Hello Dear Rose Friends,
Sunny blue sky but howling, freezing wind yet we stay outdoors gathering roses from the heel-in beds to pop into post packs or to get trimmed ready for potting.
My dear Mum used to say, “Diana, those roses aren’t going to jump into a pot on their own so let’s get going!” She worked alongside me for nearly 30 years every winter and at other times too.
We all still get a giggle remembering ‘Miepie’ singing out “more pots” to whoever was listening. They would scurry to bring her pots so she could stand at her wheelbarrow and pot and pot and pot!
Today, it was my niece Stacey, (the image of my Mother in many, many ways), who worked alongside me in these freezing conditions, standing at the wheelbarrow potting and potting and potting after she’d nicely packed roses to have posted tomorrow. She is another generation enjoying work in our family business here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane.
How lucky are we … ??? Very, very!
Whilst it’s been freezing cold, we’ve been wrapped up in our winter woollies. Although we have a limited number of varieties already dug from the field, there’s plenty more to come which is why we ask you to be patient. It's all about digging row after row and it’s winter until 1st September!
Once under-cut for digging, the roses must be pruned. Some of them will still have metres of growth and the roots also need to be cut. From the field, they’re taken to the shed and graded. It's a bit like in the John West advert, “only the best will do” so the very best roses are selected to offer our customers!
On arrival 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. Orders are chronologically selected, wrapped, boxed, manifested and delivered to our local Post Office at Wandong.
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.
Transplanting Your New Roses
If there is a delay between receiving your roses from us and then planting them in their ‘forever home’, please remove our packing materials and pop them all in a large pot with potting mix which you water thoroughly to expel all air pockets.
Bare-rooted roses can also be ‘heeled’ in an area of garden soil. The same rule applies. Water thoroughly after heeling-in then soak with the Eco-seaweed sachet supplied in each pack of roses!
When the roses are ready to be transplanted, simply remove them, prune them and start planting. 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, after a drench of Eco-seaweed solution. DO NOT WATER DAILY or at all if weather conditions allow 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!
Pruning Your New Roses
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 (in most cases) 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. She 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!
Of course, 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 if you don’t give us the opportunity to do it for you!
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 very long periods without water. Roses do not survive in sopping wet conditions!
PRUNING DEMONSTRATIONS
Don't forget! I'll be doing the pruning demonstrations on the following dates.
SATURDAY 9TH JULY – 1PM
SUNDAY 10TH JULY – 11AM
Don't forget to bring your secateurs. I’ll show you how to clean and sharpen them. There’s no charge for the pruning demos but we would appreciate a donation for the Clonbinane CFA who keeps us safe. Kids are welcome to come too!
We will be filming the demos and the video will be available in the next RR and we'll also be sharing it on our YouTube page.
A giggle for you this week …
A: A bull-dozer!
We’ve had lots of phone calls and emails about whether we are open to the public. Yes, we’re open for gate sales on the following days:
FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY – 9:00AM TO 4:00PM
NEW PHONE NUMBER - 0418 337765
Pretty in Pink Rose Bundle
$90 including pack/post
One last giggle before you GrOw!
A: You're really growing, bud!
Stay warm and cosy but get outdoors whenever the sun shines – just like Mooi does in her colourful jacket … Cheers from Diana, Gra, Mooi and the Team at Clonbinane!