GRA’S GARBLE …

Let’s start with a joke…

Q.  Why can’t you borrow money from a leprechaun?  A.  Because he’s always a little short!

We enjoy your email enquiries as they inspire us to share our knowledge through this Rose Rambler – this week we’ll cover some interesting facets of growing roses in pots …

Rosemary asks:  “SHOULD I REPOT MY ROSES WHICH HAVE BEEN IN THE POTS FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS?”

Hi Rosemary … you would do well to re-pot the roses any time NOW … if there are any in really large pots, remove soil around the border (sides) of the pot, cut roots out as well and place fresh soil in the space, water in with seaweed solution and the roses will literally jump out of their pots!  They’ll flower super well this season.  Hope this is helpful … cheers

“HOW MUCH BIGGER SHOULD THE POTS BE?”

If you’re going to completely re-pot, why not just use the same pots?  You’ll bare-root the roses, trim the roots and the tops and then plant them back into the same pots I would think???  However, if you want to get larger pots, you might increase the size by at least 20cms I guess ???

“ALSO CAN WEEPING STANDARD BE GROWN IN A POT?”

Ofcourse you CAN grow a weeper in a pot but I would only recommend such a situation if you were using the weeper to cover say, a pergola / veranda / or some other structure that the understock cane of the weeper can be well supported by such a structure.  Remember, a weeping rose could easily grow a ‘head’ which is up to 2 metres diameter so unless you have a pot which is 2 metres in diameter, the head will require substantial support!

“KIM’S ROSES GROW WELL IN POTS – NOT SO WELL IN THE GROUND – WHY???”

Hi Kim … Pots work well provided you water them adequately … since you’ve been so successful, I guess there might be just a bit of an issue with those two varieties?  If a rose doesn’t perform, take a look OUTSIDE THE SQUARE … is it the rose at the end of the row – on the high side (it might be dry or maybe getting more shade than it likes), perhaps the lowest point (is it too wet or not getting adequate air circulation)?

RULES TO APPLY FOR POTTED ROSES …

When roses are being kept in pots I suggest you use QUALITY POTTING MIX and don’t muck with it by adding bits and pieces … always pour ECO-SEAWEED over the entire plant at least once a fortnight and feed regularly once the rose has foliage.  The bigger the pot, the bigger the plant!  For roses especially, more roots and foliage, MORE FLOWERS!

“SEAWEED APPLICATION … EASY OR NOT?”

An email from Judy makes me think we glibly offer you this recommendation … “apply ECO-SEAWEED to encourage health, vigour and continual flowering …” 
“JUST A SILLY QUESTION…IF YOU WANT TO GIVE THE ENTIRE GARDEN A BIT OF SEAWEED, HOW DO YOU DISTRIBUTE IT?  WATERING CAN (EXHAUSTING!)…SPRAY IT ON – DOES EACH PLANT GET ENOUGH THAT WAY?”

My response Hi Judy .. I would think that your entire rose garden would be ‘seaweeded’ with oooh, 5 watering cans???  It’s a sprinkling over the roses and yes, as the bushes grow it might be exhausting with watering cans but then load up a spray unit … there are lots of small garden units available so you can get 25 – 50litres of spray distributed very economically .. worth investing in a unit similar to what we use at the Rose Farm! 

Q.  What did one candle say to the other candle?  A.  Are you going out tonight?