ROSE RAMBLER 22.9.2016 …
Hello dear rose friends from a still wet and soggy Clonbinane where there’s a promise of sunny days ahead. In between showers we’ve been pulling wheat straw weeds from the bales Gra mulched with last spring – great piles of green weeds everywhere so he’ll have compost like never before. As usual with Gra’s gardening, there seems, retrospectively, to be method in his madness!
GRA’S GARBLE …
I’ve got a few hessian bags filled with above mentioned weeds now submerged in 40 litre drums of water and seaweed powder. In four weeks, I’ll add about one litre of this ‘weed wee’ to a 9 litre watering can and pour it over all plants in my garden! I’ll be able to see the plants smiling and I’ll get way more flowers too … I will think about sharing some for Diana to use on HER gardens since I was clever enough to create them, all she had to do was remove them!
Q. What belongs to you but is used more by others? A. Your name!
If you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to mulch the garden – LUCERNE is without doubt the most supreme mulch
- as it breaks down, nitrogen and beneficial nutrients are added to the soil
- it is expensive but seems to go further than other mulches
- lucerne stimulates biological activity and improves soil structure
- highly recommend placing around the base of plants then use cheaper mulch product over entire garden bed
PEA STRAW is also a very high-quality mulch
- is nitrogen-rich straw which breaks down to condition soil around roses
- is easy to pull apart and spread around garden beds
- pea seeds may germinate but are easy to pull out
- place a ‘biscuit’ of straw along garden border to hinder birds flicking mulch off the garden beds
ALL OTHER STRAW is good to use as mulch – certainly better than no mulch and the benefits are:
- provide feed and protection for earthworms
- feed soil microbes which in turn feeds plants
- conserves valuable moisture for worms and microbes
- prevents top-soil erosion
- cools the garden
- stops soil compaction – always walk on ‘biscuits’ of straw when walking in the garden!
Mulching soil is very environmentally friendly and in Diana’s book ALL ABOUT ROSES, she lists 30 reasons to mulch your garden and explains all types of mulch products and what results you can expect from using any of them – highly recommended reading!
It is worth noting that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE MULCH WHEN FERTILIZING THE GARDEN – whether using pelletised fertilizer or liquids, the fertilizer will move through the mulch either when it rains or when the garden is watered!
BEE-ATTRACTING ROSES …
There is no doubt that all flowers attract bees to your garden but these ‘single-petalled’ varieties of roses are particular favourites because bees can forage easily in the pollen-laden stamens …
Branches of stunning bright yellow blooms with
crimson ‘eye’ enmasse throughout the flowering season.
Unusual rusty pink petals with crimson ‘eye’ clothe
this bush continually; sweet fragrance is a bonus.
BRIGHT AS A BUTTON
Striking medium-pink with crimson ‘eye’
on a superbly healthy, glossy-foliaged plant.
ALL the above varieties were bred by WARNER, UK, are AVAILABLE AS 90CM STANDARD ROSES, are EXTREMELY HIGH HEALTH and would make a spectacular display in your garden!
Q. Where does a bee sit? A. On its bee-hind of course!
SHARING EMAILS …
Love this one …
“Hi Diana, Thanks very much for your help with this it’s been terrific. Can’t wait to receive them. We purchased a half dozen last year and were really pleased with the quality. They were great plants and had some beautiful and fragrant blooms last summer. So looking forward to this year’s flowers on our thriving plants.
I do look forward to your newsletters as well. I must admit that I occasionally text the jokes to my son in law. They are so funny but also pathetic, chuckle. Great grandfather fodder. Regards – John”
And I’m so pleased that Del sent this email because it hadn’t occurred to me to remind you all that yes, our organic management recipe has indeed changed since we now use ECO-SEAWEED POWDER rather than liquid which really means we’re not buying WATER but adding our own!
My response: Hi Del … yes, we are now using ECO-SEAWEED which is POWDER so only a TEASPOON is required per 10 litres of spray solution. When we used LIQUID SEAWEED we needed a 1/4 CUP for 10 litres of spray solution.
Feel free to email us at info@rosesalesonline.com.au if you have a query about your roses or to share something with other gardeners through this network …
