Hello Dear Rose Friends,
It has been a most magnificent Easter Holiday weekend of superb weather. We’ve experienced very humid conditions these past weeks. Cold nights and these days with heat over 30 degrees burns-off powdery mildew fungus on roses!
Apart from that, everything looks so beautiful when the sun is shining…
In order to get the most vase-life from the glorious autumn roses, here are a few tips:
"Hi, Gra! A question about Jude the Obscure rose ... it’s doing well, with the most divine flowers, but on the one occasion that I cut a flower to put in a vase it lost its petals quickly. Is it a rose that doesn’t like being in a vase? Are some better than others for that? Thanks in advance! " - Diana
Hi Diana, it would be very rare to hold David Austin’s Jude the Obscure in a vase… what I do is float it in a bowl, like a pizza bowl or I have some glass fish-bowl type vases… looks stunning for a few days in that and the fragrance in your home is divine! Hope it works for you too - Gra
Giggle of the day:
Q. Why do bicycles fall over?
A. Because they're too tyred.
TIPS FOR EXTENDING THE VASE-LIFE OF YOUR ROSES
When picking flowers from your garden to place in a vase please do this:
- Ensure the garden bed has been well soaked prior to cutting roses
- Take a bucket to the garden, pick stems and dunk in cool water
- Pick the longest possible stem you can (it will be trimmed later)
- When done, fill the bucket to the rim and place in a cool area for an hour or more
- Ready to arrange! Trim the stems and add sterilizer like hydrogen peroxide or Chrysal preservative to a very clean vase
- Change water every couple of days – trim stems accordingly
Just the other evening on TV we watched flowers being picked and placed in an open basket which isn’t really the most ideal procedure for roses … they must be dunked into cool water immediately when picked!
This, along with the other tips above, will ensure longevity and great pleasure from your garden roses in vases in your home or gifted to friends.
For heavy-petalled roses similar to Jude the Obscure above, float them in bowls – enchanting! Add soda water for a gorgeous ‘bubbly’ look!
Another giggle for the day:
Q. Which word is always spelt wrong in the dictionary?
A. Wrong.
Amongst the gorgeous David Austin roses which we regularly float in bowls on our kitchen bench are my favourite, Golden Celebration and Diana’s favourite, Princess Alexandra of Kent.
Since all the David Austin’s we so love to recommend are only available as bare-rooted specimens now, please order bare-rooted roses for delivery to your door during June/July this year at www.rosesalesonline.com.au
PREPARE YOUR GARDEN FOR BARE-ROOTED ROSES NOW!
This is what we love to read in emails after we personally acknowledge your winter rose order, by suggesting you prepare a lovely area of your garden for the new roses to be sent from June/July (perhaps August for standard roses!) onwards…
"Thank you, Diana! I have been preparing two beds for the past couple of days and adding compost, rabbit and old chook manure and topping with sugar cane mulch to conserve moisture and keep weeds at bay. The soil should be good by the time the roses arrive. Looking forward to them very much.