Hello Dear Rose Friends,
One minute, totally organized and calm … next minute, a bit frantic and chaotic. But hey, stay focused on what really matters this Christmas season. We’re now free to visit with each other. Some of you can travel interstate and even internationally to visit with family so believe you’re organized and stay calm!
We’re definitely looking forward to Christmas this year. For the first time in 35 years, we’ll be closing the nursery on Monday 20th December and re-opening on Friday 21st January 2022 … a whole four weeks of R & R which we intend to make extremely good use of. Amongst other things, we plan to take a short campervan holiday together with Mooi.
We’ve got an awesome team of assistants who take care of things beautifully whilst we’re absent so the roses will be well-tended. Here are some dates to remember:
LAST POSTING OF ROSES FOR 2021 – MONDAY 13TH DECEMBER, 2021
FIRST POSTING OF ROSES FOR 2022 – MONDAY 24TH JANUARY, 2022
In urgent or extreme circumstances, please send an email to me info@rosesalesonline.com.au and if possible, I will post a rose outside of the above dates when Australia Post return after their New Year break.
Our online store is now open to purchase bare-rooted roses which will be posted in winter 2022 – www.rosesalesonline.com.au
Prices are the same as last year until February when all prices will be increased and NEW RELEASE ROSES FOR 2022 will be introduced with photos taken when we see them in the field whilst on our trip.
I was about to turn hoses on garden beds when we had a lovely dump of 6.5mm and then another 12mm of rather heavy rain this past week. It’s important to check moisture levels because surprisingly quickly, the soil will be dry after such windy and sunny conditions as we’ve been experiencing.
Checking Soil Moisture
One method for checking soil moisture is to fork out a long-rooted weed from within the garden bed. When you pull the weed up, there’s sure to be soil attached and if this is dry, turn on the sprinklers!
When you do soak a garden bed, be sure to truly soak it so that water penetrates down to the very roots of all plants in the garden.
Mulching the Garden Bed
Just yesterday I was chatting with customers who mentioned foliage on their lovely standard Tatjana roses was scorched … “Really, it’s not even hot yet so tell me, is your garden mulched?”
They haven’t gotten around to mulching the bed so therein lies their issue and of course, the roses will suffer in just 30-degree heat. They might perish once the weather really hots up and we experience days of over 40 degrees!
It’s soooooo important to mulch garden beds. Here at Clonbinane, you’ll see all different types of mulch on all gardens – some eucy mulch, some pea straw, some oat/wheat straw. There’s a small area that has pebbles as mulch and yes, you can use aged animal manure as mulch too.
A QUICK GIGGLE THIS WEEK:
Q: What do dogs and trees have in common?
A: Bark!
Complete Organic Fertilizer
Due to the incredible amount of rain that most districts have had this past season, it’s imperative to give frequent light doses of fertilizer to all plants. We use and recommend Complete Organic Fertilizer so if you’re going past, pick up a 25kg bag for $42.50. This is very reasonably priced considering such quality of major nutrients, trace elements and humates incorporated into a complete package of fertilizer for the whole garden!
Go to your local garden centre and source a quality product that is perhaps manufactured close to your home. Support your local manufacturer and garden centre for their expertise and knowledge!
If you have a rose of extreme significance in your garden which you know is no longer commercially available, NOW is the time to post us budwood sticks so that we can have plants ‘contract budded’; they’ll be available as bare-rooted plants next July/August.
We are scrambling to find budwood of these two plants:
JOSEPH’S COAT (climbing rose) and MOONBEAM (David Austin shrub)
If you have either of these roses in your garden and would be happy to help us to retain these two magnificent roses in production, please contact Diana: 0418 337765 and she will advise how to cut budwood and post it to us.
Obviously, we will cover all costs immediately.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas holiday and enjoy this beautiful summer sunshine! Cheers from Gra, Diana, Mooi, and the chooks at Clonbinane …