ROSE RAMBLER 4TH JUNE, 2020 … Hello Dear Rose Friends, with a pinch and a punch for the new month, whilst we’re up to our armpits in roses and more roses – loving every minute of the glorious days we’ve had this past week. We hope to continue seeing sunshine whilst we sort through to get roses posted and ready for collection as quickly as possible.
Some orders sneak through in record time like this one:
"Wow – that’s quick! Thanks so much Diana – it is a gift for one of my best friends who deserves a treat during these difficult times. I really appreciate you being there for me to be able to buy the rose that she loves so much -Anne"
My Response:
"Perhaps I should explain how easy this is for me – order in … rose out – no recording, filing, searching, etc. etc. … in and out! It’s been an amazingly busy season with all that’s going on and it seems to me that all Australians are now gardeners … giggle! Best wishes and thank you! -Diana "
Please don’t all of you think you can place an order today and have it posted tomorrow! I am working flat-out with the varieties of roses which are coming to the Rose Farm – if you need an urgent GIFT ROSE delivered, of course, I’ll get that sorted for you!
Please remember, standard & weeping roses are last to be dug so won’t be available at all until mid-late July!
This is such a lovely email, I have to share …
"Hello Diana, thanks for your reply. I am interested in more info such as the height the non-climbing variety of Cecile Brunner should be in sub-tropical area of far north coast NSW. In the late 1940s I was a very young child who lived on a dairy farm at Gerringong on south coast NSW, and our wonderful garden included a CB rose bush which was about 3-4 feet high. A brother 6 yrs older than me told me if I put some tiny pieces of fruit cake (chunky crumbs I guess) inside the opened flowers the fairies might come and enjoy them! So I was happy to find out if this would really happen and put the tiny bits of cake within the flowers - next morning there was an envelope resting between the rose leaves! On opening I found a letter from the Fairy Queen thanking me!!!"
"I wish that letter was still with me almost 70 yrs later! But I still have strong memories of the event. When that brother died about 20 yrs ago an older cousin in this area gave me a little rose bush to plant in his memory and it was called The Fairy. There was no attached label - is there a low-growing rose floribunda type with very pale pink almost white flowers with the name as mentioned? The original plant eventually grew additional little bushes less than 50cms tall … I hope to find another to replace this special little rose if you can tell me they are still available. -Diana"
During our 35 years of growing roses for Aussie gardeners to plant in their gardens, we’ve heard lots of stories like this one about historical roses from childhood memories. Very importantly, if you have an historical rose or a family ‘heritage’ rose which is truly symbolic, please let us know before November when budding commences.
My Mother had a beautiful rose garden in Kilmore – when she died last year, one of my nieces asked me if we could create a plant of Nan’s favourite rose from her front garden – Graham went to Mum’s garden and took budwood.
Our grower sent us 20 plants last season and all 11 grandchildren are now growing this glorious rose in their gardens - as it turned out, the rose is Grand Amore. My Mother was known to her 17 great-grandchildren as ‘Grandmere’ which makes this even more significant and special in our family.
The weeds are growing faster than I can keep up with them – I give lots to the chooks and they literally devour all the luscious grasses and seeds; lots go into my compost heap where, at least once a month, a local horse-trainer outloads his trailer of horse poo and shavings which literally cooks the weeds whilst breaking down.
Simple piles of compost can be made around your garden by raking up leaves, putting layers of straw, animal manure, paper and weeds together and waiting for worms to come and devour all the goodies. You might cover the materials with carpet or cardboard – never use plastic!
Mounds of 1-1.5 x 1-1.5 metres are easy to manage – water over the mound at least once a month with seaweed solution – you can add any of the fish emulsion fertilizers to feed microorganisms and worms.
Depending on the weather, this mound may form humus within 10-12 weeks which you then use around plants in close proximity – be sure to place mulch over the humus as exposure to hot sun or freezing cold may kill the microbes.
To contribute to carbon storage and enrich soils with humus, plant more trees … and roses, of course, to convert as much of our land as possible to organic growing methods.
Q. What happened when the cat ate a ball of wool? A. She had mittens!
Here are a few of my most favourite orange coloured roses …
There is no doubt that a couple of truly vibrant “orange roses evoke energy, and can indicate enthusiasm, desire and excitement. Giving orange roses can symbolise your passionate romance and share your excitement of the relationship with your loved one” … quote from Google!
MONICA - a Hybrid Tea rose which produces masses of long-stemmed, perfectly formed and lightly fragrant bright orange blooms with yellow reverse.
WESTERLAND (climbing rose) - Modern Climbing rose with bright apricot-orange flowers which, when opened, reveal crimson stamens. Spicy clove fragrance. Lush green foliage.
FEARLESS - Leathery foliage that withstands fiery summer temps and acts as the perfect foil for the Fearless blooms of brilliant, intense orange. An all time favourite.
FIRESTAR - A floribunda rose with a kaleidoscope of colours including mandarin-orange, raspberry pink & scarlet with medium sized blooms continually.
BRASS BAND - Floribunda Rose which should never be planted as a single specimen but rather as a clump or border so that it really, truly makes a fabulous statement in your garden!
THE NEW LOOK - as this orange bud opens, it magically seems to form a central secondary rose inside, which really encapsulates this extraordinary and unique bloom.
Soon we’ll be talking about pruning – no need to rush into this but do a bit of tidying up to make the rose bushes look neat – when they’re totally dormant after a few good frosty mornings, they’ll lose all their leaves and take a rest … they deserve it!
Q. What’s a skeleton? A. A person with their outsides off and their insides out.
Enjoy snuggling under the doona as the nights get cold … cheers from all of us here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane.