Hello dear rose friends when right now, I’m enjoying my first ever visit to ladies Oaks Day at Flemington as part of the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival. You can be sure I’m way more interested in visiting the rose gardens than wagering any $’s on a horse – I’ll pop a few bucks on something that perhaps has a rose name and I’ll let you know next week how I fared!
GRA’S GARBLE …
Please accept my apology for the reference to ‘indigenous’ people as I have the greatest respect for all Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.
GLORIOUS KNOCKOUT…
Good afternoon, Well I think that this is their third year and this is the start of the KNOCKOUTroses blooming season until I prune them say late July. Last season they grew very tall as well as wide. They grew to nearly 2 metres. I pruned a good 1200mm plus off them this year to try and get them to a manageable height, but I think they will just do their own thing again. They were planted approx. 900mm apart and it is a thick as a box hedge. I need not have had barbed wired installed on the top of the fence cause if anyone wanted to try and climb over they would be ripped to threads….as are my arms, even with protective clothing!
My industrial block is known as the one with the red roses. LOL. Just around the corner from me is Landmark and their colours are Green and Gold. Well they have about fifty GOLD BUNNY roses around their shop. That also is spectacular, although they do not grow quite as thick.
I bought two ALI BABA climbing roses from you earlier, one is ok, sadly the other has passed on. I don’t think it liked the continual minus 5s, 6s and 7s. Although I am on a hill. I have also lost three roses (well established) at home. But I live down low where there is always a frost. (Yes, they did get fortnightly applications of Eco Seaweed)
The season ahead is predicted to be more harsh than normal. Well our winter was abysmal with morning after morning of severe frosts….Drought. Our season has been cruel on our poor farmers with grain yields to be predicted at 95% down on average. Most farmers have cut their crops into hay, or in cases where the crops did not reach a cuttable height, spayed with herbicide. I do not think that city dwellers really have any concept of how dire it is for the rural communities.
At least roses will handle the harsh conditions. May not end up with their best flowers, but will generally bounce back. This is my update. Hope you are all well. Kind regards … Merryl
PIERRE DE RONSARD in Merryl’s garden in drought affected Tamora, NSW … and another great success story from Tamworth…
Hi Gra … At the end of August I sent you photos of my two feral two-year-old MUTABILIS roses and asked for advice. So here is a photo or two………….had to send you also my two feral two-year-old CREPUSCULE. This is a small courtyard in a Retirement Estate in Tamworth. Unfortunately it is hot today so the CREPUSCULE will be feeling it as it is west facing. The MUTABILIS seem too thrive in heat.
I cut the MUTABILIS back to the fence and down quite a bit as you suggested. It has grown at least a metre in the few weeks. You were spot on, thank you. Also for the surprise 600g ECO-SEAWEED (not 100g as per my order!) with my secateurs last week. (We’re glad you’re using ECO-SEAWEED for drought-affected garden – it will definitely make a difference … Gra) Kind regards to you all, especially that little black furry one, MOOI.
– Heather
Policeman: Did you know that you were driving at 120kph? Driver: Impossible. I’ve only been in the car for five minutes!
GLORIOUS OLD-FASHIONED R. CHINENSIS ‘MUTABILIS’
We like to list this rose by its ‘proper’ name so if you happen to have been looking for this beauty as MUTABILIS, now you know why you might not have found it! Such a magnificent rose in ALL climates and conditions – needs good care to be established but once established … WOW!
“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read
the description in the catalogue: “no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
BUSY FLOWERING SEASON …
Do come to Werribee this weekend – the State Rose Garden is spectacular and entry with ample parking is FREE! Diana’s stage presentations with Kim Syrus are at the following times:
SATURDAY 10 TH NOVEMBER @ 2.30PM
SUNDAY 11 TH NOVEMBER @ 11.05AM
CHARITY OPEN GARDEN THIS WEEKEND…
Enjoy the roses all around you …
cheers from the team at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane.