Hello Dear Rose Friends,
There’s no doubt that our big, beautiful Country continues to deliver the most amazing weather events … many parts of our eastern coastline are drenched, sopping wet and still parts of QLD experiencing really cold conditions. My dear friend, Willy, is camping on the Daley River in NT and says the ‘dry’ has finally arrived so she’ll stay there for another while.
My baby sister, Sandy heads off for another big adventure of four months as a ‘grey-nomad’ … you’ll know her when you meet her in a caravan park along the way!
… I’ve got such an important job here, there’s no time for all that jaunting about the place! Here’s the last new bed of daffodils Janelle helped plant.
Gosh, but it was quite a task to cut a salvia out of its 5cm pot which had sat in a 20cm pot of clematis and both had well and truly rooted into the mulch in my “R & D” area … both produced a spectacular display this past season but I definitely had to move them to a new location where they’ll flourish …
HAVE A GIGGLE
Q. What do you call a bloke with no shovel in his hand?
A. Dougless ... (this is a follow-on from last week’s joke which Jason supplied – thanks Jay!)
REPOT ROSES NOW
Very recently I was interested to see the root formation on a Rugosa Scabrosa which had been in a 20cm pot for the past nine months. Amazing to see the root ball …
I sawed the roots off and replanted the rose into a 20cm pot with fresh potting media and this is what I encourage you to do with all your potted roses – lift them and trim them right back, both roots and branches, remove all old potting media by swilling in a bucket of water and then replant into fresh, top-quality potting media.
If you do this annually, your potted roses will flower abundantly every season and they won’t incur issues with disease as readily because they’ve got fresh potting media, well-trimmed roots/branches and they are like brand new bare-rooted roses!
However, there are some four-legged furry monsters as you’ll see from recent pics in Robynne’s garden – she saw a brush-tailed possum for the first time recently …
There is evidence that there might also be rabbits or hares … also furry, four-legged …
Or, there’s a possibility that there are cockatoos or rosellas visiting the garden …
Unfortunately, we have no solution when issues like this prevail in a customer’s rose garden other than to suggest placing a mesh-guard around the entire garden which Robynne will do once she has pruned these affected bushes.
HOW OUR ROSES ARE PACKED FOR TRANSIT ...
We frequently receive phone calls and emails stating that several roses were ordered but only one pack arrived. Bare-rooted roses are packed in bundles – sometimes up to 6 plants are neatly tucked together, roots are dipped in seaweed solution, wet ‘mud’ (actually our potting media with Living Earth) is plonked around the roots which are then wrapped in damp newspaper. Then an environmentally-friendly plastic bag is taped air-tight to ensure that your roses arrive nice and moist, ready to be placed in a bucket of water and then planted in your garden.
Sometimes, in that exciting moment of opening the pack, we get a call that there’s only one rose in the box. Really? Lift the parcel out of the box, how many labels do you see?
We killed ourselves laughing at this email from Kylie …
“Hello, please disregard my previous email as we do indeed have the 2 roses (they were tied together and didn't see the small one attached to the big one) - these were a present for grandma who obviously needs to go to Specsavers to get her eyes tested 
. Kind Regards …Kylie”
Go Grandma!!! I get it … Gra!
HAVE ANOTHER GIGGLE ...
Q. What do you call a flying primate?
A. A hot air baboon ...
A-B-C OF MAGNIFICENT CLIMBING ROSES ...
Here are three of my most favourite climbing roses which I love to pick in the garden and fill into vases on the kitchen bench –
Very incidentally they’re alpha listed but if you have a shed, a wall, an arbour or an obelisk, you would be thrilled with the amazing proliferation of flowers these three climbing roses will offer throughout the flowering season – super healthy too!
SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK
The ‘new’ part of this story is to introduce our most recent addition to the team of workers here at Silkies Rose Farm, Meantime, may the sun shine on your winter rose garden and if you haven’t already booked to attend our pruning demonstration, get your skates on and DO IT NOW!
Love from all of us here at Silkies … cheers