Hello Dear Rose Friends,
Due to overwhelming demand and orders, it’s been necessary for me to discontinue acknowledging every order with my usual personal email.  I have an idea that many people are ‘emailed-out’ because I was getting enquiry emails which led me to believe my personal email isn’t read anyway!  

If there are issues with your order, of course, I will continue to be in touch with you via email. Janelle and/or Dee will phone you if there’s anything urgent. You should have seen Dee here when we had technical issues a few weeks back and she used the old landline telephone … gosh, we laughed! 

We all appreciate and thank you for your patience! Many roses are still in a very wet block where it is impossible to enter with heavy machinery which will damage the roses and cause long-term issues with soil compaction … it's continuing to be one of those years!  This makes it all worthwhile …

“Hi Folks, My roses arrived today and are happily standing in the seaweed solution before planting tomorrow. The roses are so healthy!  I was so excited to see great packaging, careful packing of quality roses. It was wonderful.   Thank you so much …Stella”

We’re all familiar with the busy buzz of bees in summer when they’re pollinating our roses. It’s winter now so they’re not as active however, there are other insects who will do a superlative job of pollinating your winter garden but you must plant winter-blooming flowers and veggies to supply pollen for their protein and energy source.

Sugary nectar is important for carbohydrates. Insects like butterflies, wasps, hoverflies and bees will thrive in your garden if you keep quality food up to them. They’ll dominate in numbers ready to use aphids and thrip as their food source in early spring when those insects start to create issues and be bothersome to lush rose foliage.

Stay ahead of the pack and plant ornamental flowers on borders, in pots and hanging planters to encourage as many beneficial insects to your garden NOW so that they’re there, ahead of the potential problem insects in spring.

Hear Diana on the Small Business Banter podcast speaking about turning the world's favorite flower into a successful business.

Tune in & Listen Now

For a giggle: 
Q. What is the difference between a flea and an elephant? 
A. An elephant can have fleas but a flea can’t have elephants ….!

POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY ROSES

Here’s a bundle of just three ‘pollinator-friendly’ roses that will thrive and influence beneficial insects to stay in your garden, thus reducing the need for insecticides and pesticides in your rose management.

Plant them in different areas of your garden and you will be amazed by how these glorious roses encourage buzz and beauty in your garden!

R. chinensis ‘Mutabilis’ - R. chinensis ‘Mutabilis’ produces masses of clusters of blooms which open sulphur yellow and change to orange, red and finally crimson. Since the shrub is constantly blooming, the appearance is that butterflies are fluttering all over the shrub and the new growth is dark crimson red.  SHOP NOW!

For Your Eyes Only The lightly scented single flowers are a delicious blend of rich sunset shades including pink, peach and apricot that will mix easily with most other shades of plants in the rose border. The petals have a darker coloured base and form in a single row around a boss of golden stamens, which become noticeable as the flower opens. SHOP NOW!

Bright as a Button This beautiful new rose has received numerous awards for best novelty rose in Trial Grounds around the world and would create a lovely border planted at 60cm spacing to reach a height of 100 cm. 
SHOP NOW!

We wish you happiness in your garden. Cheers from all at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane. Gra, Diana, Mooi and the chickens!