ROSE RAMBLER 14.09.2017 …
Hello dear rose friends from Clonbinane … where morning temperatures still defy the fact that spring has sprung – every morning we are greeted by another frost. However, all the roses are pruned now and will ‘tough it out’ if frost persists. Take a look at how severely Ben pruned KNOCKOUT hedge last Friday – I’ll let you see pics of this magnificent rose in a few weeks when it’s flowering again.
How it looked before the pruning!
GRA’S GARBLE …
Soon we’ll be inundated with garden events as roses start to flower and we expect to have one of the busiest seasons on record here – there are bus groups booked and we are attending a few events which might interest you if they’re in your zone:
23 & 24 SEPTEMBER – 10- 4 each day
NORTHERN GARDEN CLUBS CONFERENCE – KERANG – MONDAY, 16TH OCTOBER
Diana and I are guest speakers at this event so if you would like to attend, please contact : George at shruby.orchids@bigpond.com to reserve a seat at this very popular event.
We will keep you well informed of events where either of us attend – remember too that I am a regular presenter on the 3CR Garden Show – Community Radio, Melbourne, 855 on the AM BAND every Sunday 7.30-9.15am – I present with the panel EVERY SECOND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH.
DAFFODILS IN A ROSE GARDEN …
Every year I diligently save my cents until they become a couple of hundred dollars and I buy daffodils – it’s a thrill to peruse the catalogues, chat with the growers and the greatest delight is seeing them flowering at this time of year and the cold season has been perfect with masses of daffies flowering in absolute profusion – this has to be one of the best seasons I’ve experienced in many years!
Remember DO NOT CUT OFF THE FOLIAGE of your daffodils when they’ve finished flowering – this is VERY IMPORTANT! When the flowers are spent, you must apply fertilizer so that as the foliage dies down, it takes all the energy into the bulb where it is stored for next season.
Feeding bulbs as they start to shut-down from this spring flowering will almost surely guarantee good multiplication of the bulbs to ensure even greater numbers of flowers next season – we use the same fertilizer for bulbs as we do the roses – Complete Organic Fertilizer – be guided by the assistant at your local garden centre for the best quality fertilizer for your bulbs and roses!
Hope you’ve dug a few holes recently to plant more roses; maybe some seedling annuals and veggies for delicious summer salads? Get your garden looking gorgeous for this season – I’ve got 9 more roses to ‘sneak’ into my garden – testing varieties which will be released in 2018 so I’ll give them premium treatment to ensure they grow really well and I can hopefully highly recommend them for your garden next season too!
From a blissfully happy Graham enjoying my daffodils … cheers!
PATIENCE IS NECESSARY, AND ONE CANNOT REAP
IMMEDIATELY WHERE ONE HAS SOWN
ORGANIC SPRAY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM …
Yes, it works brilliantly, it’s very economical and extremely environmentally friendly. You, the gardener MUST contribute positive energy and accept the follies of Mother Nature – expect there might be times when a particular plant isn’t PERFECT … ask yourself : “am I perfect, always?” and when we speak at Garden Club presentations, we often ask the audience if they would like us to come and visit their home early in the morning … gushingly, the audience is horrified at this prospect because hey, how fabulous do you look when you first step out of bed?
Give your plants the same grace and help them to look beautiful as much and as frequently as they can … here’s my advice to Xiumei recently:
“Hi Diana, Following our previous email, I hesitate to continue to purchase any other roses because I found insects/pests, like aphids and dark spots on some other roses in my garden (I bought from Bunnings previously). Would you please give some advice how frequency to spray Eco-oil/neem? once per day or per week? I saw the menu it is spray every 1-2 weeks. But for my case, it looks not enough only one spray every 1-2 weeks. The bare-roots rose I bought from your nursery also looks be impacted. I found one leave with yellow-dark spot on it.
Currently, I have to give a quick check the leaves and bottom of flowers in the morning, I usually could find some aphids at the back of leaves. That’s really upset me. Finger crossed, wish my lovley rose plants could survive in the new home. ” Best regards, Xiumei
My urgent response to Xiumei: Hello … it’s very, very important that you STOP WORRYING and being concerned about every little bit of spot or yellow leaf … do you know that you lose skin and hair every day? Leaves are the same on roses – they run out of being necessary on the plant so they go yellow with black spots and drop! New leaves ALWAYS FOLLOW … did you know too that aphids are food for birds and other insects/visitors in your garden? When they become out of control it usually means there’s not adequate ventilation – aphids love to be out of the wind where they can breed prolifically!
You should NEVER EVER use our organic management program more than fortnightly!
Please stop worrying and see the beauty of the flowers rather than what little pests might be there … yellow leaves are normal on spent foliage. As long as your roses are well watered and fed, they will please you! Best wishes … DIANA
“The response which I truly love: Brilliant, Diana! Take it in my pocket now.”
Cheers, Xiumei
YELLOW PAGES ARE LOOKING FOR GARDEN PICTURES …
Ann alerted me to the fact that at www.yellowpage.com they’re asking for people to send pictures of their gardens which might be selected for the covers of local area phone books! Be adventurous and send a picture of your garden.
I’ll send this one of our garden … PIERRE DE RONSARD (pink bloom on left) and SYMPATHIE (red blooms) with NAHEMA (pink buds on right). All these magnificent climbers produce beautiful flowers suitable for a vase!
on the Hume Freeway, 60 kms north of Melbourne
and open every FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY and MONDAY
9 – 4 PM – PH. 03 5787 1123 …