All About Roses

ROSE RAMBLER 5.9.2013

Hello dear rose friends … Hope all you Dads had a very Happy Father’s Day!

Welcome to Spring with warm, sunny days and a definite hint of the glorious flowers to come.  By now all your new and beautifully pruned roses will be shooting madly – I hope you have given them a high quality fertilizer to nurture them through this time of intense growth.

Remember that a rose which is growing in well fertilized, humus rich soil will naturally be far more able to resist any pest and disease problems … if you haven’t yet fertilized your roses, DO IT NOW and do it again in another 8 weeks when they are flowering!

HOW TO FERTILIZE YOUR GARDEN …  Fertilizing is a very important task and your plants will reward you immensely when they are fed with high quality products … we are so lucky now that science has produced easy-to-use fertilizers with a complete package of nutrients so that we don’t have to purchase a little bag of this and another bag of that … buy a quality ALL PURPOSE FERTILIZER and spread it all over the root zone of the plants!!!

We’ve only got one small space to put the food into our bodies … yes, our mouth!   The clever mechanism of our body distributes the nutrients from that food, throughout our entire system!  Plants spread feeder roots over the whole canopy of their growth so if you throw the fertilizer at the base of the plant, that fertilizer isn’t being distributed evenly for the plant to be able to utilise it.  Take a bit of time to lightly distribute the fertilizer around the entire root-zone of your plants … do it frequently and enjoy the rewards!

GRAHAM’S TIPS … Roses appeal to every single one of our senses …

• SMELL .. yes, they are great for fragrance – put your nose in a rose!  I wear a peak-cap which reads:  ROSES FOR NOSES .. learn how to enjoy the fragrance of ALL roses!
• TASTE .. rose petals are increasingly being used in cakes, salads .. follow our organic rose management program and freely use rose petals in your food .. try it!
• TOUCH .. experience the gentle moment on watching a child feel the rose petals – don’t scare them about the thorns .. kids will learn to respect walking around roses!
• SOUND .. Yes, even sound is embraced in a rose and you can ‘hear’ it too .. the birds in the early morning opening the stomata (pores) to receive the dew or maybe your liquid seaweed application tonic … read the book “Secret Life Of Plants” to know more!
• SIGHT .. WOW .. what a display of colours – surely the biggest range of any flower species on our planet!

(There was no joke written on the page so I presume you’ll have to wait till next week… Diana)

PESKY LITTLE PESTS …  We are already getting phone calls about the infestation of aphids –please don’t despair about aphids because they will occur on the more ‘protected’ roses – the one’s in the corner of the garden, under the eaves maybe, places where it isn’t windy, and provided you have some other flowers in the garden now, the ladybirds will be happening because they need the pollen and nectars of all the flowers to induce their breeding program … once they get going, the aphids will come under attack as the primary feed-source for the ladybirds!  All the little birds like sparrows, wrens and pardalotes will also be feasting on the aphids and other predator insects in the garden … so,

PLEASE don’t go down to the local supermarket or garden centre and purchase a ‘quick-fix’ chemical spray!  Let nature take it’s course, don’t get too anxious – let the birds and ladybirds enjoy the bounty of this beautiful Spring, continue with your regular rose maintenance program and if things get a bit out of hand, increase the rate of application of your eco-rose products!  Call us if you feel you need more advice.

IN CLOSING …  In the ‘busy-ness’ of everyday routine, take a quiet walk through your garden and revel in the joy of Spring … this blossom is on my 50^th birthday fruit tree which has been shifted several times and produces delicious nectarines and peaches every year – how many will I get this year …???

Enjoy the glory of being a gardener – cheers from Diana & Graham

ROSE RAMBLER 29.8.2013

Hello dear rose friends …  there’s always something to share … gardening is just that way and a tip for those of you who have fruit trees that you wish to protect from possums is:

“Hello there Diana, thanks for all the pearls of wisdom you send out.

RE the possums – mine love the nectarines but do not bother my roses  –  choosy!!!

However, last year I heard, saw or read that if you spray with molasses one cup to one litre water, they will leave the fruit alone. Last year when there were actually some nectarines growing on the tree (none this year to check), I sprayed with this concoction and lo and behold the nectarines survived. Just a light spray over the plant did the trick.   Perhaps someone would like to try this. As I was not able to repeat this year I cannot be sure if it was just coincidence …??? Cheers,  Dorothy”

“Hi Diana & Graham, Sorry to hear the parrots are misbehaving in your garden. I feel a bit guilty as I did chuckle but sympathize really, a bit destructive like the possums around here. At the moment I am hanging small yellow plastic containers with moth balls in them on my rose bushes. (They are about 10cm long and came from Bunnings.) They seem to be working but have only been there 2 weeks. These containers are sealed but moth balls are poisonous so not a good idea if you have inquisitive children.

