The Rose Rambler 31/01/2013

YOU CANNOT KILL A ROSE … On 3^rd January I packed up three standard roses destined for Gosford, NSW – Graham personally saw them onto the courier truck.  A week passed and our customer rang, he hadn’t received his roses and was getting concerned.  I assured him that the roses were very well packaged and they would arrive in the coming few days – he rang after ten days, then fourteen days.  The couriers assured me our customer had received his roses and I eventually tracked the roses to the forwarding courier depot in Shepparton.  The carton was delivered back to Clonbinane on 21^st January – to my absolute delight and surprise, the roses had lost all their leaves however, the potting mix was beautifully damp and there were new watershoots on two of the roses!  I placed them in a solution of Natrakelp liquid seaweed and they were trimmed and potted later that day – ten days on and they have new foliage and are performing as though they never went through the trauma of being un-potted, packaged, shipped and left-for-dead at the courier depot … oh, if only they could talk!!!
Just for the fun of it, please send an email with your thoughts in about 200 words of how those roses may have endured the 21 days after leaving the nursery – all entries received before 7^th February will receive a FREE bush rose of your choice when you come to the Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane, during the month of February.  This is not a competition but a fun exercise! 

FEEDBACK … I had lots of calls and emails from people who were pleased to hear my plea for us all to take care of the street trees in our neighbourhoods.  There is talk of us experiencing a wet Autumn so until we get good, deep-soaking rains, please continue to water trees in your garden and on your street – the trees are such an intrinsic part of the infrastructure of the space we live in and we must ensure they survive this hot, dry and windy Summer!

IN THE ROSE GARDEN THIS WEEK … If the roses are being irrigated, continue the Summer pruning program, leaving a good cover of foliage to shade the plant – light fertilizer application is recommended and certainly apply liquid seaweed.   A thick layer of mulch will preserve any moisture in the soil and keep the microbes and worms alive!

SNAKE WARNING … Within moments of watching Graham try to kill a snake by the front door yesterday afternoon, I answered a phone call from our insurance broker … we saw the snake go under the house and I asked Lerrell if maybe we should take out life insurance and did he have any advice on how to be rid of the snake?  He rang back within moments and suggested we get a mouse, tie it to a piece of string and dangle it at the edge of the house, then go and park the cars facing out towards the gate!  By this time, Graham was hauling a 44 gallon drum into the back room of the house and making an almighty amount of noise banging on the drum…??  Men, I give up and keep on giggling because otherwise, I’m sure I might be crying at their craziness and lack of sensibility!
Yesterday morning I thought I might have a slightly longer than usual shower since I had spent the previous day planting shrubs and roses on the north side of the driveway and the bones needed loosening … that was until I saw I was sharing my space with the biggest huntsman spider I’ve ever seen!  Some days are diamonds .. some days not!

Keep smiling until I share with you next week …
Diana & Graham Sargeant & Dingo, Bonnie, at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane
P.S. Put the dates 16^th & 17^th February in your diary – I will be at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne with our ‘stepping out’ exhibition of ‘Pearly Petals’ – FREE passes still available!