A Different Summer to Past Years
Hello Dear Rose Friends! We continue to wait for summer here at Clonbinane; a very different summer to past years with lots of cool and wet weather … the potted roses look stunning!
Red Roses Available
We have some beautiful, potted, red roses HERE at the Rose Farm to gift for Valentine’s Day. We'd be delighted for you to visit us as time for posting for delivery has run out! Our gates are open!
TATJANA: One of the most magnificent dark red roses which is very easily identified by a slash of white on one of the petals deep inside the bloom. Awesomely fragrant, extremely robust and healthy, flowering from season start to end continually. SHOP NOW!
CAMP DAVID: Hybrid Tea dark red rose & one of the most stunning! This rose is one of the most abundant Hybrid Teas, producing the darkest red, red roses, no purple in this beauty as I refer to it as 'brown red' ... it stays dark red all the way through to petal drop and it has the most glorious fragrance. SHOP NOW!
AS GOOD AS IT GETS: Features a truly amazing colour, ranging from shades of rich plum to merlot reds. The high centred flowers grow in large clusters and bloom freely throughout the growing season. SHOP NOW!
If you're like us, you haven’t yet had a chance to do a good summer prune by removing at least 1/3 of each rose bush, then now would be a great time to do it.
Whilst you’re doing the pruning, have a bag of fertilizer close by and give each bush a handful of fertilizer (preferably organic). If you give the garden another light feed at the peak of prolific autumn flowering, say in about six weeks, the roses should continue to produce lovely blooms well into winter – especially if the weather stays as mild as it has been!
Don’t be afraid to run the hedger or chain saw over the roses … the more we practice this type of pruning, the more convinced we are that conventional pruning to outward-facing buds, etc. etc. is all very complicated and totally unnecessary.
Do some trials in your own rose garden because I know you’ll be amazed by the results and then come to realise that mechanical pruning actually looks neat, takes way less time and we actually think there may well be greater flower production because there’s usually more branches and foliage left on the plant.
Forever, I’ve always said, “more foliage = more flowers” and with mechanical pruning that is most definitely the result.
I would be interested in your personal experience and feedback on this. As always, we encourage you to Email Us your thoughts and experiences!
A quirky flower pun to make you smile this week:
Q. Did you hear about one flower who went on a date with another flower?
A. It’s a budding romance.
May you all enjoy some special loving this Sunday … Happy St. Valentine’s Day! Graham, Diana & Mooi