ROSE RAMBLER … 23.5.2013
Hello dear rose friends – on a very bleak, cold Autumn day last Saturday, the switch for our newly installed solar system was turned on … within moments there was the most glorious sunshine and I imagine that our new ‘green energy’ will be amazing! My excitement vanished when the installers told me that we had to wait for the inspectors to come and approve everything … and then the power company had to come and inspect that inspector …?? I was dismally disappointed! How delightfully simple and uncomplicated it is when you buy a rose, take it home, plant it, enjoy it flowering … must be me getting older …?
WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO ENJOY THE GARDEN …? Over the years of listening to customers reflect on their passion for gardening, “My Grandfather/Pop” and “Grandmother/Nan” have been the dominant teachers of the pleasure of gardening, followed closely by “My Mum/My Dad”. With all the ‘busyness’ in our lives, I am wondering if, possibly, the next generation might say that they learned their gardening skills at school …?
For weeks prior to a series of ‘Kids Day’ gardening lectures at Silkies, Graham collected old shoes and boots from the local second-hand shop and when the kids rocked up for their gardening adventure, they each selected a boot which they filled with potting mix and flowering seedlings which they took home to care for – Graham received letters of accolade from those little people and I highly recommend the activity for the kids in your garden.
To extend the activity, get the biggest boots you can find, let the kids drill holes in the soles, paint the boots with water-based paint … do give them lots of colours to select from! While the paint is drying they can set about cleaning up the paint brushes, organising their seeds/seedlings, the potting mix, tools they need to complete the task, along with filling the watering can with liquid seaweed and water – they will talk like crazy during this process and you will have a lovely time of ‘connection’.
Give your kids the experience of gardening at home! They’ll love it and so will you because eventually, they’ll do all the gardening ‘work’ around your place while you kick-back on the recliner reminding yourself of how clever you were to teach them the skills – I promise you, you won’t stay on the recliner for long because you’ll want to be out there chatting and enjoying time with each other and you will all cherish the memories for many, many years to come!!!
TAKE A LOOK AT OUR OTHER WEBSITE … Every week I will be adding at least another two rose varieties to the Rose Encyclopaedia on allaboutroses.com.au and there is a plethora of information there – quite literally, all about roses!
If you have a question or issue about roses which you would like us to talk about on the allaboutroses.com.au website, please call or email me and we will be happy to oblige and include all the rose-growing tips of the trade so that you can stay informed and enjoy your rose gardening experience more.
THIS WEEK IN THE ROSE GARDEN … If you’re a bit of a ‘neat-freak’ it would be great to go around the rose garden and trim off the rain affected rose blooms – in our garden they are mouldy blobs and I really don’t want all that mould falling to the ground, over the mulch. We will cut all those spent rose flowers off – they can safely go into your compost bin but it really is better if they don’t stay around the ground in the rose garden!
If you miss the opportunity of removing them or you would like to ensure a good clean environment for the start of next flowering season, after you have trimmed the roses, start your rose maintenance spray program in the next couple of weeks as follows:
To a 9 or 10 litre watering can add –
¼ cup Eco-rose fungicide powder (add a bit of water to the watering can to dissolve the powder)
¼ cup liquid seaweed – add a bit more water and slosh around the watering can
¼ cup Eco-oil – turn the water pressure up and fill the watering can so that all the products are well mixed
When you pour this over the pruned roses, enough of the product will fall over the mulched area around the roses to ensure you have a good, clean start for next season and if you continue with this rose maintenance program on a monthly basis you can be quite confident that black-spot/mildew and early incidence of aphids will be kept well under control for a beautiful, trouble-free rose blooming in the Spring. All the products you need for your rose maintenance program are available at rosesalesonline.com.au or drop into the Silkies Rose Farm at CLONBINANE.
IN CLOSING … Finally, we have chooks here again … how lovely it is to wake up and hear the roosters crowing! Graham took a few days off to see his ‘chook mate’ Wayne in Young, N.S.W. who shared his surplus Langshans with us. The guys went off to a chook auction where Graham bought a black Silkie hen for Logan, 5 year old grandson who has spent his life around Silkie chooks at Kilmore. Logan had a lonely buff Silkie named ‘Murphy’ – nobody can figure out where Logan got the name from, he contrived the name when he was first able to talk! He has named his new Silkie ‘Hedred’ … go figure where that name came from ??? Eventually, we will have Silkies here too and I’m looking forward to that time because they really are the most beautiful fowls and they so belong here at the SILKIES ROSE FARM! No, I won’t be naming them!
Have a great time in the last week of Autumn in your rose garden – rug up and go dig over a new patch of earth for the Winter roses which will be available in early June … call and book your place in the ‘ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATIONS’ which start next weekend … cheers from Diana, Graham, Dingo Bonnie and chooks at SILKIES ROSE FARM, CLONBINANE