ROSE RAMBLER 12TH MARCH, 2020… Hello Dear Rose Friends. We trust you enjoyed rain on your garden as we had a whopping 100mm here at Clonbinane which has confirmed our rose gardens will experience a most glorious autumn – you simply MUST come and visit!
If you haven’t already fertilised prior to recent soaking rain, do make an effort to give your garden a dose of (preferably) organic fertiliser NOW and then water it into the mulch so that it more rapidly gets down into the soil and becomes plant available because believe me, after this soaking rain, your roses will flourish and flower right up to winter but they need nourishment to do it.
Did you know that if you apply chemical fertiliser, whether your plants want it or not, they’re compelled to take up that fertiliser because it’s water-soluble. Perhaps you’ve noticed in the past when you applied chemical fertiliser over your garden, you’ve produced lots of lush growth - in the case of tomatoes, heaps of growth but very little fruit perhaps?
However, if you offer your plants quality organic fertiliser, it breaks down and becomes plant available as and when the plant requires those nutrients! In reality, you’re nurturing and feeding the soil - microbes, earthworms and soil structure are all beneficiaries whilst carbon is being stored and top soil becomes deeper.
Along with a good dose of fertiliser, regular applications of seaweed solution will supply micro-nutrients and strengthen the cell wall of plant foliage – remember, the more abundant, healthy foliage your roses carry, the more beautiful flowers they will produce!
Q. Why did the elephant paint the bottom of his feet yellow? A. So that he could hide upside down in custard!
CLIMBING ROSES
As gardens become smaller, unsightly fences become more obvious from the windows of modern homes so here is a great idea … plant these four climbing roses along your boundary – share the cost with your neighbours so you all enjoy the beauty and fragrance of gorgeous roses for nine months each year!
MME ISAAC PEREIRE - Old rose perfume exudes from the 10cm old-fashioned blooms with 100 petals of dark, raspberry-purple. All this on a vigorous repeat blooming climber. If there were a class in rose shows for fragrance 'Mme Isaac Pereire' would be a definite winner.
GOLDEN CELEBRATION - From the plumpest large buds the huge warm golden blooms emerge with a wonderful fruity fragrance and continue to flower throughout the entire season unaffected by all the weather conditions Mother Nature can deliver – the flowers just nod in the rain and fade nicely in the heat!
RHAPSODY-IN-BLUE - This magnificently fragrant rose with the most dark purple petals and a showy mass of yellow stamens as a foil for the brilliant glossy mid-green foliage is a very highly recommended climber for a hot wall or fence.
NAHEMA - Produces literally masses of highly fragrant and deeply cupped pale, China pink blooms in profusion throughout the season. It is a climbing rose of such incredible beauty and versatility with a fragrance that surpasses all expectations of how strong a rose fragrance can be.