years in their garden! Other roses might have the ‘right’ name but they’re just not ok for an average garden … when we say that, here’s an example.

You can get a rose called WEDDING DAY which is a beast for thorns, flowers once in each season and you need an axe to prune it! A stunning rose in the right location!

WEDDING DAY

However, if you get the right advice and purchase THE WEDDING ROSE … the gift is an immensely pretty rose which flowers and flowers, has an amazing fragrance and is simply delightful as a GIFT ROSE on the occasion of a wedding.

THE WEDDING ROSE

If we can assist with your selection for posting the most beautiful and appropriate GIFT ROSE, don’t hesitate calling (03) 5787 1123 during our business hours of FRI, SAT, SUN, MON or emailing us at info@rosesalesonline.com.au … Cheers

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Here’s a picture of a GIFT ROSE ready for posting … did you even notice there are no flowers on this lovely rose beautifully gift-wrapped? Probably not, because recipients of the GIFT ROSE are telling us how significant the rose is; it will flower eventually and that will hold a whole new meaning! Nice!!!

CHARLOTTE GIFT ROSE

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See you at Clonbinane soon … cheers from the team!

Hello dear rose friends as we notice when the sun peaks through, it’s quite warm; perhaps a sign that the freezing cold days of winter are almost behind us?

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IN THE NURSERY …

We are at the ‘disappointment’ stage … a few rose varieties which were planned to arrive this winter just won’t come this season! There have been a few miscalculations with budding which means we just don’t have adequate numbers of a few varieties. When budding roses, there is a short ‘window of opportunity’ to harvest budwood and then bud roses during November to January.

If there’s a glitch in budding, it’s a whole other season before a particular rose variety is available – some just didn’t make it this past season. Luckily, there’s usually a substitute which is potentially better than the variety you selected! However, we highly recommend ‘patience is a virtue’ when waiting for a rose variety which is ‘special’ and very important for whatever reason made you select it in the first place!

During the next TWO WEEKS we will contact EVERY CUSTOMER who has an outstanding order at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane or www.rosesalesonline.com.au to advise the status of your existing order.

MEANTIME, KEEP ORDERING BARE-ROOTED ROSES – WE’LL BE POSTING BARE-ROOTED ROSES UNTIL SEPTEMBER, 2018

 

Roses travel extremely well – some varieties will have been professionally pruned because we are now getting on with potting the roses to give them a head-start for spring flowering; they are planted into a 20cm black plastic pot filled with our supreme quality coir-fibre potting medium and are both root and stem pruned prior to potting so they’re in perfect condition for planting when established in the pots.

From this ….

to this …

Another two huge consignments arrived on Tuesday – all the roses need to be graded, labelled, sorted and tucked into the moist, friable soil we call the ‘heel-in-bed’. From there we hope to be able to contact you and advise that your order is ready for collection – if the roses are being posted, you’ll receive Auspost tracking notification!

Q: What’s the best way to catch a rabbit? A: Hide in the bushes and make a noise like lettuce.

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GRA’S GARBLE…

We’ve sent lots of roses to Carrie in Far North Queensland and she’s stayed committed and experimented … have a look at her lovely roses which were only posted this winter …

Carrie’s bagged roses

Here’s Carrie’s inspirational email …

Hey Graham … Thought I would send a pic of my new roses to show you how they’re doing, and I’m really happy! Two blooms already.

I did things a bit different this year. I decided to pot them in 25 litre grow bags so I can easily repot them next year into a 32 litre plastic pot.

I used Rocky Point’s Eco Potting Mix. I chose this one because it doesn’t have any heavy duty fertiliser in it, so it seemed quite gentle for bare root roses. They got a seaweed soak when I potted them and I’ve also been giving them a weekly soak with Charlie Carp. Also, I used organic sugar cane mulch.

Next year, or sooner if they need it, I’m going to repot them with Rocky Point’s Coco Pro Potting Mix. I’ve been doing lots of research on potting mixes and I reckon this is probably one of the best. I repotted a couple of last year’s roses that looked like they were on their last legs but they really bounced back with this mix.

So, all is good. I’m still battling insects but I’m using a home made mix of chilli and garlic which seems to be working…fingers crossed. Have a great day. Regards …Carrie

If you live in a rental property and want to grow roses, those 25 litre grow bags look like a fabulous way to create a ‘portable’ or ‘mobile’ garden! Thanks for sharing Carrie!

Q: What did the skunk say when the wind changed direction? A: Ahhh, it’s all coming back to me now.

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STRIPES ARE GORGEOUS

Some rose gardeners think the striped roses are horrid and it took us a while to get used to them too however, here are a couple of the very best which you cannot help but fall in love with!

MAURICE UTRILLO

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TROPICAL SUNSET

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SOARING SPIRITS – A CLIMBER

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Don’t panic if you haven’t pruned your roses yet … the longer you wait, the more time you give them to show you EXACTLY WHERE TO PRUNE … go gently and enjoy the experience! Take a look at the new roses you planted this winter – give them a prune too now that they’re shooting new leaves – prune down to the strongest looking growths!