Edition 15th May, 2025

17th May 2025

HELLO DEAR ROSE FRIENDS ...

With incredibly warm, sunny days now and in the foreseeable future across most of southern and central Australia, it’s important that you take particular care of your garden so here are some tips …

On super frosty mornings, as soon as the sun comes out, everything starts to drip so I can be inclined to think that my plants are wet … yes, their leaves are wet but oh, they’re being dehydrated no end by the frost so don’t be fooled – turn the tap on and give your plants a good deep soaking whilst we’re experiencing this low-rainfall autumn weather!

If you don’t have enough water to deep soak your garden then don’t do any autumn fertilizing – most packs of fertiliser will indicate that you should apply fertiliser during autumn but due to this dry spell, I recommend you DON’T!!!

Wait now until you’ve pruned your roses during July/August when, hopefully, we’ll have had some decent rain. Apply fertiliser during a rain event so your roses will be ready for abundant spring flowering.

The roses are now starting to shut down and you might start to see some black spot on the lower foliage which is a natural event and the only way the plants can defoliate getting ready for winter pruning – enjoy the last blooms and definitely take a sniff as you gather a bunch for the kitchen bench!

There have been reports of aphid infestation so to manage those definitely spray with the Eco Oil and Eco Neem combination to ensure a measure of control so the aphids don’t re-infest early spring growth. You may need to spray every 7 – 10 days to ensure breaking the breeding cycle – three sprays over 3 weeks should be adequate.

Have a giggle

Q: What do you call a fly without wings?

A: A walk!

PROBLEM WITH A WEEPING ROSE …

Hello.

Below is pictures of my not very happy weeping rose “pinky”. I purchased it from you about 17 years ago but the last two seasons it has been quite sad. Could you give me any advice to get it back to good health. It is very sentimental.

Thank you in advance – Heather

MY RESPONSE:

That huge tree on your nature strip would be the culprit I guess! Perhaps trim this rose back – remove all dead wood and then give it a very good fertiliser now and then every couple of weeks leading into winter. If you water this rose and give it seaweed solution weekly, you’ll see a massive improvement – I don’t think it’s at the end of its life – it needs a bit of thorough TLC and it will recover and be beautiful again – but only if you give it the attention it deserves since it’s now competing with that tree! Can you trim the tree?

Cheers

Heather was delighted with our assistance and reported that she had fought with Council but the tree was on their agenda for trimming! Great outcome!

Have another giggle

Q: How do you get a one-armed wally out of a tree?

A: Wave to him!

The warm weather has thrown our plants into a bit of chaos – we already have the first jonquils flowering …

If you need any advice about roses or gardening in general, please don’t hesitate to send us an email to info@rosesalesonline.com.au and enjoy your roses as they now move to their winter dormancy.

Cheers from us at Clonbinane …