I have also cut up the black, plastic, spiky guards and nailed them to the top of the fence. That does make life unpleasant for the possums when I run out in the evening (doing a Diana) and they need to escape in a hurry!  Have a good day.  Margaret”

If you have a pearl of garden wisdom to share, please send me an email just like Dorothy and Margaret did and here also, are  GRAHAM’S GARDENING TIPS:

• I suggest that molasses sprayed on an area of weeds will reduce their proliferation.  Why, I hear you ask?  The weeds do not like ‘sweet soil’ and since molasses is a sweetener, made from sugar cane, weeds cannot and will not grow where the soil is sweet!
• Coffee grinds are very useful so don’t ‘bin’ them for the following reasons:

1. There is a heap of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium including traces of other minerals.
2. Acid loving plants appreciate a sprinkling of coffee grounds directly on the soil around the base of the plant.
3. Slugs and snails will not crawl across the grounds – use them as a repellent.
4. Place the grounds in the compost heap – worms absolutely love them!

Next time you’re at your local Café, ask if they will save the coffee grinds so that you can use them on your garden … they’ll most likely oblige – especially if you offer to collect them a few times each week and provide a lidded container for the storage.

Joke of the Week … What happens if you eat yeast and shoe polish?

Answer:  You will rise and shine! What a wonderful way to start Spring … it’s going to be a great season!

RE-POTTING PLANTS … At least every two years, plants which have been in containers must be planted into fresh potting mix.  Follow these easy steps to rejuvenate your potted roses:

• Tip the pot sideways out onto an old bag or plastic sheet – you may need a knife to lever the plant out;
• Trim 2/3 of the growth – remove all dead or old wood;
• Cut away 1/3 of the existing root ball and tease remaining roots;
• Reposition the plant using a high quality, fresh potting mix;
• Water-in with the hose to remove all air-pockets – you may need to top up the potting mix after this soaking;
• Water over with liquid seaweed to reduce the transplanting shock.

It’s never too late to undertake this very important task – plants which are left in containers for more than two years will definitely deteriorate.  Always use high quality potting mix and for the life of the plant, water containerised roses with liquid seaweed at least once a month.

IN CLOSING … “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin” … William Shakespeare

This is the Season when everything changes so radically, so perfectly, so beautifully … the birds are singing and the mowers mowing … enjoy the moments!

Diana & Graham Sargeant, Silkies Rose Farm, CLONBINANE

ROSE RAMBLER 15.8.2013

Hello dear rose friends …Rain, rain, go away .. come again another day … I’m trying to heed Graham’s gardening tip from last week to go and prune the roses NOW and I seriously hate working in the rain even though I know I can go and take a hot shower afterwards … it would be my luck that I would get soaking wet, go take a shower and somebody would rock up here at the Rose Farm looking for a rose …NICE ???  NOT!!!

Let’s move right into … GRAHAM’S GARDENING TIPS …

• Compost is great to use on the garden – start right now to add your own compost around the rose bushes because it is a ’gentle’ feed and the cold soil microbes and worms LOVE compost for feed and warmth.
• If you cannot produce your own compost, there are many brands of quality compost available in 30 litre bags – clean and easy to distribute around the roses;  they will reward you with bountiful healthy rose bushes and lots of flowers.
• When you place the compost around the plants, cover with a light layer of mulch which will protect the microbes when the sun starts to get hot!

Gra’s humorous episode happened recently:  I drove into a car park and he said:  “Did you know they now have senior’s car parks at Coles?”  “No, I hardly ever go there but how would they know you’re a senior anyway?”  His reply (quick as a flash):  “Because somebody would have seen ya!”  Needless to say, we rolled, laughing into the restaurant.

WARNING ABOUT WET FEET … ROSES HATE WET FEET …  If you are at all concerned that your new roses are not performing as you would expect, or if they are starting to go ‘brown’ around the bud-union or on the green stems, get them up out of the sopping wet ground and let them grow in pots for a while!  Take care of the drainage to the garden bed and re-plant the roses later when the soil has had a chance to stabilise after all this rain!

