ROSE RAMBLER 09.06.2017 … A day later than normal … sorry! Enjoy this and also this Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend …
Hello dear rose friends … thank you to all of you who have taken YOUR precious time to give our business a review in WOMO … Word Of Mouth Online – we pay for this service because we believe it’s worth advertising YOUR opinion of the experience you have with us!
We have always asked for positive and negative experience feedback and there is no doubt there have been a couple of truly ordinary (mostly) delivery experiences which are listed in the reviews.
We’re pleased with this achievement and it’s particularly pleasing when new customers call to say they’ve read the reviews and are contacting us because YOU recommended us!
SINCERE THANKS!
have had a 4-5 star rating. Less than 5% of businesses qualify for the Service Award,
so our achievement is worth celebrating!
POSTING ROSES …
Please know that when I post roses to you, every parcel is special and I remember most of what is posted because I am ‘chief rose wrapper’ while Tova is ‘chief parcel packer’ on the days when she assists me.
It’s an incredibly lovely experience to receive an email like this one …
“Morning Diana. I just wanted to send you a quick update… Aunty Val bought a special pot to plant her very special SHIRLEY’S ROSE.
It sits proudly on her front veranda where she can easily get to it (and see it from her comfy lounge chair)…It is very happy and healthy (and thankfully, so is Aunty Val).
I hope business is booming – you do such a wonderful job! Take good care. Martine”
Martine purchased SHIRLEY’S ROSE as a GIFT ROSE for her 86 year old Aunty Val to remember her sister, Martine’s Mother, Shirley who had died some years back and sent it with this message on a card:
Always in our thoughts … Forever in our hearts.
For you Aunty Val, with much love … Tracey, Jonaelle and Martine
Any wonder that this gorgeous rose is so appreciated!
What a special opportunity our business has by offering such loving GIFT ROSES to be posted around Australia in celebration of all types of events which naturally occur in families … we post to all states except WA and TAS because we refuse to apply the chemicals required to pass quarantine in those States.
EVERY ROSE can be purchased as a GIFT ROSE … it’s a bit like, if the name suits the occasion, there’s a rose suitably named for that occasion so don’t be limited by your imagination when selecting your next GIFT ROSE!
GRA’S GARBLE …
TAKING CUTTINGS FROM YOUR ROSES WHEN PRUNING THIS WINTER
This is my own experience with growing roses from cuttings up on the Great Divide here in Victoria –
- Use coir fibre medium because it retains moisture
- The seed-raising mix coir block must be soaked using clean water – the coir is manufactured from coconut fibre and is sterile to reduce issues with fungus which might cause cuttings to rot
- Take cutting stems from rose branches where flowers have finished as this wood is hard/semi-hard
- Use sharp / clean secateurs to cut stems around 100mm long and no less than pencil thick of clean stems with plump growth eyes
- Use a stick to make holes in the coir which has been damped-down into seedling trays or perhaps polystyrene boxes with drain holes – whatever works for you!
- Water over the cuttings with seaweed solution – soak them to remove all air pockets and then …
- DON’T WATER AGAIN UNTIL YOU SEE GREEN SHOOTS APPEARING! (There would have to be winter/early spring heat wave to need watering – it is most important to note that most cuttings fail due to OVER-WATERING !!!
- Lightly sprinkle the cuttings which are now shooting ONCE A WEEK with seaweed solution and start to apply liquid fertilizer with seaweed from around September onwards.
- Repot the rooted cuttings in October and watch them grow!
Growing roses from cuttings is a real pleasure and you must follow your ‘gardener’s intuition’ during the growing process – every season has different climatic conditions and every State has huge variables in when rose cuttings should be started and how they’re cultivated – if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!
THIS IS THE SECRET OF SUCCESS … Swami Swananda
Q. Why wasn’t the teddy bear hungry? A. Because he was stuffed!
Please read this article for a greater understanding of how and why it is imperative for you to care for the soil in your garden … http://theconversation.com/how-healthy-soils-make-for-a-healthy-life-71790 which I received from Sustainable Gardening Australia – a valuable resource for gardeners who want great information!
How’s this bit of information? Leaving mushrooms out in the sunshine for an hour during winter will boost their Vitamin D content FOUR-FOLD. This means that 100g of sundrenched mushrooms will provide an adults daily requirement of Vitamin D!
Q. What do you call a sheep with no legs? A. A cloud.
BARE-ROOTED ROSES EXPECTATIONS …
Keeping you all informed about how things are going in the nursery – yes, some orders are being posted – others are still waiting for varieties to be dug and especially orders which include standards and weeping roses, these will be delayed until very late June/early July.
We don’t recommend you substitute your selected variety unless that particular variety is a ‘struggler’ – you know, one of those roses which is ok in premium conditions but otherwise, a rather ordinary performer.
Please take our recommendation for example … you want JULIA’S ROSE … we’ve delisted it in favour of SOUL SISTER which is awesomely healthy and very free flowering but almost identical in colour and bloom shape …
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LADY OF SHALLOT
We’ve delisted PAT AUSTIN in favour of this delightfully pretty
David Austin Rose which is so healthy and very, very free-flowering …
THANK YOU ROSE
Is way, way superior to ANGEL FACE –
we stock both but would way prefer to sell THANK YOU …
Here at the Rose Farm it’s head-down-bum-up while we get all this new seasons roses labelled, sorted and ready to post or pack and load into your vehicle.
Remember, I’ll be at Castlemaine next week for an exciting seminar at Buda and there will be another rose pruning demo here at Clonbinane on Sunday, 18th June …
