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ROSE RAMBLER 8.8.2013

Hello dear rose friends … happened to see a young guy mowing his lawn this afternoon … there were a few things I noticed ..

1. He was wearing a tee-shirt and it was seriously cold;
2. There was 15mm of rain the evening before and the grass must have been wet;
3. He put the grass clippings from the catcher into a garbage bag!

The last point brings me to giving some recommendations regarding the disposal of your lawn clippings – we’ll all be mowing lawns during the coming weeks and there are some serious considerations of how you deal with the refuse of your lawn mowing.

Several years ago, a long-time customer of the Rose Nursery in Kilmore became seriously ill as a result of putting her lawn clippings into green garbage bags, allowing them to rot down after placing them in a sunny location and then distributing them over her garden as mulch!

Lyn has never recovered from the debilitating lung condition she acquired as a result of inhaling the ‘mould’ from what she distributed about the garden from those garbage bags!

When you mow your lawns in the future, consider the following:

1. Mow without the catcher on so that the clippings ‘self-mulch’ your lawn;
2. Find a corner of your yard where you can compost the clippings in thin layers, adding other garden and kitchen refuse to create humus to redistribute on the garden;
3. No room at your place?  Find a neighbour or other place where you might be able to place your clippings for use as compost – neighbourhood community garden maybe?
4. Place the lawn clippings in bags and bring them a.s.a.p. to Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane;  we will add them to compost areas here.

Provided you only use very light layers, the lawn clippings can be distributed over existing garden beds.  If you have ‘feral’ weeds in the lawn, those weeds will have the opportunity of spreading throughout the garden!  If you’re not sure, don’t put the catcher on the mower, mow more frequently and let the clippings mulch the lawn!

Please take serious heed of this warning when mowing your lawn in the coming months!!!

WINTER ROSE SEASON WIND-UP …  The roses for this season are now potted into high-quality potting medium … they’ve been cut back to within inches of their lives and by doing this severe prune, we know that they will produce the most astounding potted specimen roses which will be flowering in November!

www.rosesalesonline.com.au offers you the opportunity to order roses at any time of the year – these beautifully potted roses will be packaged and posted direct to your door for any occasion!  On a whim, if you want to treat yourself to a new rose for a special location in your garden, just log-in or call me at the Rose Farm and I will happily pack a rose for you or somebody you love that needs a rose to cheer them up!

For that really special occasion, ask me for a gift-wrap …. the rose looks so special in the beautifully coloured wrap – even though there might not be any flowers

I usually select a paper and ribbon colour which matches the rose of your choice and this service costs only $4.50 –  it’s a very thoughtful and  precious, living gift!

GRAHAM’S GARDENING TIPS….

• If you haven’t pruned your roses yet, DO IT NOW!  All old foliage should be stripped because it is still photosynthesising and making sugar and carbohydrates which results in a concentration of these nice food sources which can attract aphids and spider mites.  The insects go into multiplication mode and it won’t take them long to invade!
• Once pruned, wash-down or spray to run-off with the rose management program as follows:  To 10 litres of water add:  ¼ cup Eco-rose, ¼ cup Eco-oil and add liquid seaweed to the mix to increase strength in the cell walls of the foliage.

A recent ‘green space’ report has shown that 91% of people believe that parks and gardens have a positive effect on our quality of life, contributing more to our wellbeing than our jobs, our sex-life, money or religion!  Is it natural to want to be with Mother Nature?  The plants and flowers, of course, are essential to meet the needs of all our senses and roses are great because they flower for up to eight months of the year!!!

Did you hear about the race between the lettuce and the tomato?  The lettuce was a ‘head’ and the tomato was trying to ketchup …. Enjoy the rain on your garden … Graham

IN CLOSING … Every time I try to follow Gra’s tip to go and prune the roses NOW, I kit up, get a few bushes done and it starts to rain … or the phone rings and I have to go and pack up another lot of roses for the post.  The ground is all ‘mooshy’ so I try and lay pads of mulch rather than compact the soil around the roses … buds are bursting and Spring is in the air …

Cheers from Diana & Graham Sargeant

ROSE RAMBLER 1.8.2013

Hello dear rose friends … Another month of Winter gone – some would say, finally!  I rather love the glory of the Winter garden and all the changes that occur during this beautiful season – a time of ‘tidy up’ … prune, fertilize, mulch and within a turn of your back, everything starts to come alive with enormous bounty … joyful!

SERVICE AND SMILE …  By now, a whole lot of the Winter orders have finally been processed and due to the late and very warm Autumn, the roses were dug later than usual and this caused distress to some of our customers for which I am eternally sorry!

Apart from the lateness of the season, there were problems with the interstate orders which required the roses be sprayed to comply with quarantine regulations – more delay!  Then a whole bunch of the parcels we packed were rejected by Australia Post and had to be processed by a courier – more delay!

