Hello dear rose friends as winter kicks in and we share this quotation from ‘The Four Seasons’ newsletter of Australia Biodynamic – Victoria Inc’ most interesting winter edition.
Winter is a very important time for nature. The earth is inhaling; all the forces are drawn underground into the soil to enable new life in spring. Plants submerge their energy into their roots; movement slackens as matter and energy concentrate.
Here at Clonbinane we have put our heads down and our bums up as we get stuck into distributing the most glorious rose bushes – another consignment arrived this week … so please be patient as we are processing your orders efficiently and quickly as possible.
A FEW GOOD NEWS STORIES
Yes, the GIFT ROSE goes out now without flowers but beautifully gift wrapped with extremely important messages which matter so much, right when your message is needed to be conveyed:
“Hi Diana, I just wanted to thank you so much for the Rose I ordered for my friend who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. The rose arrived at the same time as I received a text from her to say she was in hospital, so it was perfect timing. She was so thrilled with the rose and even more thrilled with what ‘Joy of Life’ symbolises. It certainly made the rose extra special.
Thank you so much for your assistance and understanding when particular roses are wanted. As always it arrived in perfect condition. Helen Webb”
and another one:
“Good afternoon Diana, I have just collected my ALI BABA climbing roses that I purchased from you from the post office. Beautifully packaged. Once opened I found two magnificent roses.
I have sat them in the shade outside and I will plant on Saturday morning. My only problem is: where shall they go. I keep changing my mind. I have loads of fence to cover, but I want to be able to see them from my office.
Thanks again for your prompt, well packaged and reliable product. If these roses do well with our climate and the growing aspect, I shall be returning for more. Have a great weekend … Merryl”
GRA’S GARBLE…
Do you need a bit of a hand with pruning your roses this winter? Come on up to Clonbinane on one of these dates and I’ll spend an hour or so teaching you all the different pruning methods so you can go home and prune your roses with confidence.
There’s no cost for the demonstrations – bring your secateurs, your kids and a bucket-full of enthusiasm for rose pruning and organic rose management!
SATURDAY, 23RD JUNE 10.30AM
SUNDAY, 15TH JULY 10.30AM
SATURDAY, 28TH JULY 1.30PM
Q: Why did the cat put the letter “M” into the freezer? A: Because it turns ‘ice’ into ‘mice’.
There are some glorious roses still flowering despite having endured freezing conditions here and it’s important to know which varieties hang on and on …
LICHFIELD ANGEL was recently planted on the driveway border – it was spectacular this afternoon and even the foliage is clean which means it’s not ready to shut-down for winter this early – I guess, because it was bred in England by David Austin it has special qualities?
NAHEMA is always continually pruned for flowers so it would naturally be still flowering now but in the bed facing south-west, it gets brutally hammered by frost … I could go and pick a bunch of flowers today … such a special climbing rose!
HOMMAGE A BARBARA is also subjected to extreme frost facing south on the shed wall yet there is a great show of colour and I could definitely pick a vase of flowers to place on Diana’s desk this week … a real beauty for a hedge and constant display of darkest red!
Q: Why can’t you play a practical joke on snakes? A: Because they don’t have a leg to pull!
Lots of customers are sharing their ‘autumn rose garden’ stories … lots of lovely blooms, extreme fragrance but foliage starting to show signs of shutting down for winter – don’t bother applying the organic rose management program to your roses now as it’s time for them to lose their foliage and the only mechanism they have for this is to incur black-spot and yellow foliage which then drops and the rose plant defoliates.
THIS IS NORMAL FOR ROSES DURING WINTER
If you don’t like looking at the affected foliage, get to and prune the roses. If you like to be a bit more ‘c’est la vie’ let the roses shut down naturally before you prune – either way is OK!
If you plan on travelling this winter, don’t stress about the roses – either prune BEFORE you leave or pack your bags, have a beaut winter holiday and prune the roses when you get home in August/September! Yes, with quality fertilizing after a decent late winter prune, the roses will still flower in November!!!
Enjoy all the fragrance of the last roses from this past flowering season – it might be months before we experience this delight!
Cheers from the team here at Clonbinane who are working flat-out to get your bare-rooted roses dispatched so you can plant your rose garden!
Graham, Diana, Tova, Ben, Leigh and of course, MOOI who knows you’re here!