Please never leave the new bare-rooted roses in soggy soil because they will definitely perish in a boggy soil!

The newly planted rose bushes should now be producing lots of plump buds and new shoots.  Some develop quicker than others, depending on variety.  Provided you have all the right requirements in place, your Winter roses will be producing lots of roots and this is indicated by swollen buds and shoots.  If you didn’t prune the new roses when/before they went into the ground, go around now and give them a light prune to an outward facing bud – while you’re out in the garden, get the watering can and your liquid seaweed… treat all the roses to a wash-down tonic which will encourage more roots … more roots, more shoots, more shoots, more flowers!  DO IT NOW!!!

SHIFTING AN OLD ROSE …  This afternoon I had a call from an inner-city gardener who (with approval from the property owners) saved four very old roses from a demolition site.  He dug the roses whereas I would have asked the machine operator to dig them!  Anyway, he’s got the roses in his yard but no ground to put them in …?  That’s a real boy thing to do!

Moving on to the important part of our conversation … my suggestions were as follows:

• Cut every single branch to around 30cms in length
• Remove all the old/deadwood at the crown
• Cut out the oldest branches until 3-7 branches remain
• Soak the plants overnight in a trough with weak solution of liquid seaweed
• Plant tomorrow into the garden or;
• Pot into quality potting mix and locate in a sunny position
• Water lightly weekly with liquid seaweed solution

If you have an opportunity to save old roses from the demolition derby which is happening all around us, please do so with confidence …  the pleasure will be immense and the satisfaction in knowing that the person who planted that rose, however many years ago, will be there in spirit, looking over your shoulder and providing all the energy to make the rose survive … believe it and it will happen!

Transplanting an old rose can and should happen whenever the situation occurs … we transplanted the entire rose garden from the Kilmore rose nursery location in February/March and not one single rose died in the process!  Virginia has a beautiful rose garden as a testament of the hardiness and resilience of roses!!!

IN CLOSING …  Enjoy the last weeks of Winter by rugging up and getting down and dirty in the rose garden … the weeds are coming up easily so get ahead of them NOW … when your day is done and you look out at the beautifully pruned rose garden … oh, the pleasure …!

Cheers from Diana & Graham

Hello dear rose friends … have you ever spent time watching a Magpie have dinner?  Quietly, cautiously step across the lawn, head leaning to one side … listening to hear the worms crawling through the earth … is it possible that a worm actually makes a noise while it slithers through the soil?  The magpie hears something …?

The fascination of nature in a quiet moment sitting up on my veranda last evening!  That beautiful female Magpie ate no less than 50 worms and grubs as she readies herself for mating, laying her eggs and the consequent routine of sitting till the chicks arrive.

How her life will change when the eggs hatch and she and her partner will share the feeding of the chicks – I will keep you informed as to how many she has this year … beautiful!

While the Magpies are a happy and non-invasive garden resident, the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos look at me, pick a daffodil and destructively leave it on the ground … I’ll share all the food and resources of the garden, but please don’t just peck something off and then leave it as litter … so angry, I screamed at them, opened the wire-screen door and  slammed it shut hoping to scare them …. ?  They looked at me up on the veranda, railing at them and laughed at me … oh, I got so mad I was racing through the yard with my hands waving!

Surprised not to see an ambulance driving around the corner – here to come and pick me up and take me to the nearest available mental facility … newspaper headlines:  “Local, highly respected rose nursery proprietor removed in great distress ..”   giggle … should make it happen and have the press here ready to report something seriously funny for the evening news … would have to be better than all the negative stuff on the news!

Over the years, how I have despaired for all you beautiful rose gardeners that walk out in the morning to find the possums have feasted on your roses while you’ve been sleeping – there has to be a way of stopping this blatant garden destruction ..?

If you have a good idea or solution, please tell me so that I can share it with other very frustrated rose gardeners … thanks!

SAVE THE ROSES … THERE FOR THE TAKING …  If you live in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne or are seriously keen to get some very old roses which have been raised by staunch rosarians, Mandy and Allen Brundrett – members of the BRUNDRETT ROSES family, please contact … Margaret Lawson on 0407 896 309 and she will give you directions and information about when you can access the property at 29 Kingswood Crescent, Noble Park North where more than 100 roses between 30-50 years old can be dug and rescued.

A HOST OF GOLDEN DAFFODILS … Such a wonderful sight

Yes, we are rosarians and for just as many years, we have been very keen daffodil growers with many of our collection of bulbs in the gardens here at Clonbinane.