Let me assure you that Silkies Roses are the most lovely quality roses you can buy and our service and smiles together with our vast knowledge about roses and their culture guarantee your rose purchase will be most rewarding – there were however, obstacles which prevailed this season completely beyond our control … in the history of the business I cannot remember a time when I apologised so frequently and sincerely;   for the (hopefully!) last time, I am truly sorry if you were caused any inconvenience by our service this season.

When the roses bloom, I am sure you will forget any misery associated with their delivery!

This is an email I received from one of my understandably disgruntled customers:

Hi Diana … The roses you sent me (Tassie) arrived this morning. They were in very good condition and the quality as you said is outstanding. Thanks again for the great effort you put in to get the roses to me. Sorry for the inconvenience I put you through but I can tell you that I am a very happy customer.

Kind Regards  ….  Arnie

 

GRAHAM’S ROSE TIPS …  

• Ladybirds are our very best friends in the rose garden!  They help control aphids and they actually eat some fungus … yes, amazing!  Once you have pruned the roses this Winter (it’s NEVER TOO LATE!) start your spray management program using ¼ cup of each:  Liquid Seaweed, Eco-Rose (fungicide) and Eco-oil (insecticide) to 10 litres of water and spray or pour over the plants – you are giving the ladybirds and other insects and birds a hand with insect control.  You can apply this environmentally safe management program in the morning and pick and eat your veggies for the evening meal on the same day!!  Brilliant Australian researched and made products … go Aussies go!
• While you’re out pruning standard roses, check the ties and secure with double-sided Velcro – the UV stabilized shiny side facing outwards.  We can post this to you 3 metres:  $18.50  5 metres:  $24.50 plus pack and post.  See this pic …

• Time to fertilize the garden with COF –Complete Organic Fertilizer – great thing about applying organic fertiliser – the plant only takes up the feed when it needs it!

Have a laugh and enjoy your garden this week … why did the banana go to the Doctor …?  Because it wasn’t peeling well …

(Note from Diana, Editor:  You keep talking about these crazy jokes which only encourages him … when you stop laughing, let me know and I’ll delicately tell Graham to take them back to the grandchildren!)

PRUNED ROSES … Nearly all of the potted roses have been pruned to less than 15cms of growth and this will encourage massive water-shoot development and lovely rounded bushes with lots of blooms come Spring.

If you are thinking of ordering more roses in the coming weeks, keep in mind that we’ve done all the hard work for you – the packs will be smaller because the roses have been heavily cut back and ready to plant without any work on your part!

IN CLOSING ….  Stay warm and cosy while you enjoy this last month of this crazy Winter – if you want some advice about pruning your roses and/or fruit trees,  pop up to the Rose Farm and Graham will happily allay all your fears … love the snip, snip, snipping

Regards from Diana & Graham Sargeant at CLONBINANE

ROSE RAMBLER 18.7.2013

Hello dear rose friends … thank you so much for all the caring and sharing!  We gardeners seem to have a lot in common … roses and pets go into the same portfolio – how lucky we are to have such a special bond!

This past week I’ve thought how freeing it would be to be a child … I could kick, rant and rave and cry with my mouth wide open – not caring who was watching just letting all the pain be released – just like the kid we’ve all seen in the supermarket!  Next time I see one of those despairing children, I will look at them with different eyes and say “good on you, let us all know how unhappy you are!”

THE GARDEN FORK …  Yes, my secateurs are the most used garden implement I own and love but after that, I could not work in my garden without my four-flat-pronged garden fork – it does the lot!  One of the most beautiful elements of my garden fork is that when I am digging over the garden to plant something new, I notice that I have a far greater chance of not slicing a worm when I use the fork!  The shovel is different because it cuts down and through the soil and consequently, the worms.

Being the sook that I am, it’s important to me that every living thing in our garden has a purpose and we should do everything we can to preserve and encourage all living things with respect so I urge you all to use the garden fork rather than a shovel so that you too will give the worms a greater chance of survival when you are digging in your garden!

GRA’S GROWING TIPS … It’s not just me here at the Silkies Rose Farm so for the next few weeks, Graham will be contributing to the Rose Rambler with some great gardening ideas …

• Put a handful of dolomite lime around each rose bush after pruning as it assists in the resistance to fungal problems and balances the pH of the soil enabling the plants to more readily take up and use the nutrition you provide when adding complete organic fertilizer;
• Yes, mulch the garden beds NOW with lucerne, pea straw or any other straw materials because a light mulch through the Winter months encourages worms into your garden by keeping them warm during their breeding cycle, stops weed germination and prevents top soil erosion as well as … definitely mulch around the roses!
• Rather than have one large compost heap a long way from your garden beds, create small areas around the garden where you place 100mm layers of leaves, lawn clippings, animal manures (yes, dog, cat, possum, chook, kangaroo and any other poo you can find!) onto these smaller heaps – as they break down, spread them out – natural mulch extraordinaire!
• Avoid digging in the garden …. save your back … happy gardening!   GRAHAM

From the moment Graham’s feet hit the floor out of bed in the morning, he speaks … and then all day, talks and talks and talks!  Getting him to write all those wonderful ‘talks’ down is difficult but I promise to tie him down and you will be amazed by his garden wisdom and forthcoming contributions to this Rose Rambler .. stay posted!

