ROSE RAMBLER 30TH JULY, 2020… Hello Dear Rose Friends, as we understand your frustration at not yet having received roses. Early orders through April/May/June were promised to be delivered well before early July. Some of you are still waiting for your roses to arrive on your doorstep.
We can’t and don’t blame everything on Covid-19 but there has been unprecedented demand for roses… or for that matter, any ancillary product relative to rose growing! We’ve been weeks without our fabulous Eco-seaweed sachets, which was our gift, normally popped into every single parcel of roses. So sorry that this isn’t happening and you have to supply your own seaweed product to soak roses on arrival and at planting.
Our wonderful Lowe secateurs are sitting at a dock in Melbourne waiting to be delivered to our suppliers. Many plant labels are in a back-log queue of label orders. It is actually illegal for us to supply roses without the pictorial label as that actually indicates payment of Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) royalty.
So… we’re all having to adapt, adjust and try to be patient because as I’ve said before: WE WILL HONOUR EVERY SINGLE ORDER THAT HAS BEEN PLACED. There are still lots of roses to be delivered to our Rose Farm here at Clonbinane.
There are some roses which will never arrive this season because our growers were troubled by very wet soil conditions and had losses accordingly. We will be in touch with you during coming weeks to request your permission to provide substitute varieties or refund if you wish.
Believe me, we will send you a rose of equal or greater quality – another promise which we definitely will honour!
An example of this is:
Charlotte – we can send Crocus Rose or Molineux … lovely David Austin Roses which would be a joy flowering in your garden.
Soul Sister – there’s not a single rose I could recommend as a substitute for this delightful colour in roses – Soul Sister was budded in one of the very wet locations and many plants succumbed – hold this beauty over for supply next season! It will be worth waiting for …
Fragrant Plum – how is it possible that such an ‘old’ rose could become so popular just this season? Our growers didn’t expect such demand so you’ll either hold this rose for adding to your collection next year or select Paradise as a substitute.
Mr. Lincoln – who would believe that although we ordered huge numbers, we cannot supply another single plant this season – Firefighter has come to the rescue and will delight you due to the thornless flowering stems and amazing fragrance …
There are others which cannot be supplied due to high demand and low supply – please know that where possible, we are filling orders as per what you selected but don’t be surprised if you receive a message or phone call from us in the next week or so requesting that we provide a substitute…
Substitute Roses Available
Molineux – a David Austin Rose of immense charm because of it’s variety of colours in yellow, gold and cream - a beautifully rounded shrub with complimentary mid-green, very health foliage makes this a stand-out rose on a border of the rose garden. SHOP NOW!
Crocus – One of the prettiest David Austin roses which is always in flower - petal-filled buds which open slowly to reveal a swirling mass of clotted cream petals smother the bush continually. A healthy, branching shrub compliments the appeal of this wonderful rose. SHOP NOW!
Paradise – Hybrid Tea Rose which is tantalizingly beautiful with pale mauve blooms, each petal brushed at the edge with deep magenta. Extremely showy hybrid tea rose with long-strong stems, suitable for the vase. SHOP NOW!
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! SHOP NOW!
It would have been great to get a video about pruning roses to you but this hasn’t been possible, so I recommend you prune your roses any time now. Remove at least two-thirds of all branches, take out all old, dead wood. Be confident that no matter how you prune your roses, they’ll grow and flower this coming season!
During late spring/early summer, I’ll do video pruning sessions with you on You Tube to correct any issues. Meantime, follow the head/heart rule – do what you think is right for the roses and they’re sure to respond beautifully.
Meantime, let a kid joke give you a giggle:
Q. How do you stop an astronaut’s baby from crying? A. You rocket!
I’m sure you’re starting to see daffodils popping up and flowering – such an inspirational sight of normality and spring about to happen. We’re hearing kookaburras who are preparing their nest across the road, the cuckoo-shrike is letting us know that spring will arrive and Mooi is having chasing fun with our local Magpie and regular duck visitors…
Be kind to yourself and those around you; be positive in your thoughts and actions; walk in moments of sunshine, take a walk in the dark and glory at the night stars in our universe knowing that sometime soon, everything will be ‘normal’.
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Best wishes and love from all of us here at Clonbinane.