Hello Dear Rose Friends,
We move into winter with amazingly freezing conditions here in Victoria, very timely as we’ve been forced indoors for another Covid lockdown.
Our IT team has restored our connection with you; a new computer in place and some of you will have received a generic email from me acknowledging your order. This is the first time I’ve resorted to that but there were just too many emails to individually answer.
Whilst it’s been freezing cold in the morning, we’ve been wrapped up in our winter woollies and out there ‘hunting and gathering’ lovely roses ready for posting … please don’t all get too excited because we have a limited number of varieties already dug from the field!
There is no alpha-sorting out there – it’s all about digging row after row. Once under-cut for digging, the roses must be pruned. Some of them will still have metres of growth on them and the roots also need to be cut. From the field, they’re taken to the shed and graded – a bit like in the John West advert, “only the best will do” so the very best roses are selected to offer our customers!
Once here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane, they’re alpha-sorted, root-trimmed, labelled and designated for orders or sale then pitted in the heel-in beds.
Then our beautiful roses are boxed and delivered to our local PO in my brother’s horse float!
Although we send a Planting Instruction Guide with all our parcels, we still get lots of customers asking what to do when their roses arrive so let me go over that here …
If there is a delay between receiving your roses from us and then planting them in their ‘forever home’, please pop them all in a large pot with potting mix which you water thoroughly to expel all air pockets. They can also be ‘heeled’ in an area of soil – the same rule applies – water thoroughly after heeling in!
When the roses are ready to be transplanted, simply remove them, prune them and start planting but never, ever let the roots dry out during this transplanting stage!
Once planted, soak thoroughly to a slurry and then leave them to get on with establishing in their new home. DO NOT WATER daily or at all if weather conditions prevail that the new roses remain damp. When you think they should be watered, deep soak them again at every watering – there might well be weeks or months between watering at this time of year!
Don’t be shy to give your roses a trim before planting. You can do it once they’re in the new garden but believe me, it’s so much easier to prune them when you’re standing upright! Honestly, we send our roses with 20-30cms of stem on them. If you want to do the roses the biggest favour, trim them by half BEFORE you plant them!
Diana gets cheeky with some customers – has their roses beautifully packed, they’re all paid for, and then she asks would they like her to ‘professionally’ prune their new roses. Most enthusiastically accept and are delighted.
Their faces are so interesting to watch when she starts to cut the growth in half and smiles at them!
No, she doesn’t give a refund for the bits in the barrel but offers them as sticks for cuttings which some accept. Many, many customers remember this experience and share how grieved they were at the time but how very, very happy they’ve been since planting their roses so beautifully and ‘professionally’ pruned. Be sure to do this yourself!
Roses are very water-wise plants. Yes, they require good water management during their establishment couple of years but once established, they can go for a very long period without water – roses do not survive in sopping wet conditions!
For a giggle:
Q: What do you call a sleeping bull?
A: A bull-dozer!
Stay warm and cozy but get outdoors whenever the sun shines – just like Mooi does … Gra, Diana, Mooi and the chickens!