“the best way to get most husbands to do something Is to suggest that

perhaps they’re too old to do it ….?”

That’s a very wise quote from Shirley MacLaine which you other ‘girl’ readers may find useful when you want something done around the place … !  Sharing and caring!

IN CLOSING … I had a beaut conversation with a rose grower the other day – we both raved about the sensational performance of the original ‘FireStar’ rose which was released as a memorial to the Black Saturday fires which ravaged Victoria in 2009 … we highly recommend this glorious rose which is still flowering in many gardens even now …

Enjoy your Winter rose garden … Diana & Graham

Hello dear rose friends … Australia is going seriously ‘green’ – as of this morning, we have a ‘recycled’ Prime Minister … best I say no more other than to wish these amazing people the joy of a garden rather than the dross of politics! Somebody has to do their job!

The first month of Winter is already ending. There are lots of beautiful two-year-old roses being processed but the yearlings, the Standards and the Weeping roses are still several weeks away because Mother Nature calls the shots … firstly too warm and then too wet to under-cut … I’m very understanding and hope you are too! I went to the grower’s at Kalangadoo last week and experienced some magical moments in the rose fields! Here’s a picture of the frozen rose hips …

SO, YOU WANT TO CLOTHE A ROSE ARCH WITH BEAUTIFUL ROSES …maybe to create a romantic pleasure in your garden, maybe to create a fragrant entrance or maybe you just want an arch with roses on it …? Let’s take a look at a few small issues before we start to select the right rose for your location – think about your priorities relative to colour, fragrance, type of rose flower, etc. and then, how big is the arch?

To enable you to enjoy many years of joy from this flowering spectacle in your garden, it is imperative that you select the right rose to suit the size of your arch and we recommend the walkway be 1.5 – 2 metres wide so that two people can walk comfortably abreast through the arch and not be ‘caught’ by the roses – small, flimsy arches are totally inadequate for most roses … the rose will be there for more than 20 years and deserves a structure that will support it!

Being a ‘Consulting Rosarian’, I find that deciding on the right climbing rose for the right location is overwhelmingly one of the most requested tasks. Just yesterday a customer reeled off a list of climbers she would like for the perimeter fence of her garden. She had received several roses as gifts and had them already planted at 3 metres apart – appropriate spacing for climbing roses on a boundary fence – until she mentioned that ‘Albertine’ was there too! NO … this is a ‘rambling rose’ of amazing proportions, totally unsuitable to the back fence/kids playground as it produces very thorny canes in profusion and flowers only in the Spring. This magnificent rose, along with many other rambling roses, deserves a site where it can scramble about – not suitable to the back fence and certainly not over the small archway!

When you come to deciding on the colour of a suitable climber for your arch, there will be at least one highly recommended climbing rose in each different colour range and there is a whole list of those on the allaboutroses.com.au website … you know you are welcome to email or call me if you require more particular advice so that the climbing/rambling rose planting is right for your garden!

QUOTATION FROM ‘NEWS LEAF’ … Biodynamic Agriculture Australia Ltd. produce the most informative newsletter and if you are interested in the soil and gardening … even a small plot, biodynamics is a constructive way of managing your land. I recently read an article and the closing statement is “…. Bridges are able to be creatively built revealing links with past cultures and consciousness at the same time that a deed for the future is done out of pure love for the deed. It is done out of reverence with a strong sense of responsibility towards the destiny of humanity and our Earth”. Take a look at the BAA website : www.biodynamics.net.au

ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATIONS … There are still a couple of spots available for this Sunday, 30th June at 11.00am and then we start on the dates for July …
SATURDAY, 6TH JULY – 11.00AM
SUNDAY, 14TH JULY – 1.00PM
WHITTLESEA COURT HOUSE, 20TH JULY- 1.00PM

Don’t forget to bring your pruning equipment with you – we’ve had great feed-back from customers who have attended a demonstration!

RESULT OF LAST WEEKS ‘JOKE’ … The question was: How did the banana skin return to Mother Nature? The answer was: via comPOST … thank you Lisa for lying awake in the night to devise such a ‘gardener’s joke’ … if you ‘create’ a gardeners joke to contribute, let me know and I will publish it for you!

We are now busy potting up the roses and Graham’s best mate, Barry is working with us. The two of them chat and laugh their way through the hours while Virginia and I get on with the job … they laughed so hard at this, we stopped work to join in the fun … they are a circus, believe me!

Gra: What did your old man do before he worked on the railways?
Baz: He was a timber cutter and you could hear his ring barking from miles away …!

IN CLOSING … Enjoy this magnificent Winter weather while it lasts and we’ll see you soon when you come to collect your roses….
Cheers from Diana, Graham and Dingo, Bonnie