Hello Dear Rose Friends,
Thank you to those who came to pruning demos this past weekend. We sent $100 to our local CFA and hope your attendance helps you be more confident when pruning this winter – we cannot put the video in this week but will organize it for next week.
Since it’s now the middle of winter, there’s a massive scramble in the garden to get our roses pruned. Of course, if you’ve got an order with us for bare-rooted roses, you want them planted in your garden soon.
There are still delays with digging but thankfully, there have been some really cold nights and this is what we need to harden the wood for digging.
Imagine this … beautiful strong water shoots growing but still very soft. If we dig them too early and they’re not hardened, those magnificent water shoots will possibly wilt under pressure. This puts the rose under enormous stress because it’s the water shoots that are the regeneration of the rose bush!
I keep reminding our customers that it’s winter until the 1st of September. I’m not being glib but I’m being honest. This season is different to past winters. Some varieties were budded later than usual due to extenuating circumstances beyond our control. It happens and now, all we ask is that you trust us to post your pre-ordered roses as soon as we possibly can.
It's evident from constant monitoring that most orders will be filled to 100% but interestingly, just the other day, we saw that Remember Me is not suitable to lift this winter. We may need to wait and lift the plants during spring. We’ll wait and see on this variety. There are a few others that are not doing as well as expected so we’ll contact you accordingly.
Planting roses during wet weather conditions
We’re sopping wet here again and we know that many of our customers are experiencing extremely wet conditions because they’re calling and asking us to delay posting their roses. We’re happy to do that but if you have already received roses, please don’t leave them in sopping wet soil.
Roses love nothing more than very sunny and hot, dry weather. This hasn’t been the case in many or in fact, any areas of Australia for months. This is why digging our roses has also been an issue. They’re budded but slowly growing. They love it when its sunny and hot and that wasn’t the case this past summer.
If you live in an area where the soil is sodden, please ‘heel-in’ your new bare-rooted roses. This might be in one large pot with quality potting media. You could also plant each rose in a separate pot until you get the soil drainage sorted and you’re able to add some composted manure for aeration.
Customers are asking us “When is the soil ready for planting?” We rely on you and your intuition to know when it’s right in your locality!
A giggle for you this week …
A: They want to have rich soil … of course!
Please don’t hesitate to pop into your local garden centre and ask for assistance! Take a look around your area and check with other gardeners. Perhaps join your local Garden Club as they’re more than willing to take new members and assist keen, new gardeners into their Club.
One of the most important things to remember when dealing with your new, bare-rooted roses is that you should treat them as preciously as we do. NEVER, EVER LET THE ROOTS DRY OUT during your handling of them.
Always have a bucket of water handy. If you get distracted, they’re safe and will stay safe for several days in that bucket if needs be!
During these challenging times, we ask you to please be patient. Some rose varieties won’t be dug until way late July, perhaps early August but if you wait to receive the varieties you selected, we’re sure you’ll get them!
Rosy Red Rose Bundle
I can’t help but offer this awesome bundle of red roses which can be posted immediately or added to an existing order. Pack includes our As Good As it Gets, Mr. Lincoln & William Shakespear 2000 red roses.
Just $90.00 includes pack/post and can be sent NOW
One last Garden Giggle before you GrOw!
A: If this keeps up I’ll be MUD!
We hope the rain eases or increases, whatever the situation is at your place. Tonight we heard on a weather report that Melbourne is way below the same time last year?!?
Happy winter gardening and we’ll talk with you next week … Cheers from Diana, Gra, Mooi and the Team at Clonbinane!