ROSE RAMBLER 27^TH JUNE, 2019 … Hello dear rose friends as we are already past the shortest day – amazing how quickly time flies and another beautiful winter is here which heralds time for rose pruning.

ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATIONS

Graham invites you to come and visit us here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane for …

SUNDAY, 30^th JUNE at 11AM
(If you’re early, we’ll put the billy on and have a cuppa!)
SATURDAY, 13^TH JULY at 1:30PM
(Bring the family and pets – on a lead please)

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SPECIAL ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATION + SAUSAGE SIZZLE

On SUNDAY, 21^ST JULY between 10am and 2pm, we would love you all to come along to a really special community event where Graham and Diana will be at the Wandong Memorial Park for pruning and a real country sausage sizzle after you’ve practiced pruning the magnificent rose garden which was planted after the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires!

There is a playground and skate-park in the gardens so please bring the kids for a really great family day and let our local community offer you a lovely country experience while you learn about rose pruning.  Bring your own tools with you!  We’ll sharpen them if necessary and have our entire range of pruning equipment there for you to experience.

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GRA’S GARBLE …

Q.  What is the difference between a cat and a comma?  A.  A cat has claws at the end of paws; a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.  

It was a real pleasure to attend the RHSV event at Deakin University recently where we met lots of very keen gardeners – here is just one of the emails we received:

Hi Diana, my husband and I were at the GARDENERS DAY OUT (hosted by Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria at Deakin Uni on 15th June) and learned lots from your presentation. We own a JIM’S MOWING franchise and today we had a rose pruning job that took us over an hour to do. We bought two pairs of the secateurs you recommended and they were fantastic – there was no soreness or fatigue in my hands at all. We were also more confident in what we were doing. Thanks – Mary-Ann 

All of us here at Silkies use LOWE secateurs and highly recommend them because they do such precision pruning with absolute ease.  Treat yourself to new secateurs for just $67.50 (plus pack/post) before you start this pruning season – very highly recommended and guaranteed to offer you the pruning joy that Mary-Ann and every other customer who uses them experiences!
You can purchase online www.rosesalesonline.com.au or give us a call on 03 57 821 123 during open hours:  Fri – Sat – Sun – Mon from 9am until 4pm

There were three men in a boat – it capsized but only two fellows got their hair wet!  Why?  A. The third man was bald … like me!

Gotta have a giggle – and remember to rug up with a woolen beanie and jacket for at least half an hour outside in the garden EVERY DAY during winter – preferably when the sun is poking through the clouds to ensure you get adequate Vitamin D intake.  Let your garden be your Doctor!!!

BLACK CAVIAR & WINX

Two of Australia’s most recently famous race horses have been immortalized by two magnificent roses named in their honour and we have them at the Rose Farm NOW.
Don’t delay, order these beauties as bare-rooted specimens for winter planting:

WINX – like the legendary mare, is the epitome of class!  This beautiful rose is the product of exquisite breeding to capture the same qualities in flowers as those that define a magnificent horse named WINX – elegance, longevity and brilliance.

[BUY NOW]

BLACK CAVIAR – has the most intoxicating perfume and the blooms are very full and quartered in the shape of old-fashioned roses.  Continually free-flowering over a long season, BLACK CAVIAR will always be in the winner’s circle and will definitely be a magnificently beautiful rose in your garden!

[BUY NOW]

Enjoy all that winter has to offer … warm hugs from all of us here at Clonbinane …

ROSE RAMBLER 20^TH JUNE, 2019 … Hello dear rose friends.  We’ve worked in the rain to finally make it possible to invite you to Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane where you can easily select magnificent quality, alphabetically sorted, two-year-old bare-rooted roses for planting in your garden this winter.

