ROSE RAMBLER … 11.8.2016

Hello dear rose friends from a rather more sunny, warm Clonbinane where the birds a chirping loudly, the morning light is welcoming and lots of our garden roses haven’t been pruned yet!  Nice though, the new-season roses are ALL POTTED into high-quality coir potting mix where the black plastic pot acts as a ‘humid-crib’ so they’ll set roots very quickly to be beautiful plants for those of you who are late with purchasing roses to plant this season.

Don’t panic – our magnificent quality roses are available and can be planted at ANY TIME OF THE YEAR and most especially important – WHENEVER YOUR GARDEN BEDS ARE READY FOR PLANTING … this is such a vital part of gardening which is overlooked as we view TV programs which promote ‘instant gardening’.  There’s really no such thing!

Take time to prepare your garden beds and you will reap the rewards of magnificently flowering roses for many, many years – if you need advice, don’t hesitate sending an email to info@rosesalesonline.com.au and we will give you all the common-sense guidance to make your garden a special place!  Remember too, all back-issues of this ROSE RAMBLER NEWSLETTER are available at www.allaboutroses.com.au so you can always find helpful information when you’ve got spare moments.

ALL ABOUT ROSES

MY BOOK is now being reprinted!  Wow!  If you don’t already have a copy and would like a signed copy of the FIRST EDITION, we have the last 28 available which you can purchase at www.rosesalesonline.com.au or call in at the Rose Farm.  Here is a review published recently:

“Thanks Diana, I settled in to read your wonderful book and enjoyed it right to the end. I looked at the last page and thought I saw a familiar photo and realised that I did! Thank you for remembering this old rose-lady in your superb book. I was so thrilled!  Love Laurel”

GRA’S GARBLE …

Since we’re early riser’s, it’s so nice to see daylight happening earlier so I can get out into the yard, feed the chooks, turn the compost heap and weed and prune the gardens – get set for a bumper spring!

Q.  Did you hear about the two silkworms who had a race?  A.  It ended in a tie. 

Now, I don’t know anything much about silkworms but I do know that if you don’t start the organic management rose spray program NOW, you might have to contend with insect infestation on your roses in early spring!

I urge you to start spraying as soon as the roses are pruned to be effective in controlling aphid/mite/scale and other bugs in the LARVAL STAGE … that’s when they first start breeding – if you reduce the incidence of their numbers NOW, you’ll be more than a step ahead – believe me, when we know we’re going to have a bumper spring because of all the lovely winter rains, the insects are definitely thinking the same thing!

PROTECT YOUR SOIL FROM COMPACTION …

When you’re out in the rose garden either pruning, planting or walking on garden beds, please take biscuits of straw to step on.  If you think your roses have ‘sunk’ due to the wet conditions, fork around them and gently lift them by placing some soil/compost under the upper-level roots so the bud-union is above soil level to ensure the rose can produce lovely fresh water-shoots at the crown.

Birds will often fling mulch over the bud-union which is ok because it’s usually a friable medium and water shoots can push their way through.

Q.  Did you hear about the Frenchman who hated snails?  A.  He liked fast food!

Talking of snails – with recent rains, conditions are PERFECT FOR SNAILS to proliferate in your garden – you can place small trays of beer around the garden for slugs and other pesky insects to drown in but I prefer to use ‘pet-friendly’ snail baits to protect my veggies, bulbs and perennials.  Be vigilant NOW.

STANDARD ROSES

I said to Diana today, “when I plant any rose now, I want to be sure it’s a standard” because I find them just so easy to maintain.  Pruning standard roses is an absolute pleasure because I don’t have to crouch to the ground – I know there’s lots of air-flow around my standards which means I can plant herbs and veggies underneath and standard roses add a lovely high profile in my garden.

The extraordinary quality of our standard roses this year is such a pleasure and I recommend you take a look at the varieties we have to offer – a few UNUSUAL varieties which I recommend are:

ORIGAMI
Such strikingly beautiful form and a strong grower

DARCEY BUSSEL
Most free-flowering, healthy David Austin rose

THE CHILDREN’S ROSE
Beautifully, highly fragrant, perfectly formed blooms on a strong, healthy bush

All the above varieties are pretty rare to find and they would all make a lovely statement in your garden for years to come – I remember visiting gardens in Alexandra years ago whilst researching my family – there are roses in the Church garden there that must be more than 50 years old!  If you’re getting a bit ‘long in the tooth’ like I am, plant standards and enjoy having roses at eye-level and so you don’t have to crawl around the ground when you want to pick a bunch of roses for a vase in your home!

Here’s a pic of our darling little Mooi who loves to be with us up in the nursery – she chose a sunny spot one cold morning this past week … we laughed and want to share the joy.

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