If you take a close look at the photo, you will note that the bulbs closest to the Oak tree are smaller than the others … reason for this … I mowed them before they were ready to be mowed!

Never, ever, cut the foliage from your bulbs before that foliage is well and truly browned-off because all the energy from this year’s foliage goes down into the bulb as a food-store for the next year.  Sometimes I have been impatient and not wanted to look at all the dead foliage, run the mower over it and yes, the following year, the flowering stems are shorter with fewer flowers!

Beautiful customers, Linda and Ray were in the other day and Linda was saying that Ray lifts the daffodils and separates them … Is that why they never get a true ‘drift of golden daffodils’ as they see in other people’s gardens ..?

Definitely do not lift and separate your daffodils and let the foliage completely disintegrate so that you can experience the true ‘host of golden daffodils’ … warming pleasure in the Winter/Spring garden!

IN CLOSING …  Graham asks you to allow yourself to feel nature and enjoy the pleasure of growing some seeds, see them come to life with small green shoots which have amazing energy … music to the heart!

Birds singing in the gardens are starting to herald the closeness of Spring … those birds singing are stimulating the stomata of each plant leaf to open and drink the dew to nurture joyous growth.  Liquid seaweed your plants regularly to increase their vigour and strengthen them in readiness for the bounty of the Spring.

Enjoy this last week of Winter … Diana & Graham at Clonbinane

ROSE RAMBLER 25.7.2013

Hello dear rose friends … since he’s become an overnight rage about all things roses, let’s move right into

GRAHAM’S GARDENING TIPS …

• it’s finally been raining and raining so mulch on your garden is essential to hold the topsoil in place … US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt said “A Nation that destroys it’s soil, destroys itself” and since Australia has one of the oldest soils in the world, we, as guardians of the earth must care for the soil as our top priority!  The mulch should be at least 75mm thick all year.
• As soon as the sun shines again, we’ll all be mowing lawns  – research has shown that odours produced from freshly mown lawn help your mental processes have a natural, happy ‘high’ .. no Government tax on this one!
• My pick of all the roses coming into the Rose Farm for the best all-round performance would be ‘Violina’ for it’s beautiful long-stemmed, highly fragrant, tight bud of mid-pink which opens to a huge bloom suitable to vase!  The healthy, well-foliaged bush grows to at least 1.2 metres tall and makes an ideal fragrant rose hedge…. One of the BEST roses!
• “You have to stay in shape.  My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60.  She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.”  Ellen DeGeneres

Keep smiling and happy gardening, GRAHAM

STANDARD ROSES … While I was sitting at the Motel in Mount Gambier last week, it occurred to me how, sadly, people plant standard roses in the ‘wrong’ location … these standard roses were planted under the eaves within 30cms of the building, in front of windows which (obviously) had window screens and I can imagine how this rose planting might cause grief when the roses are in full bloom … branches scraping on and marking the windows, possibly slashing the screens …?

The roses would not be happy because the area under the eaves is generally a very dry zone and the grass growing right up around the stems of the standard roses will deplete even more moisture and energy from the roses!

Notice also that the ties are ‘wrong’ because if you tie a standard rose to a star post, the rose cannot fit snuggly against the stake!  Although we use and recommend steel stakes, they must be either round or square tube which extends about 20 cms above the crown of the standard rose!  Wooden tomato stakes will rot within two years and leave the standard rose very vulnerable in windy weather.

This photo shows you a well-supported standard rose with double-sided Velcro as the preferred tie material …

When you are planting anything in your garden, take a look ALL AROUND YOU – including upwards!  Observe where the sun happens in the garden and how this changes with the seasons and most of all, take into account that the plants will grow bigger if you allow them the space to reach their mature potential.

WET WEATHER WARNING …  Remember that roses are very water-wise plants and will not tolerate excessive water around the root-zone!  Because it has been very wet in many parts of Australia, ensure that your roses are not drowning – especially newly planted roses will have difficulty if the soil is boggy – lift the roses into pots, correct the soil drainage and replant when the soil has settled.  If you’re not sure about your soil type, bring a sample up to the Rose Farm and have a discussion with Graham.

IN CLOSING … Doris Day said:  “I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source” and I thank Caro for sharing this quote with us – prompted us to get on with sourcing another dog … sooner rather than later!

Thank you all for such caring and love … Diana & Graham