ROSE RAMBLER 28.5.2020 … Hello Dear Rose Friends – are you feeling what we are? This is almost half-year and time is slipping past very, very quickly! Will it slow down?
Supreme quality two-year old roses are fast filling our heel in beds where they’ve loved the dumping of rain to soak their roots and keep them safe until they’re lifted to be posted – remember that once you receive your bare-rooted roses you must NEVER let the roots dry out!
At all stages of movement around the Rose Farm, bare-rooted roses are dipped in large troughs of seaweed solution – sometimes they’re left there overnight which is not an issue and definitely way, way better than being left to dry out. When planting your new roses, be sure to have a bucket of seaweed solution handy so the roots are wet during planting into damp soil then saturated to release all air pockets around the roots once settled.
Q. Where do you find a cow with no legs? A. Right where you left it!
Here’s an email exchange which you might find useful …
"Hello there! Is it too early to place an order for the Crepuscule Climbing Rose. If it is too early (and you have them in stock) when would be a good time to place an order for delivery to suburban Melbourne? We plan on clearing a fence line which has Chinese Jasmine covering it and feel the climbing rose would be better value. Any tips on preparing soil appreciated. Many thanks, Paul"
"HI Paul … there shouldn’t be any need to pre-order the roses but it is a very busy season with extremely high demand for all varieties of roses … if you know exactly what/how many roses you want, ordering now might be a good idea.
You’re removing old plants which have probably taken every single little bit of nutrient from that soil over years and years – you’ll be thrilled with Crepuscule along that fence – it will create a hedge and be magnificent if you be the boss and make it do what you want!!! Don’t forget I told you that!
If you can, rather than plant the new roses into exactly the same hole as where the Jasmine are removed, do that!!! Even if it’s 50-60cms away will be better than in exactly the same location – no matter how good you dig and dung where those Jasmine plants were!
I recommend planting one Crepuscule every 2.5-3 metres apart so if you organise where the holes will be, create lovely 75-100cm holes at least 50cms deep – gouge the walls and fork the base of the hole with a garden fork then blend the soil/clay you’ve removed with bagged compost/manure in a wheelbarrow and return this brew back into the hole – of course you’ll have more than you need – pile it up and leave it as a mulch over the area because that will encourage worms to come up and do their work of aerating and casting into the zone where you’re going to plant the new roses.
Doing this preparation is SOOOOOOO worthwhile – if every rose was planted this way, gardeners would be rewarded with happy, healthy, free-flowering roses for years to come; especially if they regularly fertilize, water efficiently and then manage them with our organic rose management program which is also very easy, economical and effective!
I shouldn’t ramble on … hope this is helpful and you create a garden bed which gives you joy for many years! Cheers - Graham"
3CR GARDEN SHOW
During Covid-19, our live broadcasting of the Community Radio Garden Show has been halted and there are now re-runs of previous shows. I will definitely let you know when Pam asks me to attend for a live broadcast, hopefully soon and meantime, tune into 3CR 7.30am – 9.15am every Sunday on the AM band at 855.
If you have a garden question you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate emailing info@rosesalesonline.com.au or you can call my mobile: 0499 871123 which I will respond to unless I’m driving.
Q. What lies around, one hundred feet up? A. A dead centipede … have a giggle!
HIGHLY FRAGRANT, BEAUTIFUL ROSES
I’m sure you’re all blading through rose catalogues to find the most perfect and highly fragrant roses to add to your garden this winter. Here are a few which I couldn’t live without in the ‘cut-flower’ area of my garden! All flowering season, you’ll pick bunches of highly fragrant, long-stemmed blooms from these beauties …
BROTHER CADFAEL - an early David Austin rose which has near-thornless dark brown wood and beautifully cup-shaped flowers which are ideal rose for a vase and flower arrangements. Near thornless, dark brown stems.
POPE JOHN PAUL II - a magnificent pure white rose with the most amazing fragrance! The healthy bush produces masses of long stemmed, large blooms continually throughout the season - a very highly recommended rose!
BEST FRIEND - This exquisite rose produces long, strong stems of the most highly fragrant bright pink roses which are ideally suited for flower arrangements. Highly fragrant with exceptionally beautiful hot pink blooms. Ideal for flower arrangements.
FIREFIGHTER - Men will rush out to buy it because it has so very few thorns; they tell us in the nursery that they just love red roses … we know it’s all about the lack of thorns even though we also know that men prefer their garden roses to be red!
Enjoy these last days of a most spectacular autumn – we are still loving the magnificent colour of our beautiful deciduous trees here at Clonbinane and hope you’re raking leaves into your compost or placing them on garden beds as mulch …
Cheers from Graham, Diana, Mooi and the team at Clonbinane