GRA’S GARBLE …

I’m always being asked “What is the best manure to use when planting roses?”  and my response is:
Any animal manure is great in the soil but it MUST BE COMPOSTED prior to using at the planting hole of roses – or, in fact, any other plant!  Raw animal manure has the potential of being highly acidic with the risk of burning new roots which the roses will produce as soon as they settle into the soil!  Exactly the reason for not placing fertilizer in the planting hole unless it’s way deep down in the hole, covered completely with soil and available when the rose is nicely established with a solid root system.
If you have access to fresh manure, spread it over a compost heap for at least six weeks, water weekly with seaweed solution and turn it fortnightly – you’ll see steam coming from the heap which means it’s not ready to be applied in planting holes!  Wait until it is more like the consistency of soil – at this point, place it around the base of your roses and cover with a light layer of mulch to protect all the microbes and worms.

Q. Why does a chicken coop have two doors?  A.  If it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan. 

Here’s a pic of my gorgeous LANGSHAN roosters admiring themselves in a mirror …

RADIOTHON – THIS SUNDAY ON 3CR GARDEN SHOW

Graham will be part of the panel this Sunday – 855 on the AM Band where you can call in, donate and be rewarded with garden products, books, professional garden consultations or gift vouchers from many nurseries to the value of every dollar you donate to this magnificent Community Radio program which regular radio listeners say is the most informed, interesting and BEST garden talk-back radio which airs in Melbourne every Sunday from 7.30 – 9.15am.

Lay in bed with your cuppa and toast, pick up the phone: (03) 9419 8377 or (03) 9419 0155 and treat yourself by purchasing lots of goodies to indulge your garden, gifts for friends or simply to know you’re donating $’s to keep a wonderful garden show on the air so you can pick up the phone on any Sunday and get FREE ADVICE from a panel of professional horticulturists.

There are 5 x $30.00 SILKIES ROSE FARM GIFT VOUCHERS available during the program!

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Stay warm and well … cheers from us all at Clonbinane – Graham, Diana, Mooi & the TEAM!

ROSE RAMBLER 6^TH JUNE, 2019 – Hello dear rose friends as we welcome the first week of winter and the heel-in beds are finally brimming with magnificent quality bare-rooted rose plants – we’ve got a few extra pairs of hands working every day as fast as we can to label and sort the roses as quickly as possible.

PLEASE NOTE – STANDARD ROSES ARE NOT DUG YET – EXPECT JULY DELIVERY.  We promise to get your roses posted as soon as we are able – we will call or email YOU if your roses are ready for collection from the Rose Farm.

If you’re out and about this coming QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY WEEKEND, do call in – the CLONBINANE interchange has north and south entry/exit and the Rose Farm is within one kilometre of the Hume Freeway – SLOW DOWN and you definitely won’t get lost because we have good signage in place!

GRA’S GARBLE … With recent good rainfall here at Clonbinane we are seeing significant weed infestation – mostly cape-weed which is a real nuisance when mowing starts again in September/October so I’ve been busy applying DOLOMITE which sweetens the soil – the cape-weed doesn’t like it!

Though it’s a bit messy, throw DOLOMITE around the rose garden while it’s raining to save you hosing it in!

Managing weeds is always an issue – even in a pocket-sized suburban garden I’m told … a dear lady mentioned this week that she’s 100% sure she never uttered a swear word before she became a gardener and became frustrated with weeds … how funny!  I still believe that getting ‘down and dirty’ on my hands and knees for a really great session of weeding makes my heart sing and clears my head.

This leads me to share some stats from recent global research:

• Gardening could help you live to 100
• A good plant-based Mediterranean diet, daily exercise and social interaction are extremely important to reduce stress and increase positive mental health
• An hour of planting and weeding in a garden EVERY day, achieves the required amount of cardio work and stretching to remain physically fit
• Disease tolerance seems to be improved by wielding a spade and rake

Some gardening chores do become physically exhausting as we get older and it would seem easier to give up.  I urge you to measure time in your garden; don’t overdo it and try to inject some funny ideas to a repetitive job … count how many steps it took to walk to the compost heap then count how many shovels it took to fill the barrow; listen to music whilst gardening and meantime, remember this silly joke and share it with as many as you can

Q: What banks never run out of money? A. River banks.

Below is a copy of our latest ROSE PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS which will be sent in all rose packs but you might like to print a copy to have on hand …

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY

Enjoy the long weekend … stay warm!  Graham and the team …